Identity Library

Veronika Becher 0:15
Hey everyone, and welcome to another episode of identity library. My name is Veronica Becker, and today I'm sitting with my most famous person called Florida

back. I'm back, everybody. I'm back here. What's good? Okay, happy to be back. So you know, Happy New Year, everyone. Happy New Year. 2025 and also, how we start our podcast, we always finish them and back and back on set. You know,

Loridana Foksha 0:48
I hope you had a wonderful break. Today's the first day of class, and I had an amazing day. I'm just the F, D, O, C for y'all.

Like I said, I had an amazing day. Super nice people, super interesting people. I think the amount of people asking me about my accent was just crazy enormous. And I was teaching some people German how to greet someone. Not that it's so much different, but how do you say hello, exactly? Hello. Wow. That's so cool. Welcome to my life. But basically, today we're here for a special episode that I thought might be really interesting, a reoccurring character.

I'm this. I'm a star.

Veronika Becher 1:36
Oh my gosh. Um, just as a disclaimer or not disclaimer, if you ever listen to my podcast and you're interested in the student media being involved, I feel like I should get paid for this advertisement, or you want to be

what we're good for business students, oh my gosh. And you ever feel like you know, being a podcaster or anything else, you can always reach out to me, or reach out to the student media at NC State. And as long as you're taking at least one credit hour, you can be part of our nice little group. Okay, plug in,

but now coming back, okay, now going back to the actual topic

today, I would love to talk about your experience in Spain and how, you know it's been a semester. It's been a whole semester. It's been some time. So back, yeah, changed. I'm a different but the same person. Okay, me, you knew, Oh my gosh, I'm happy to be back it, guys, it feels really good to be back in the studio right now. I miss this I love yapping, and I want people to listen to me. Okay, I love how we started off this whole podcast with flow down and freaking out with this little frog that disappeared throughout the whole semester, and I have no idea what the heck yes.

So the question probably we're gonna name this episode, who stole the frog? Who stole the frog. All right, my guess is

Abdullah. Abdullah Abdullah. If you're listening to that, yes, you got featured. Um, if you ever, I feel like my advertisement is too long, but if you ever feel like, you know, checking out a different episode called in the east wing, and you're interested in spice conspiracy theories, not really, but you know anything related to CIA agents, and you're just interested in interesting stories. Interesting stories. Interesting stories. Um, check out the podcast in the East Wing, um, by Abdullah NC, DJ, who also, by the way, won the Best podcast of the year, new Yeah, last, last year, last semester. So,

enough, enough, enough. We're starting. So could you please give us a rundown of what in Spain? A lot, man, maybe like, why Spain? Why in Spain? Like people mine's been okay, yeah, for everyone new here,

Loridana Foksha 4:03
I am basically in the same I am in a program called the IBD program, international business dual degree program in pool management.

And so basically this is a dual degree program where you have two countries, two universities, two degrees,

two languages, and just like one huge experience, Veronica is also in this degree. As you all know, you should know already,

I am in, like, the opposite way. So I'm doing my two years at NC State and my last two years at Comillas Academy and Madrid Madrid, I like I did, I did, like a half Spanish, half English,

cut that out.

And spaniel E and that

was.

Crazy.

So first takeaway of this whole podcast episode is, if you go abroad, you probably will never remember your native language. I dude this, let's, let's talk about this. First of all, let's start with the language. Let's, let's, let's hit languages. So, um, English is obviously my native language, is the language that I mainly think in. I also grew up speaking Romanian, a very rundown, like moldovian dialect, type of Romanian.

And so that, in of itself, was like growing up two languages, and then, you know, maybe throw some Russian in there, because, you know, it's Russian, heavily influences Romanian and especially our moldovian dialect. And then I'm learning Spanish, and, you know, living now in a Spanish speaking country, Spain, and of itself,

which even then Spanish Spain, Spanish Spanish is very different from like Latin America and South America Spanish, so, like, even the way it's taught here is different from over there, but

living in Spain has taught me that I did not know enough of any language at all, and

the first couple of days, like few weeks, maybe a whole month, like the first no this semester has been hard, to say the least. All my classes are in Spanish, and that means I'm learning corporate finance, I'm learning marketing research, I'm learning,

like strategic analytics, all in Spanish. And that, in of itself is so difficult because I have to translate everything in my brain and then re translate it to put it on an exam so difficult.

And then on top of that, when I'm trying to, you know, call my mom and talk to her, Romanian Spanish just gets thrown in there. And when I'm in school, and I'm trying to speak in Spanish, Romania gets thrown in there. And, you know, it's hard to, like, come back and, like, grasp those two languages when I wasn't, I hadn't, I had a had a good foot in either one of them. So the

Veronika Becher 7:14
languages is hard, to say the least. And I know Veronica, like you've, you've had a lot of difficulty with your own languages as well, right? Oh my gosh. I went back to Germany for three weeks, and I was struggling with German, and that was not fun, um, just especially if you like, you're standing trying to buy some bread in the bakery, and you forget what the word is for bread.

