While scrolling through my cellphone photos, I was met with a notification reminding me, once again, of my first-ever trip to Germany, six years ago to the day.

I went through the hundreds of photos I had taken on my iPod touch. In those two weeks, I snapped a photo of every single castle, every single mountain, and every single landscape that took my breath away. That being said, I took a lot of pictures. 

I spent last weekend visiting my relatives in Beerfelden, a small village in the beautiful Odenwald region of Germany, about an hour from where I stayed on my first trip here.

With my relatives, I was able to visit cities and attractions that I first saw years ago, and spent much of the weekend reflecting on how far this year has taken me. 

While I ended up in some of the same places I had once seen, I was able to do so surrounded by family that six years ago were strangers. I took castle tours in German this time and sat down at the end of the day with my ever-growing family and talked about everything from dogs to our family and what life in the United States is like.

They emphasized over and over again how happy they all are that I learned German and connected the strings of a family that separated long ago, and as they hugged me goodbye, all I could think was “me too.” 

Six years ago I boarded a plane for the first time and started an adventure that I thought would only last two weeks, but those two weeks were enough to instill in me not only the desire to return, but determination to as well. 

A lot has changed in these years, and I have changed a lot too, but one thing has and always will remain: my love for this country and culture that comes with it. When I boarded a plane home at the end of that brief trip in high school, my adventure didn’t stop, nor will it when I do the same in three short weeks.  

My high school German classes, the exchange trip and the countless people who helped me realize my love for this place all set me up for an adventure that lasts not a certain amount of weeks or months, but a lifetime. 

It’s sad knowing that soon when I look out my window my eyes won’t be met with the beautiful ‘skyline’ of Tübingen’s forests and mountains, but I can’t wait to see where the adventure takes me when I return to Germany once more.

— Shannon Rabotski is a 2016 graduate of Monroe High School and is a junior at Drake University. She is spending the year studying abroad in Tubingen, Germany.