Nate Long: Blog 1

Just two days ago I found out that I would be studying abroad in Pamplona in the North of Spain.  I have many things that I want to do and see while there being both in Spain and out.  The main goal that I have in studying abroad is that I want to become fluent in Spanish seeing as it is my major and just as a personal goal of mine.  However, outside of the classroom and language skills I want to travel as much as possible while there.  I want to be able to travel outside of Spain to other countries but at this point I don’t really know where all this includes.  As I draw closer to going, I want to get a better idea of my schedule and the amount of traveling that I will be capable of so that I can make plans.  Within Spain though, I hope to travel to the Madrid and Barcelona being two of the largest cities in Spain.  Not only this but these two cities are home to two of the largest soccer clubs in all of the world and I hope to be able to attend at least one of their games, especially El Clasico if at all possible.

Having just received my placement I am very excited for the trip but realize that it is months away and I still have much planning to do.  The only thing that I feel I am really nervous about is missing my friends and things that are going to happen back home.  Ultimately though, I know that I will love my time abroad and that seems to make me feel better about not being here for a whole semester.  As far as the actual trip, at this point being a few months away from going I’m not really nervous or scared of anything pertaining to the whole study abroad experience but I feel that as I draw closer I will grow more anxious about the upcoming trip.

When it comes to maximizing my experience the first thing I think I can do is, as already mentioned, to travel as much as possible to see the world and see different cultures.  I feel that this will help me learn greatly about the world and things in it.  Next, seeing as one of my goals is to become fluent, I want to surround myself as much as possible with people who will always speak Spanish with me and help me to improve in the language.  Lastly, I want to make many new friends from all around world for two reasons.  First, to learn about them, where they are from and their culture.  Secondly, for future traveling having these friends around the world would potentially make it easier to travel around the world.