Yes, experiences like that.

And the moment a random guy walked up to me at the dentist office and asked me something in English, I was like, Oh my gosh, someone who wants my English here, and it was the best experience ever.

Loridana Foksha 7:59
Yeah, I found a lot of Romanian people, people speaking in, like, in Spain, living in Spain, or like, you know, on the airplane, or in like, different parts of the world, or like, Russians and Portugal, because there's a lot of Russians in Portugal, like the Russian community population, and I got so excited when they could speak Russian and Spanish, because That meant that I didn't have to choose between either, and I can just speak both the same time. And that's how, like, my brain flows with both languages. I'm just, like, I'm speaking in Rowan and in Spanish at the same time, and they can understand me, and it's the best. And like, I don't have to worry about, like, oh, wait, what is this word? And the other language I can just, I can speak freely. And sometimes my mind stops, because then two words come into my head, and I'm like, Oh my God, wait. What do I say? What do I say? What should I say? What's better? I think it's worse when

Veronika Becher 8:50
neither like, Yeah, nothing. It's worse when nothing comes Yes. And you're like, I actually forgot the word, and then they like what it would be in German. I'm like, I don't remember it in any of the languages I speak, like I know the concept of it. I cannot, I know that, but I can't tell you the word, and it can be something so stupid, like dustpan, I don't know, like bread, like bread, so I know especially the most simple words that are just gone from your head. But it's, it was. It was a good experience. Yes, being back home is a strange sensation. You probably experience the same thing. I right, yeah, it's like I'm in between, between like

Loridana Foksha 9:29
it felt like I've never left. And at the same time, it it doesn't necessarily feel like home anymore.

Veronika Becher 9:38
I totally agree. I feel like the initial topic of this podcast episode was Spain, but I feel like one of the experiences I've encountered this break was just you, when you leave your parents house and you come back, you're like, I've changed. I'm a different person. I've grown so much. I've been living by myself, and the moment you step inside the apartment and now.

Thing changes. It feels like you're again the kid who was I'm still my Mommy's Little girl, yes, and that means your parents sometimes. I mean, with much love, I don't think my parents treat me as much as a kid this time than they used to, but you still feel like you're treated as a kid, and it feels like you've never grown and never left. But then the same time, I realized the people stayed in my hometown, and there were barely any people left.

Loridana Foksha 10:24
They they didn't involve as much. I feel like the experience of going abroad was the one that gave me a lot of huge perspective change on things and how we approach communication between people. That's definitely something that I've experienced as well, and I think I first experienced that at NC State, and even more so in Spain, because I go to a very international school. It's a very small school, but there's a lot of internationals that go there as well. And I'm honestly more friends with other like Europeans than with Spanish students. I've met and befriended Germans and Irish and people from the UK, just in general,

Italy and France and whatever. And

Veronika Becher 11:18
it definitely is eye opening, to say the least. Maybe fun fact for other listeners, there's a so there's this German guy, German girl, no disclosure of names, and both of them went to the same university with me, but the girl went to state and the guy went to her university. So when Laura came, Laura was visiting me in Germany over Christmas break, while I got my wisdom teeth removed.

So basically I could not talk actually at all, and I was swollen like a little hamster for the next days.

Made me realize two things. When people ask, would you still love me if I would be warm? No, you should have asked, would you still love me if I would have my wisdom teeth removed. I think that's much worse. But basically, and the second thing is, yeah, don't do this over Christmas, although it was funny.

Speaker 1 12:14
Basically, that was kind of a fun experience. That we had an overlap in our friend groups that we never expect, like we never actually expected to happen, right? People that we knew through, like a different university, end up going to completely, like, for instance, Spain and these communities that kind of split apart and then go to a different country. But then there were overlaps between the countries too. It's so such a fascinating network that we build up between people so, which is insane to think about, because for me, at least, I grew up in a family where they all just kind of, we all stayed in our own little bubble, really. We, we kind of had each other to lean on, and, um, like all of my friends were in Charlotte initially, and then I was the one who went out and kind of

Loridana Foksha 13:05
went to Raleigh first and got more friends, and then went all the way across the entire world, like I know people from everywhere. And it feels like once you go abroad and you connect with more and more people, it becomes more and more normal to think about the fact that you have a friend everywhere you go. And I think that's something that excited me, especially, especially being your friend before going abroad. And something that I've never considered was that you could have a you can go anywhere and almost anywhere in the world and find a friend there, and know, know someone who lives there, and I think that's just an amazing concept to me. That's why I always ask, well, like, not, yeah, I ask people. I'm like, Oh, where are you going? Where are you from? What state? Um, I might have a friend who lives there, and I could connect you guys to each other. Um, I had a friend of mine who decided to go to Japan, and I have a friend that was living with me in my dorm, literally in Germany for a semester,

