It’s dirty, this study abroad thing.

Not in an unhygienic way. Well, except for when you’re stuck somewhere without a shower. Then, yes, that’s actually dirty.

It’s dirty in the way that it’s not clean. It’s unfamiliar, a little scary and you’re inevitably going to fall in the mud, sometimes literally, in the Aillwee Caves, where it’s really cold and drafty. Ahem.

Normally, this would be the column where I get all the “this experience changed my life” crap out of my system and look stupid doing it. And to be honest, I thought that I’d be writing it.

This past semester wasn’t a life-changer. Save for a new appreciation for how much stuff costs and a wicked sweet shot glass collection, not a whole lot comes out as a permanent change. Before coming to Europe, my life was alright. Coming to Europe, though, provided an opportunity for me to do stuff in my life.

At this point, the question is raised of whether or not studying abroad was a good decision. In college, a semester is an eternity, so it’s a fair question.

I have to apologize to my editors that get this. It’s 7:30 a.m. in Florence and I haven’t slept, for lack of an exact time – a while. I’d planned on crashing for a couple hours after my late flight from Dublin to Pisa landed. Unfortunately, the airport closes at 1 a.m. No problem, I would just take a train into town and figure out something there. No train. So, with minor directions, I decided to walk from the airport to the train station to get a landmark, to the Leaning Tower of Pisa – I pretty much had to – and then back to the train station for my 4:15 a.m. train to Florence.

So, after waiting for my hostel to open and finding myself some internet, I find myself here, about as dirty, tired and grumpy as I’ll get over here and there’s only one thing on my mind: This is awesome.

Why? I have no clue.

By coming over here, I messed up my graduation plan somewhat. Finding housing for next semester has been a nightmare. I have no idea what’s going on for my thesis. By not being in the U.S., I definitely hurt some job opportunities. I won’t be there to see my senior friends graduate. On a lot of levels, just not being there sucks.

One of my roommate’s friends asked me: “Why would you come all the way over here for a semester? No offense.”

None taken. In fact, I don’t really think I’d asked that question. Instead, I’d been asking “why not?” The best answer I could give him was: The Experience.

Now, he was drunk and I could’ve told him anything and he would’ve taken it. But what is the experience?

It’s not like in the movies where you go to The Pubs, meet some crazy guy at the first place you go and have tremendous misadventures for the night. No, bars in Europe are just like bars in the United States. There are sketchy dudes preying on the girls who look like they rolled around in a bathtub of glitter before they went out.

That’s right Europe, in my last column I’m throwing haymakers. That’s the American way, which, according to my French friend Lucie, means everyone owns a gun. Side note: She really likes cheese and wine. Ha.

No one tells you have much spare time when you go abroad. The television is just awful and the classes, at least at my school, have no homework and usually only meet once or twice a week.

Remember cars? Yeah, I haven’t been in one since New Year’s Eve, even with all my travelling and my school being a 25-minute walk away.

I miss knowing that stores are open past 5 p.m. Just once I’d like to know that there aren’t cameras following my every move on the street. You never appreciate $1 beers and double cheeseburgers until you lose them. They don’t have Mountain Dew here. Traffic here is asinine and terrifying. You know what? A lot of Europe smells bad. Hey, there was a freaking volcanic ash cloud that punched most of my travel plans in the face.

There are a thousand things that went bad. And there are a hundred reasons I shouldn’t have studied abroad. So, if you were to ask me if this was a good decision, there’s only one answer: absolutely, airport floors, volcanoes, crappy TV and all.

Nick O’Malley is a Collegian columnist. If you have any questions about studying abroad, or anything else, he can be contacted at [email protected].