As I write this post there is one month and six days until I arrive in Athens, Greece. At this point in time it still hasn’t set in that I will be leaving the US and studying in Greece for an entire semester. When I try to think of all the things I am excited for, I start to feel overwhelmed. I can’t wait to try new food, meet new friends, see new places and everything else that typically comes with travelling. Something which I think is daunting yet exciting is living in a country where I will not know the official language. I have travelled to eight countries so far in my life and lived in three. From this I have become very aware of how vastly different it is being a tourist in a country than actually living there.
I know that the language barrier will sometimes frustrate me and make my life more difficult but I also think there are many benefits. Firstly, I will have the opportunity to learn a language from locals which will aid in my cultural understanding. I also think that there is oblivious peace and tranquility when being in public and not understanding what anyone else is saying. They could be talking about me, talking to me or just having a friendly conversation and I would have no clue. This doesn’t mean I would intentionally ignore people but what they’re saying will likely go straight over my head. In some ways I think that this gives you a sense of freedom because you learn to not be as bothered by the words around you and instead learn to enjoy your own thoughts more. In saying this, I hope to have some understanding of Greek so that I can communicate with locals but am also well aware that it is a difficult language to learn and don’t expect to be an expert.
Along with the language barrier, there are also going to be some challenges I will face while abroad. The thing that is most stressful to me is thinking about having to ‘set up’ a new life. This sounds like I’m faking my death and creating a new identity, which isn’t the case, but from moving to the US I learnt just how many different things have to be set up before you can settle in. This includes setting up a new phone plan, buying sheets/towels/boring adult stuff, finding a new soap and shampoo that I like, figuring out how to get to school and where my classes are etc. (I almost fell asleep just writing that stuff down). While this may not seem challenging, it is something that I know I will struggle with. I am the kind of person who becomes stressed when everything isn’t sorted neatly so I know I won’t be able to settle in until I feel like these things have been done.
Another challenge that I think I will face is loneliness. I am usually good at making new friends and don’t think that this will be the problem but I think I will feel lonely not being in the same timezone as anyone else in my life. The time in Athens is pretty much right in the middle of Australian and American time. This will inevitably make it hard for me to stay in contact with my friends and family. Having dealt with this before in my freshman year of college, I know how isolated it can make me feel. I will admit that I still sometimes suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out) with things happening back home but it has significantly decreased over the past couple years. I’m worried that it will now resurface as I leave my best friends for 9 months. They are my second family and are the people I rely on when my actual family can’t be there and to leave them is daunting. I am hoping that because this time I will not be the only international student around, there will be a stronger sense of being each other’s support system.
(This post was originally written and posted in December, 2019)