Being Back Home After a Semester Abroad

For my studies, I went to Tokyo,Japan for one semester (basically 6 months) and around a week ago, I returned to Germany, which feels extremely weird.

During my trip, I've made a lot of friends, got used to my situation living in a huge and populated city, got used to the culture and found happiness in my situation. After my semester was done, it was time for me to finally return and I've experienced some mixed feelings about my return. On one hand, I've wanted to see all my friends, family members and basically missed a couple things about Germany, but on the other hand, it was really tough saying bye to all the people and the city I've enjoyed so much. On my last day in Tokyo, which was also the last day of exams and my birthday, I almos cried on the train ride back home from university, because I had to say bye to some of my best new friends.

Right before my last exam, me and one of my best friends were talking about the semester coming to an end and me leaving Japan. He told me : ' we basically just became real good friends after a couple months and now it is already time to say bye to each other for a long time'. Once he said that, my mood changed immediately and it saddened me a lot. I knew that I was going to miss him and all the others a lot, but hadn't realised it yet. Just being abroad for one semester is usually not enough, if you make a lot of good friends. Making good friends takes some time usually and saying bye to that person, who in my case also lives like 15 hours flight time away, is extremely sad.

While I was on the train and already said bye to all my friends at University, who weren't also living in the dorm, he texted me and we were again talking about how sad everything will be and I had tears in my eyes. He also told me not to cry on the train, because I would look like a weird foreigner and I started laughing with tears in my eyes. I'm sure that I will see him and my other friends at university again, but unfortunately it's not going to be a daily thing.

Getting back to the dorm from University, I prepared a couple things for the flight, some of my friends organized a party downstairs, I went down, had a couple of drinks, was a bit tipsy and went way too late to bed. The atmosphere was amazing, but also sad and I said goodbye to the people I had the chance to get to know and went back to my room really sad.

On the next morning, I took an early flight back to Germany and while on my way to the airport, I've realized that this thing had ended. My life in Japan was officially over and it would never be like that ever again. All the people I met, all the fun things I've experienced, all the new situations I was in, it was all over. The experience of being in a completely different country to your home country was mesmerizing. Especially in Japan, everything goes by so seamlessly. There is not much to worry about and it's way different in Germany.

Once I landed in Germany, I knew that I was back. Don't get me wrong, I like Germany as a country, but the people here are something else. There are a lot of really nice people, but also a lot of bad people. And those bad people basically ruin your life here. Also, where I live in Germany, everything is dark, the streets are always empty, there is nothing really to do, everyone dresses the same, looks the same, acts the same and this place is just the opposite of vivid.

It is hard right now to get used to this situation here and I feel like I don't belong here anymore. I also don't want to live here anymore, because it takes the joy out of me. The only fun times I have here, is whenever I see my family or my friends.

I don't really know why that is the case for me, but I believe that being somewhere else and seeing how fun, peaceful and happy your own life can be, makes you realise how much worse your old place is.

Or is it just because I lived here for my whole life and just got tired of being here? I don't really know, but I do know that returning back home from somewhere, where you enjoyed your life, can be extremely tough.