Veronika Becher 14:05
who knew this other Japanese guy? Like, don't ask me what happened. And we went to literally, like, on a trip to sales book. And so many things happened. So I'm like, you have connections. And actually one thing maybe to get a little bit of science into the conversation, my dad told me, it's like, there's a it's scientifically proven that you're connected to any person in the world with five handshakes in between. Yes, you told me about that. Yeah. And so nowadays, with globalization and social media, it decreased to only four people. So if you think this way, just imagine you only need four people in between you and Angela Merkel. I chose. I chose a person that we're not gonna or Trump or anyone else. Yeah, you have only four people in between. How insane is that? Of course, I think there is.

Certain people that might be like, not as connected as we like. It's a concept, right? But most people fall into this concept, and that means you good person, yes. So the world is small. It is, it is so small. Yeah, you meet someone you like. How the heck do you have a connection to my friend group through a completely different background? Yeah, how did you go to the high same high school? Like, there are so many different nuances. And I think it's just, it makes me realize how much more we should put trust into our connections with people. It's never about business networking that we always associate networking with. Oh, I want to have, like, the connection opportunities and different job offers and projects to work on. I mean, it's a lot more it could be a lot more personal than that. And it is becoming like that for

to be able to like, connect with someone on a deeper and meaningful level and realize someone across the entire side of the world could have a lot more similarities than you, than you thought, than you'd think. When it was flying back to the United States, I was sitting next to a guy from London, um, and he was telling me how He's, um, visiting this girl who lives in Germany. Um, they met online. They never actually saw each other beforehand, and she, out of nowhere, reached out to him and was like, by the way, can I just visit you next week? Yeah, it feels like it reminds me of my like, old dates ago to DC in New York, but she basically never seen this guy before. And he said yes. And he was like, I could be a murderer, like she could have died. And since then, they've been doing this for several years now he comes over to her place each month dating. They're not dating at all. Yeah, they're just friends. It's, oh my gosh, the commitment that we sometimes don't see in relationships, but then you see in random like strangers, visiting each other. I'm just telling you guys, if I tell you, you can visit me wherever I am. I mean it. You might just sleep on a mattress randomly next to an aquarium and my little me shrimps,

speaking of floating on this experience,

they were great. Yes, they loved her. They loved me my apartment. Also loved her hair. But

I leave a mark on myself everywhere I go, just, you know, other people, other people are like, Oh, I'm so scared that I'm gonna get murdered, so I should leave my mark and roll down as like, How to Invest stick into this experience and put as much of myself out there as possible. Okay, just shed a lot. Oh my gosh, yeah. Like a little cat. But, um, speaking of,

Loridana Foksha 17:43
speaking of cats. Um, speaking of, speaking of cats. Have you seen? Oh, it goes to an Wait. What I was gonna say goes to a completely unrelated topic. What are you What are you talking about? Oh, I was literally transitioning from cats to pigeons. But um, since you're living in freaking pigeons. Man, okay, we have a friend who's like, likes pigeons. Okay. He has never lived in Spain. These pigeons will they're like, fuck. They're humans. Man, they will just walk in front of you, and they don't care if they get kicked like, what are you doing? Are you gonna, like, work or something like, they're like, walk around, like, with their chest all high and stuff, and they're like, like, move. I'm like, I will trample you. And you'll be like, sitting outside, because a lot of places in Spain where, like, there's cafes, and then they turn it, like, to bars or, I mean, you can get a drink anytime of the day. They don't care, but you'll be sitting outside at a table, and just like, chatting with your friends, and a pig will just like, walk up to you, like, at your feet, and you're like, What are you doing here? You're supposed to be afraid of me. But they're not, because they were a long time ago. They were,

they were like, what is it called with dogs? And like, you're cutting

Veronika Becher 19:05
this out. Okay? A long time ago, pigeons were domesticated, right? And then we forgot about them, and we just didn't care about them anymore. And they're like, no human, so they just, like, walk comfortably around us, and it's a little sad, but like, Get out of my way, please. Like, I'm trying to walk here. So the first thing you've experienced as a cultural shock is realizing why I would not like to have pigeons again. Now I get you, we can never convince our one friend who is in love with the idea of having pigeons. But I just feel like, when you live in a different country and do you know what these pigeons do, too? Like, have you ever biologically like? Do you know what they do like in order to actually exist? So what they do? They find a nest, like a bird nest. And do you call it this way, bird nest? Yeah, I was like, just questioning for a second, because you looked at me like, I'm crazy. Yeah. Um, and they steal away the X.

