My friends often ask me, “So, how was your year abroad?”. To be honest, it is absolutely impossible to answer this question with one sentence. Well, it was great? Better than great, it was the best year of my life so far! Therefore, to answer that question I'm going to take a little walk down memory lane and tell an anecdote or fun fact about each country that I visited. I am beyond grateful to have traveled and lived abroad so much. Here are sixteen stories for the sixteen countries I explored. I ordered them from the countries I spent the most time in, to the least.

1. France

I have an infinite amount of stories from studying abroad in France, but I’ll have to stick to one. During my first week, I was meeting up with a French friend and as I walked up to him, phone in hand, this is the conversation that took place:

Him: “J’aime bien ton coque!”, gesturing towards my lower body. (I like your &*?#) (At this point, I couldn’t speak French very well so it sounded to me like he said “I like your cock”)

Me: “Euh qu’est-ce que tu as dit? Tu aimes mon quoi?” (What did you say? You like my what?”)

Him: “Ton coque sur ton téléphone! Il est trop stylé” (The case on your phone! It’s really cool)

Me: “Ahh, je comprends! Merci” (Oh, now I understand! Thank you)

And that would not be the last time I was lost in translation. However, I was lucky enough to live with a warm, loving French family who helped me along the way.

2. Russia

The coldest temperature I ever felt was -40*C when I was visiting my relatives in Siberia. The worst part is when you first go outside because your face burns, but after five minutes it’s completely frozen so that’s much more bearable since you can’t feel anything anymore! Oh, and smiling for a picture? Painful. Maybe that’s why “Russians don’t smile”? One time I made the mistake of wearing mascara. My eyelashes froze over which was pretty cool, but when I went inside they melted and black mascara streamed down my face.

3. Hungary

What I love about Budapest is that the streets are always alive with people everyday and throughout the night. Locals, tourists, and international students light up the city in a kaleidoscopic melange of culture. This summer they were doing construction on the Liberty Bridge which usually has a tram that crosses it. Since it was free of transportation, everyone would sit there and even high up on the railings of it. The police didn’t seem to care either. I love this bridge. Sometimes musicians would play jazz music down below and from up above we had a nice view of the people and the beautiful city.

4. Italy

This year, I went to Italy for just a day and a half so, I’ll tell a story that happened in 2012 with my family. It was the day of the World Cup semi-final and Italy was playing so, the streets were packed full of fans fired up and ready for the game. We decided to do some touristing first and went to cast our wishes at the Trevi Fountain. My dad was set on getting the perfect picture despite the crowds of sun-blocked tourists so, he climbed up on some rocks. I turned away for a second to snap a quick shot myself. When I looked back, my dad was limping toward me with blood running down his leg and my sister had fainted from the sizzling, summer heat. We spent several hours in the emergency room for a couple stitches and some rest. Madness greeted us outside the hospital because Italy had won!

5. Germany

During my senior year of high school, a German exchange student named Victor lived with my family for the duration of the year. He is the sweetest boy I know and truly became my brother from another mother. While I was in France, I went to Germany to meet the rest of his family and see his city which is a tiny little town that no other Germans I meet have heard of. Because Victor knows my family so well, it was unique to be able to go across the world and see his home environment, too. Despite the fact that they had never met me before, his family treated me like family without hesitation. I feel so blessed. Also, all Germans speak English so well it’s incredible.

6. Poland

I went on a solo trip to Warsaw because I wanted to learn more about getting outside of my comfort zone. One night I was searching for something to eat when a stranger approached me asking me if he could take a couple pictures because he was a photographer. Why not, you know? He even emailed them to me afterwards. Then, I went to a bar on the beach and met so many great people from all over the world. I was talking to this Ukrainian guy for a while, but wanted to escape from him. Thankfully, I heard some girls speaking Russian in the bathroom and befriended them. They were there with their Erasmus group and it was their last night before everyone had to leave so, we danced until dawn. At 6a.m. when I was walking home, I kid you not, a stampede of wild boars raced in front of me right in the middle of the city. I was exhausted so, I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it or not, but here is the picture I took to verify.

7. Greece

Our Greek friends Katerina, Vaso, and Christos were kind enough to host us in their homes, feed us insanely delicious homemade meals, and provide us detailed tours of their city, Athens (thanks Christos for the wonderful commentary). They even organized an amazing day trip to a nearby island called Hydra. It was absolutely breathtaking there. The best part was that we were practically the only ones on this tiny little beach. The hospitality of Greeks was astounding and our experience would not have been as extraordinary without them.

