It's been months since I came back from exchange, but the desire of travelling and meeting people from all over didn't go away, and it probably never will. These days there are a lot of rotary exchange students on their EuroTrip: they basically travel through Europe on a bus for a couple of weeks. They stop in places like Paris, Strasbourg, Munich, Prague, Vienna, Venice.. and then my hometown: Milan.

I love the fact that we are in the 21st century. I follow a lot of exchange students on social networks and one of them happened to be on her way to Milan. I decided to text her and join her group. I showed them around and chatted for a few hours. I felt weird because not even a year ago I was the one road tripping. They were really nice to me, but seeing how excited, happy and close they were made me think about my exchange. I extremely miss everything and everyone. I remember laughing 24/7, proudly taking pictures with our own flag, making bad jokes.. I mean exchange is literally the time of our lives, at least so far. We experience so much in such a short period of time; one year seems a lot at the beginning but it is not that long, time flies.

It hurts to meet cool people in the morning and have to say goodbye in the afternoon. There's no time to really get to know each other. But I keep doing it, because meeting people from other places is fun.

After my bus trip and when my american family drove me to the airport, I felt like my heart was taken away. I felt empty and I couldn't stop feeling sad. I still remember the pain I felt back then, but I am about to start college in Denmark, which means I will start a new life, just like I did a couple of years ago. I just cannot stay at home. I know that I will probably feel sad and empty in a few years because of the same reasons I felt that way before, but I couldn't care less.

My point is: The hardest moment is leaving your host country because your exchange will be over forever, no more DQ blizzards with your host family, no more football games, school dances or rotary trips. Nothing. You won't take it back. It hurts when it ends, but IT IS WORTH IT. I'd go on exchange again and again.

- Cris

Hello guys, some of my fellow exchange students sent me some of the questions americans asked them during their time in the US, I wanted to share them with you because they are really funny. Please know that by posting this I am not judging anyone, I know that everyone can ask stupid questions, regardless where they are from. Take it easy. 

Let's start with some Geography..

Is Spain the capital of Italy?

Is Spain next to Singapore?

Brazil is between Germany and Spain, right?
France is in the UK and Paris is in London, right?
Is Norway a city in Nazi-Germany or Europe?

How many hours will it take to DRIVE FROM NEW YORK TO PAKISTAN?

How many hours does it take to TRAVEL from the Netherlands to Europe WITH A CAR?

Do you have running water in Denmark?

Do you have bathrooms or do you PEE IN THE BACKYARD?

Do you have chips, iPhones and cars in France?

Do you have kangaroos in AUSTRIA?

Do you have cars and trees in Germany?

Do you have A MOON in Poland?



Do you eat turkey in Turkey?
Why are you WHITE if you are FROM BRAZIL?
Do the leaves of a tree turn colors during fall in Germany?
Since you are German, are you RELATED in any way TO HITLER?

You said you have the moon in France, does that mean there are TWO ON EARTH?

I think each one of us has a dream place, mine was and still is New York City. Don't ask me why, because I can't answer. I don't know. I grew up with the idea that NY was the perfect city. Crowded, busy, full of yellow taxis and skyscrapers. The city of lights, the one that never sleeps. There is always something going on and it's exciting.

Well, my dream became reality one year ago today. I woke up at 3 am in order to catch a plane and fly out from Denver to The Big Apple. I was so happy I couldn't describe how I felt wth words. I am not a morning person but I can tell you it wasn't hard to wake up, even if it was super early and I probably slept less than 2 hours that night.

I had a layover in Chicago, and it has been hard not being able to make a stop there as well, I bet it is beautiful. As soon as the airplane touched the ground I felt something inside me, like if the younger me whispered in my ear "I knew you would make it to New York".

I spent my first night at the hotel in Newark, attending a BELO presentation with nearly 90 fellow exchange students from all over the world. I will never forget when, the next morning, our bus came out of the Lincoln Tunnel. My eyes pictured the New Yorker building, and that meant just one thing: I was finally in Manhattan. I stepped out of the bus at 9 am, in front of the Public Library. I couldn't stop looking around me, everything was so huge.

Speaking about getting a full experience of the city, we even got stuck in the traffic and yes that ain't fun. We were supposed to spend approximately two hours in Times Square, ended up having like half an hour of free time there. What can I say? Beautiful, yes. But I've always pictured it differently in my head; like the Statue of Liberty, that I thought was enormous.

Sometimes I think back in time and I realize I had the beautiful opportunity to visit so many places that now I don't even know where I would like to settle in the future. Even if I visited NY, three days weren't enough to really live it, this is why I want to move there sometime, get lost in streets I don't know with a cup of coffee in my hand. I've always wanted to visit it but during my staying in the US I actually fell in love with another city of which I knew very little about.. San Francisco!
And you, did you manage to go back to your host country after your high school exchange?
Did you go elsewhere for college? Comment!

Check out "What to do in New York City." <--

- Cris