Studying abroad is definitely a time to learn new things and re-learn things I already knew.

During the first meal a group of us ate out shortly after arriving, I ordered lamb. I know I don’t like lamb, but I thought maybe it would be different here. It wasn’t, and the table had a good laugh when I admitted I ordered something that I already knew I didn’t like.

I also know that I don’t like wine very much, and yet, I continue to buy it (you can get a bottle for $1.50, so how could I not?). Similarly, I have known for years that things go better when I plan them. “Winging” things and leaving plans for the last minute doesn’t work well for.

Yet, recently when we did a day trip to Mont Blanc, I decided not to plan everything out. As it turned out, the very top of the mountain was closed (we still managed to get a ride up nearly all of it, about half the height of Mt. Everest), we missed the train for the ice caves and I did not wear enough layers to keep me warm.

I still had a great weekend, even if it was a little more sporadic than I usually go for. There was lots of laughing, no one held the mistakes against anyone else in the group (no one else bothered to look up anything either) and we still got to do lots of cool stuff. I had the best pistachio ice cream of my life.

Being in Geneva has been so ridiculously stress free. I am able to truly do whatever I want just about whenever I want. The other night I bought plane tickets to Paris for April because they were cheap, and I could.

My stress free life is also helping me to develop some very positive traits. I’m way more patient and understanding when something goes wrong, and I’m considerably more giving then I used to be.

For example, one of the girls who came to Mont Blanc with us couldn’t withdraw any euros (Switzerland’s currency is Swiss Francs, it’s not a part of the euro zone), I withdrew an extra hundred for her and didn’t give it another thought. Back home I might have loaned her half that for the day, but even then I would have been stressing about my bank account for the rest of the day.

Studying abroad is not always what I expected, but it’s always surprising. There are some people here who seem to be having such a terrible time abroad that I wonder why they came, and others who came for such different reasons then what I came for that I wonder why they chose Geneva.

Over all though it’s been a vastly positive experience, even if some of the things I’m learning, I’m really just re-learning.