Submitted by Heidi Knutsen on the 2019 winter session study abroad program in New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Computer and Information Sciences…
The Antarctica experience, saying goodbye at that Mexican restaurant, travelling, being in Fiji, and then getting home. This week was one of the strangest experiences. We had our final presentations in Ethics and submitted our final essay for education. We had one last day of planned activities, where we went to this Antarctic experience center, where we saw penguins and experienced the warmest temperature in Antarctica—which is still really cold. That nigh,t we all went out to a Mexican restaurant, which was really good. It was weird saying good-bye to people. We hope to see each other on campus so it’s not like we will never see each other again. I wasn’t ready to say good-bye to this program.
Travelling was okay. I spent a night in Fiji with my one friend because our flights were messed up and we had a long layover. Fiji was beautiful, but ridiculously humid and buggy. We had a relaxed day and lounged by the beach and pool. I had another layover in LA, which was awesome on the way to New Zealand, but this time it was really windy and cold and we didn’t do much besides wander around and check out cafes.
Coming home was strange. I keep walking on the left now. I’ve been hit by work and responsibilities again, but the good news is that I’ve kept in touch with the friends I made on this program and I got to see the friends that I left at home. Studying abroad was one of the best and boldest decisions I’ve made, and I wish I could afford to do it every semester.
