Study Abroad Fall 2001

Fall 2001 - Part I - Paris/Germany/London

On September 3, 2001 I left for Europe for the very first time. It was an eye opening experience that I will always look back on as one of the best times of my life. I encouraged many people following my experience to do their own study abroad. I believe that in order to truly appreciate other cultures and value your freedoms as an American, it is worth going overseas.

I took a red-eye into Paris, France that quickly made me aware of what jet-lag was. By 3pm Paris time I was exhausted ... but I still had nowhere to sleep! Thankfully, my French speaking friend Amanda was also starting her study abroad in Paris and was able to help me out in finding a reasonable hotel for a couple nights. I was seriously 2 hours away from sleeping on a bench in a park somewhere, lol. I spent my first weekend in Europe visiting my German friends that once did their exchange at UConn. They were extremely accomodating and showed me many parts of Southwestern Germany including Mannheim and Stuttgart. I also got to see my very first soccer game!

Once I arrived back in Paris ... the last thing happened that anyone was expecting ... 9/11. I'll never forget exactly where I was this day and how I found out the news. In brief, I called home to check in roughly around 9am New York time and my mom starting getting choked up on the phone. My first reaction was that there was a sick/dying family member, but she managed to tell me about the multiple hijackings. Shortly after hearing the news, the phone line became overwhelmed by static and I had to hang up. There was no getting through again because with the breaking news, the phone lines became jammed.