Calm Before the Storm: Pre-departure to the Netherlands

I have lived my entire life in the same town of Milford, Massachusetts, taking occasional trips to Canada and various parts of the United States. Still, however, I feel as though I have never been able to exist in a place outside my own corner of the globe without feeling like a tourist. I have never been a part of another culture. It is with a hopeful mind that I wish to overcome the invisible barrier that often separates cultures from one another and sometimes pits them against each other.

As our world becomes more and more complex, I think that it is becoming increasingly important for the next generation of thinkers to be worldly thinkers, with the ability to think past their own culture. This belief, along with a love for new experiences and views, is what drove me to studying abroad. Traveling to the Netherlands, there are many things that I hope to accomplish. I plan to further my academics, see new views, meet new people, and take away as much as I possibly can from the experiences that I can only currently dream about.

Truthfully, my expectations as to how I want to change, or what I want to experience do not get much more specific than that. My plan is to go into this experience with an open mind and a willingness to try new things, and I believe the rest will come with time and miles. As this trip is to be unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, there is only a certain degree of mental preparing I can do before I begin to overstep into the unknown.

I find that my anticipation for the next months far outweighs the nerves that I feel, although I am slightly apprehensive about leaving life as I know it behind me for a little while. Within the Dialogue, I am very much looking forward to learning about how the Dutch way of living life (specifically involving their bike-centric culture) can be used as a sort of guide to improve the way in which we think about urban transportation in the United States. I am also excited to travel after the Dialogue, and to complete the Tour de Mont Blanc.

In general my plan is to immerse myself fully into the culture that I am encountering, and to live as much as possible as if I were a citizen. by doing this, I hope to broaden my view on what it means to be a United States citizen, and what it means to be human.