8. Switzerland

I used to travel through Geneva because Lyon, the French city I lived in, was only two hours away and sometimes flights from Geneva were cheaper. Whenever I go to Switzerland, it is always, always raining. One of the times that I was there with my friend Shiloh, we took a tour of the United Nations headquarters in French. It was crazy to see all of these rooms where critical global decisions were made by officials from around the world. The funniest part was how, despite their demanding my passport for identification, they completely butchered my name on the name tag.

9. Czech Republic

My friend Lilly and I went on a ghosts and legends tour in Prague which was actually kind of scary because we happened to be the only two to book it on that ridiculously cold night. The tour guide, who was dressed like he had just hopped out of a Robin Hood storybook, showed us a house which had been known for mysterious acts for years in the past. However, just a month before they found aggressive writing carved in Latin high up on the walls that nobody could have reached. After shivering from fear and the cold, we went to an absintherie to try this famous drink which writers such as Hemingway used for inspiration. It was a funky substance. We befriended the two guys who were sitting next to us and then went to the weirdest underground club I have ever been to.

10. Morocco

My friend Emma and I went on a trip to Marrakech. We bargained and negotiated with a taxi driver in French, but once he found out that we were Americans he said “I’ll give you a good deal, I love Americans, come I’ll give you a nice tour”. We said “why not?” and slid into the taxi. He dropped us off in the middle of nowhere where we were greeted by a fancy looking gentleman in a slick suit. “Go, he’ll give you a great tour”, urged our taxi driver. Mr. Suit greeted us and gave us generous sprigs of mint. Why? For the pungent smell. He led us through narrow passages where every once in awhile we would see random men working on something. We discovered that the reason it stunk was because we were being taken to see a leather factory and the animals were apparently killed right there. I told Mr. Suit that we didn’t want to go because A) we were following a strange man down tiny streets that were strewn with other men and B) I did not want to see animals being killed and turned into leather. Thankfully, he took us back and the taxi driver was there who then dropped us off somewhere else and we were lost for another hour.

11. Iceland

I really wanted to see the Blue Lagoon, but I didn’t realize how popular it was and that you had to get tour reservations months before. So, I asked the tourist office where I could go to see some renowned Icelandic nature without a tour. He told me to take three different buses, then walk for about an hour until I reach the base of a mountain. After that, it would be about four more hours to climb said mountain, but there will be natural hot springs completely free of civilization. It was already 3p.m., but I concluded that I had to go there. On my way, I met a kindhearted couple from Venezuela who had been backpacking and decided to accompany me on this endeavor. We talked about spirituality, being at one with the universe, and the beauty of every step of this journey, not just the final destination. It was eye-opening to say the least. When we arrived, it was getting dark so, Sebastien and Kateryn offered me one of their tents and a sleeping bag. We relaxed in the magical hot spring oasis and felt the energy of the Earth. I learned so much from them. It was a long route back, causing me to almost miss my flight home the next day, but everything worked out fine.

12. Malta

Malta is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, close to Italy. It is a fascinating place because it has a colorful mix of Arabic, Italian, French, and Spanish cultures. The people there are also unbelievably kind. The first person we met was an older man who approached us when we were sitting on the edge of this wall, taking pictures of the view. He warned us that that was dangerous and that several tourists had actually fallen to their deaths from there. He was so delighted to hear that we were studying abroad in Europe and smiled from ear to ear. We could feel the genuine kindness in his words as he kept exclaiming how wonderful it all was and just encouraged us to have a great time.

13. Belgium

Fun fact: french fries actually originated in Belgium, not France. The beer is good here, too, I assume for those who enjoy drinking fermented barley. I’m more of a fermented grapes type of person, if you know what I mean.

14. Spain

In the district of Eixample in Barcelona, the corners of the buildings are all cut off. Therefore, the four way intersections have more of an octagonal shape. The reason for this was that the urban planner wanted to encourage more light in the apartments and streets as well as allow space for gardens. Otherwise, the most notable architecture was made by Gaudí.

15. Netherlands

I’m from Portland, Oregon which is pretty well known for being bike-friendly. However, never have I ever seen as many bikes in my life as I did in Amsterdam. There’s not even enough bike parking in the city so, most of the bridges have been overrun by them as well. I’m almost certain that as a pedestrian, you are much more likely to get hit by a bike than by a car.

16. Austria

I don't know too much about Austria, but what I remember is that the architecture was beautiful and everything was covered in gold. Also, it felt ridiculously expensive compared to Hungary and our wallets were crying after the weekend trip.

As much as I wish I was still abroad, I am thankful to be where I am. Remembering and missing people/things is normal, but dwelling is not healthy. Anyway, adventures can always be found at home if you are willing to look for them.