Sooo I spent nearly two years here abroad in Switzerland and now my time has come to say goodbye.... In the two years I lived here I spent my first year learning to speak French and taking intensive classes for well over six months all the while searching for work here in Switzerland... Then Boom... I find a job. Buttt the job is in the Swiss German side.. No biggie. I move and immediately begin to learn German. Now I speak German better than French and in fact I fell in love with the language and even learned a lot of Swiss German (Bärndütsch)... I have been back to New York twice in two years and I have noticed that a lot of what I knew and loved about NYC seemed different... the people, the language, the food, the sky, the buildings, and even the people I loved all seemed different somehow... Then I realized something.. The only thing that had changed was ME! I learned to appreciate the little things like making a doctor appointment with no effort at all. Going shopping, speaking to strangers and asking for directions, eating in a fancy restaurant and reading the menu... having a coffee with my father the list goes on...  Living in a place where you have no completely mastered the language can make even the simplest tasks stressful somehow... CULTURE SHOCK... I will never forget living in Europe and learning to speak foreign languages and all the great stuff that comes with being an expat and emerging in a different culture...But god I can’t wait to be Home... I love all of you guys and best of luck to everyone! Living abroad is tough! Anyone who does it has my utmost respect! It can so enriching and amazing but it can be at the same time very lonely and hard... Something we can all pretty much relate to!!!!   what a tripppp...

-       Drew