” I feel connected to Spain because it gave me one of my greatest and most enjoyable life experiences.”
– Brandon Beyler, API Barcelona Fall 2022
What have you missed most about the United States? What will you miss about your host country when your return?
The main thing I have missed about the United States is the food at the grocery stores; I have been missing my favorite cookies, juices, and protein bars. I have also missed my routine in the US which looks much different from what I had in Spain with the different living situations and daily activities. Other things I miss are my family and friends at home and my tranquil hometown of Sammamish.
For Spain, I will first of all miss the Spanish language, I love speaking and listening to it and I will miss being able to, every day, better my Spanish abilities. I will miss being in the holdings of Don Quixote de La Mancha, the greatest Knight that ever lived. I will miss the city of Barcelona and its culture and just being able to walk around and take in all the art, buildings, socialization, and daily life along with meeting and talking to local Spaniards, the vibrant and bustling nightlife, the huge variety of good food and the wonderful nature in and surrounding Barcelona, especially beaches and mountains. I will even miss some of my classes where I gathered new perspectives and engaged in wonderful class discussions about ethics and the international sphere. Lastly, I will miss Europe as a whole, with its history, culture, and landscapes and I will miss being able to travel to many other destinations in Europe because of the cheap transportation. Another big thing is I will miss the friendships I have cultivated in Barcelona where I engaged in a great many adventures and moments with new people allowing me to create special bonds and friendships.
Do you think you’ll experience reverse culture shock when you return? Do you have a plan for how you can immerse back into home campus life and share your experience with family and friends?
I don’t think I will experience reverse culture shock when I return to the US because I didn’t experience culture shock in Spain, and I appreciate the benefits that each culture brings. I am planning on getting slowly back into my routine, of going to the grocery store, making my own food, going on my hikes, doing on-campus clubs and activities, going to classes, and just engaging with the student body again. And it should be easy because my schedule in Spain was relatively similar. My family has been eagerly awaiting my arrival and will be slamming me with questions as they have been wanting to hear about my favorite study abroad movements and see the pictures that go with them. Reconvening with my friends will be a breeze because I’m very close to them and they will love to hear my study abroad stories.
How do you plan to keep your study abroad experience as a key factor in your life; maintaining friendships, language skills, and staying internationally engaged?
I plan to maintain many of the friendships I cultivated in Spain through messaging, social media, and also hanging with some of the ones that live in my area or will come by my area, which I have planned to do with various people. I also plan to keep in contact with my host mom through text as we got along very well and had great conversations, so I plan on sharing my further travels, my inns with capybaras, or celebration of Argentina possibly winning the world cup, the team which she supports. Also, our study abroad group has planned on doing a reunion at some point later down the line because we had lots of fun together and would like to reconnect at some point. Lots of our program was from a specific area so we are planning on centralizing in that location in a reunion-like fashion. Also, since our API study abroad team won the study abroad soccer league, we are planning on passing around the trophy we won to share the victory so we will never forget the glory we gained in Barcelona!
As for my language skills, I plan to take more Spanish classes as I have continued to love the Spanish language and want to get even better at speaking, grammar, and vocab. I also want to talk to more Spanish speakers to understand the cultural language of which I got a great understanding of in Spain thanks to my classes and conversations with my homestay mom and locals. As for staying internationally engaged I plan to consume Spanish news and current events, keep up to date on popular Spanish songs and artists and keep up on current events in Spain because at this point I feel connected to Spain because it gave me one of my greatest and most enjoyable life experiences.