Well, the end happened pretty much just as I thought it would. I emerged from that beautiful ship in San Diego Harbor, weighed down by the spoils of my journey, tearfully greeted by my mother, calling out promises that I would stay in touch with too many new friends. A few were empty. Most were not.
Regardless, I dove headlong straight back into my own "reality," as it was. We arrived on the West Coast May 14 and I was on a red-eye to D.C. that night. May 16 I was back in Charlottesville by 10 a.m. for an internship interview. That night, my friends threw me a surprise welcome home party which they abruptly turned into a joint party upon realizing that another of our friends was returning from a semester in London. And as I dove into that stream of hectic that is the life of Joe Wahoo, those unbelievable 100 days I spent on Semester at Sea began to fade, exacerbated by my short attention span.
But then, I'm sounding awfully negative.
It's cool to be home! I can drive! I can go to the grocery store and choose my own awful diet! I get to see my dog, who I like to think missed me! I can play the drums! I knew that life would snap right back to normal. I kept that mindset the last few weeks or so of the voyage, knowing that if I didn't, I would get depressed and terribly self-righteous upon my return, as I know many of my friends did and are still getting over.
What do I mean by self-righteous? Anyone on that ship who didn't know already how destructive, wasteful, naive and ignorant Americans can be learned of it in a very, very big way. I fear that some alienating behavior may have developed upon their return. Oh well, they'll get over it.
Within a month, I went from traveling around the world, stuck with 700 other people who I've now decided I liked a whole lot, to...
Summer in C-ville. It's hot, it's heavy and I think the solitude is about to melt my brain. This was truly the only real shock I've had. Imagine: Just when you, a loner by trade, get used to constantly being surrounded by people 24 hours a day and have become accustomed to having no privacy aside from the restroom (occasionally), you come back to this.
I write this sitting in my gigantic, empty apartment as all of my roommates are up north for the summer. I can count on one hand the friends I know who are here and are sometimes around to hang out with , and the closest ones are half a mile away. I bought some fish to keep me company, but I'm not sure they can hear me rambling to them through the glass of the aquarium.
I think perhaps I got addicted to having to open myself up and make new friends virtually every day on that ship. Maybe that's why I'm losing my mind here. The people I don't know here, aside from co-workers, just seem downright... unfriendly. I can't even tell what I'm doing wrong. Is it that people on Semester at Sea were just more prepared to befriend new people or do summertime Charlottesvillians just have such rigid comfort zones? Donate to the "Save Erik from the reverse culture shock that he was warned about by the Study Abroad Office like it was the plague" campaign. Be his friend!
The true issue also remains, which I'm sure virtually anyone who goes abroad has to grapple with: How much do you cling to the new friends you've made and how much do you reconnect with your former friends and life, even if it means risking the strength of those new bonds? The answer is that I don't know, but it's an issue to consider for about three seconds before forgetting about it.
So I don't mean to sound so downbeat with this piece, I really don't. Hopefully, though, it serves to illustrate how much of a good, refreshing time I had on Semester at Sea. And again, I saw a lot of people here turn their noses up at the program when I mentioned that I was doing it. Come on. Don't do that. You want to know about it, ask me. I feel like a new person, but I can still be intellectually pretentious, too.
Read More
It’s okay not to be okay
By Mai Hukuoka | 4 days agoWhether talking to a friend, a loved one or a professional, it is so necessary, and human, to need more than you can provide for yourself.
Taking a break at Tangerines Kitchen
By Charley Thomas | 6 days agoWhat the restaurant somewhat lacks in ambiance, it compensates for in tasty dishes and prompt service.
Virginia Policy Lab — a hub for student-led policy action
By Katherine Haden | December 9, 2024Students propose their own projects and collaborate with other members to research their issues of interest, brainstorm solutions and write policy proposals.
