Week 8

I cannot believe that it's already nearing the end of our study abroad trip!  Before coming on this trip, I had not known a single other person that was coming along.  I can be kind of a shy person and socially awkward as well, so I was extremely nervous and worried that I would not make any friendships on the trip.  However, Andrew was the first person I met (while in the airport, actually) and the first thing he says to me is "okay, so when Sarah gets here, I want you to ask her if she brought her fanny pack and tell her that you have yours".  At this moment, I knew that this group was going to be okay. 

The following week had passed and the group went on our first trip together: Amsterdam!  The group began to drift apart into two groups: Sarah, Taylor, Dan, and Kevin- and then me, Hailey, and Andrew.  We spent the entire trip laughing, roaming the city, and moving up in the friendship stage way faster than I had ever expected.  Since that trip, us three have been doing everything together! We get dinner, talk about personal issues, make inside jokes, etc. 

Hailey and I have definitely grown closer than I had initially thought we would! The book says,  "Friendships are voluntary relationships we enter into with people with whom we share common traits, shared experiences, or joint goals" (Remland, 2015). I can definitely see how we became such great friends and will continue doing so even when we get back to Morgantown!  I am so thankful that we were on this trip together to meet each other.

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