Kate Trueblood
When they say your life will be forever changed after a semester abroad, they really mean it. And I didn’t know just to what extent that would be true for me until I landed in Newark, NJ on May 3rd, 2006 after a semester in Airdrie, Scotland.
As I drove along the now familiar M8 for the last time earlier that morning, I was struck by reality of the end of my cross cultural experience. I recalled my first day in Scotland and how foreign it had seemed at the time and in comparison, how familiar it seemed now. I remembered feeling so much the intruder into the quiet culture of the Scots and my gradual integration into the lives of those around me. And suddenly I was very sad. I was sad to be leaving, I was sad to have not done more with every second of my time, and I was sad to leave all of my friends behind. But I was overjoyed at how the Lord had worked in my life through studying with SIS and living with the people of Airdrie RPCS.
I have had a tremendous, once in a lifetime experience at the age of 22, and I know that when I am 80 years old, I will still be talking about it all. |
When I first had the notion of traveling abroad my last semester of College I must admit I was a bit apprehensive. What would it be like to be gone the last semester of college and return to graduate and move away from all my friends? Would I have the credits to graduate with a Biology degree after studying history and theology with SIS? Where would the money come from for the additional costs of a flight and tuition fees? Would I have the courage to leave my family and friends behind in the States for 115 days to step out on a limb to make new friendships in Scotland? Within a week these questions were answered with a report on my credit status that said I had 13 elective credits to fill which would work with the SIS program, a study abroad grant which covered 90% of my additional tuition fees, and a travel voucher from Continental airlines which covered half of my plane ticket. The rest of my fears were assuaged over time with prayer and consideration. And boy am I thankful that God demonstrated his sovereignty to me even in the planning stages of this trip. I think that was my first lesson that I learned from my study abroad experience- to give everything and completely over to his perfect will. While in Scotland this lesson was reiterated in my readings and class discussions, in my involvement with the Mums and Tots and Youth Club programs, and in my worship with the church. When my grandfather died a few days before my 22nd birthday I particularly struggled with this lesson. But by God’s grace he comforted me through the outpouring of love from his church. And again, I was reminded that God’s plan is bigger than anything I could dream up for myself and whether or not I worry, he is still up on his throne, reining supremely. For our God is surely a good and faithful and just God!
As I struggled with my enormous luggage (after four months I had acquired quite an array of Scottish products and souvenirs) through passport control and customs, I was abruptly hit with the realization that my cross-cultural experience was over. American accents were flying around me left and right, something that was a bit of a surprise after four months of noticing my own accent being so foreign amongst everyone else. I must admit that though the American accent is widely diverse, I missed the lilting speech of the Scots. Fast food restaurants, mini-marts, and strip malls whizzed my car window on the ride home from the airport in Cleveland, OH. I couldn’t help but sigh over the over-commercialization of it all. But despite experiencing culture shock in my own culture, a smile crept over my face because I have seen something other than America. I have had a tremendous, once in a lifetime experience at the age of 22 and I know that when I am 80 years old I will still be talking about it all. I will hold the memories I made on my Wednesday Cultural Excursions, on Sunday dinners with families in the church, Mums and Tots and McDonalds (which is much better in Scotland than in America by the way) on Friday mornings, and in all my encounters with the people of Airdrie RPCS. The 347 pictures I had printed out of 675 photos I had taken (my predictions had been right after all, it had cost me close to a mint to have even half of them printed!) are arranged in order in their plastic sleeves in a photo alum with ‘Historic Scotland” written on the cover. For not only did I experience the history of Scotland, but I experienced the writing of my own history over the last four months.