Reflections on My First Week

What a week it's been!

I lot of you dear, dear people are writing me asking for pictures and descriptions, and wanting to hear what I've been doing, and I promise I'll get to all that! First though, I need to get my head sorted out.

My first week in a foreign country has been nearly overwhelming (I can handle it though, don't worry :-) ).
I've asked a lot of questions, been asked a lot of questions, been given a lot of answers, been told to find a lot of answers, realized that sometimes my questions don't have answers... Seen a lot of things, tasted a lot of things, heard so much, felt so much... I can't believe it's only been a week.

I've gotten into the habit of taking little notes on my ipod touch anywhere I go. I'll make a note of a question, or a thought, or something I see, or something I want to see later. At the end of the day, I read over my notes and try to reflect a little. Most of the big questions I have are questions I've asked myself. There are far to many to put on here, but I'll share one of them with you.

Today we left Vienna and set out for Salzburg on a three-hour bus ride (this trip was broken up by a field trip of sorts, so it wasn't all at once, but I'll tell you more about that later). This gave me plenty of time to think, so I wrote myself a list of sorts about things I'd learned in Vienna specifically about myself.

Vienna was so much fun. I experienced a lot of things, and I learned a lot of things. I got to know the other students in my group and I asked each of them why they were here. For some, my question took them aback, and the conversation was a bit awkward, but others answered me quite easily. No one turned my question on me, so I thought I'd tell you all here.

Why am I here?

- I am here to glorify God.
- I am here to experience.
- I am here to absorb.
- I am here to study.
- I am here to research (intensely!)
- I am here to learn (they are two different things!).
- I am here to hear.
- I am here to listen (again, there is a difference!).
- I am here to see.
- I am here to watch.
- I am here to look.
- I am here to observe.
- I am here to examine.
- I am here to understand.
- I am here to admire.
- I am here to enjoy.
- I am here to be sincere.
- I am here to be reverent and respectful.
- I am here to be gracious.
- I am here to share.
- I am here to be helpful.
- I am here to be encouraging.
- I am here to sing.
- I am here to practice.
- I am here to grow.
- I am here to mature.
- I am here to work hard.
- I am here to be inspired (not hard, inspiration is seriously dripping off everything here).
- I am here to taste (I will not lie, this has been one of my favorites).
- I am here to touch.
- I am here to make my family proud.
- I am here to make my friends proud.
- I am here to report.
- I am here to internalize.
- I am here to externalize.
- I am here to connect.
- I am here to find similarities.
- I am here to explore and improve my communication.
- I am here to strengthen my language skills.
- I am here to participate.
- I am here to reflect.
- I am here to push myself.
- I am here to motivate others.
- I am here to be a leader.
- I am here to get into character and revel in the drama of this charming place.
- I am here to find things to learn that I can't learn at home.
- I am here to be sympathetic.
- I am here to be myself.
- I am here to seize opportunities.
- I am here to be brave.
- I am here to be healthy.
- I am here to make relationships with new colleagues.
- I am here to prove myself to my new professors.
- I am here to do things correctly.
- I am here to be accepting and inclusive.
- I am here to explore.

Now, lest you think I'm a superhuman who has accomplished all this in seven days time, please believe that this is very much a work in progress. I didn't know what to expect coming into this, and I certainly didn't expect to have this long of a list to work on after only a week.

 I also underestimated the effect of the group dynamic. It really is a great bunch with which to be experiencing all this. I really couldn't have hand-picked better companions. There are ten of us students and a bunch of wonderful professors, some of whom we have already seen, and some who we will meet later.

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I start my second week! Dr. Thuswaldner says that this week will be "back to real life," as if "real life" is actually going to hit me here. I think he just means we're going to start the really hard work. I'm game.

Love to you all at home!
- Julia