Experiential blog Post 5-- Emotional Abroad

My emotions varied throughout the trip, and in different ways than I expected. Throughout my travels, I ranged from being excited and energetic to irritated and tired. I found myself talking through my emotions with (a) close peer(s) as a way of expressing what I was feeling and coping with the difficulties of traveling abroad. There were times where I would go on my own to cope with how I was feeling, but this was far-less frequent. The majority of us employed similar techniques in expressing our emotions, talking through them with each other or taking space to decompress. My feelings seemed quite similar to those around me. While excited and happy to be travelling, we all seemed to experience some degree of negative emotion, and generally around the same time. Coming back to Harlaxton, for example: by the time Harlaxton was a day or two out, we were all quite ready to return and relax. Everybody here has their own unique way of dealing with their emotions. I tend to talk them through, but there are times where I utilize more introverted techniques, such as taking a walk or reading a book alone. Peers of mine often employed similar techniques, yet there were the few outliers; some of my classmates would consume alcohol to reduce their stress, some would smoke cigarettes, and other stress reducing techniques. I found that I felt differently than I expected to. I assumed it would be easy to cope with, and I could face any adversity with a smile on my face; I think we all thought the same coming in. But there were times when I would get upset or irritated, and I had to deal with these accordingly. One major realization for me was that I certainly do belong in a culture. I thought before this that I was a sort of wandering soul; I belonged nowhere and could easily adapt wherever I went. After this trip, though, I know just how deep-seated my cultural standings are.