Eddie reflecting on his time abroad

After ten months of studying abroad I have now returned home.  I had a solitary and arduous fourteen-hour flight from Cape Town to Manchester via Dubai and once I landed I scanned for any familiar symbol of my homeland.  Walking off the plane I was greeted with a giant Manchester United Football Club crest and I knew then that I was truly back in England.  My time abroad in the USA and South Africa has been so valuable and insightful and I have definitely matured as a person but there really is no place quite like home.  It was an unforgettable experience and has been the highlight of my university career.  I have studied US history, politics and culture for years but the unique adventure of being immersed in America for nine months is not something you can gain from a textbook – no matter how many you read.  My knowledge of South Africa before my visit was restricted solely to apartheid and some famous footballers but I knew there was far more to this beautiful land than a narrative of hardship.  Every state in the world has a chapter of its history it regrets.  I wanted to expand my view of South Africa and get a flavour of African culture too and my time there did not disappoint. 

Studying abroad greatly refined me a person and I would hugely recommend the programme.  I was told I wouldn’t truly understand my own country until I lived in another and that is certainly true.  I elaborated on convictions I held to be unimpeachable and scrutinised American, South African and British values and interests.  I was not trivial with what I probed but intrigued by cultural differences.  I made the maximum use of my time.  I attended a debate for the vacant US Senate Connecticut seat and questioned Americans on their views of the Obama administration and the role of the federal government in their lives.  Never before have I heard so many opinions on the three alleged ‘gs’ of American politics; ‘God, guns and gays.’  I have been confounded by HIV/AIDS denialism and inspired by the holistic worldview of ubuntu.  I tracked the revolutionary trail in Boston and traced the birth of the nation through Independence Hall in Philadelphia.  I interned at a world-renowned HIV/AIDS advocacy group in a township and I absorbed the mechanics of American federalism and worked with the homeless against the backdrop of the centre of American democracy in Washington DC.  I interviewed a congressman at the Capitol and toured the Rhode Island state capitol in Providence.  I apprehended the salient concerns for the longevity of South African democracy and was evoked at the 9/11 memorial in New York City.  I wine tasted at Altydgedacht and went skiing in Vermont and skydived over Connecticut.  I watched typical American pastimes and supported the Huskies at basketball and have been amazed by lions, cheetahs, elephants and rhinos.  I’ve sampled American mac ‘n’ cheese and South African crocodile kebabs. 

I have been fortunate to have lived and studied in two fascinating and diametrically opposite cultures and met so many interesting people and made so many brilliant friends.  Thank you to everyone who made this year possible and to everyone who made it so memorable. 

Life is truly for living – next stop (one day) New Zealand!