5-4-23

 This is my first entry for a long time so it seems my fears of not keeping up with this were justified. However, I am back now and I have learned a lot in the past few months about myself. I've been able to address some feelings of self-loathing I have been dealing with for some time now and can genuinely say I like the person that I am. I have also discovered some more of my obsessive tendencies which make it much more draining for me to deal with my own thoughts. My time here has been difficult but I don't believe I will regret the trip. I can now say I have been to Paris, Switzerland, Vienna, and Prague which means I am going to be even more unbearable at parties from now on. One of the most striking things about Europe is the government seems to actually try to work for its citizens as opposed to back in the the States. There is public transport, healthcare, retirement, sick leave, maternity and paternity leave, and an attitude that the government should benefit the people as opposed to just trying to leave people to their own devices. On of my regrets from this trip is that I have not meet many international students. It would have been nice to get to know the places I'm in from the perspective of those who live here more often but the nature of this program makes this difficult. 


This trip has been one of the hardest things I've done and will continue to be difficult until it is over and as the enmodes project ramps up. I will survive but it will be difficult. 

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