Loridana Foksha 20:00
The actual acts. And the other birds do that, and then the Mother Truckers, and then

Veronika Becher 20:08
pigeons put their own eggs inside and pretend that these acts don't belong to them, so other birds will work for them. So basically they're CEOs, like really bad CEOs, destructive ones, destructive behaviors. Yes, they put them in, and then the birds wouldn't know that. Oh, these like eggs, and I don't even know why they wouldn't know. Like, honestly, they have a they look differently, but it's okay. Maybe they don't, who knows? But basically, they like,

they like, well, they realize only later when they, um, like, you know that, Oh, these are not my ex. So bad birds. Just say bad, bad birds, bad birds. But speaking of not birds, for once, I think, like, I have a couple of like, questions that I would like to hate you to answer, right? Um, anytime. And,

oh my gosh.

Shout out to Sam, if he's listening to this episode and he's right now in his car sitting and trying to, like, get from point A to point B, I apologize.

Yes, you just heard some random things on this podcast episode. But I think what I would be really interested is, what are, what is one connection you made?

Loridana Foksha 21:28
Oh, wow, impacted you the most in Spain. Oh, my gosh. Um I, I thought this would be a hard question, but like I, I one immediately came to mind. So I live in an apartment with nine people, with eight other people,

two of them are the girls that came with me to Spain, and there's one Italian, one German, two French girls, a Portuguese girl and one Ukrainian.

This Ukrainian roommate, I feel like I've connected really well with. He had to leave Ukraine, and hasn't been in Ukraine, like hasn't seen his family in a year, and he lives in he goes to school in Germany, and he's doing study abroad in Madrid, and he talking about, just at first, like, knowing what kind of person he is, you would never believe the tragedies that he's been through in his life. And I think it really opened my mind and made me aware as to like, like the world around me, and

I guess just the things that are happening to people to this day and growing up, I never really like, I knew it was happening. But you know, in America, sometimes you kind of live in your own little bubble because you're quote, unquote safe and protected. But like in reality, like when you go and you meet so many different people, you also get to know,

you know what's really going on.

And he would tell me about

his city

and what's happening in Ukraine, in His own hometown,

and then in like a next conversation, like he's in the next conversation, he could just be laughing and making funny jokes and

being completely unserious.

And while he's made me so open minded, and made me realize how strong people are and how much persistence we have as humanity, and how much he will like will refuse to be so upset

he can't go back to Ukraine, because if he does, he'll be able have to go to the military as a man, and

I think getting to know him was really, really strong for me, being able to have those type of deep conversations with him, and for me to be able to ask him,

You know, tell me about Ukraine, tell me about your people, and what's it like living here, and

I think,

and at the same time, he's just one of the funniest people I know. And he's so, he's he's so just giggly, and he's really nice. He drove us some weekends, twice. He he has his own car, and he took the three of us to Avila and to, you know, different cities in Spain. There's, like, really small towns, and we just do, like, a day trip there. Sweetest guy, like, one of.

Favorite people I've ever met, and I really appreciated him being my roommate. He had a piano plays beautifully, like a master, and he'd be playing the piano in his room, and I would go and sit in the living room and just like, listen to it. And he's just the sweetest. So that's a human connection experience that has impacted me the most.

Veronika Becher 25:28
Low Down is about to cry.

I should say they should send this to this guy and just No comments. He doesn't even know if I'm existing. I don't even know if he does. No, he does. Oh, I tell people about you. Don't worry.

Loridana Foksha 25:41
You're well known.

Veronika Becher 25:43
What do they know about me? And then I would just like no comments, listen to this episode,

and then no comments on that. I think that's a really empowering message of, well, we talked to each other about your experience in Spain. And I know like, even though the listeners probably don't hear the full stories, and I don't think even this podcast episode would be enough to display the emotional roller coaster you go through when you move to a different country, as well as how many different memories you make. It feels like, I think it's something, something that I always keep in mind. When I returned back to Germany two years ago, one of my I ran into one of my classmates, and he said, like, after I told him what I've experienced, and I was just telling him a couple of snippets of my life, nothing too fancy, and he looked at me, and he's like, Well, in these past four years, you've experienced more that I've probably will experience my whole life.

And that was crazy for me, because I was like, Whoa,

would you say that I've experienced that much? And I realized, yes, because you need to be you realize how how privileged almost, you are to have these experiences, to meet these people, to have these like, tough conversations and tough situations where you realize how disconnected you feel to this culture and how much you struggle, but at the same time, it gives you so much joy and brings you so much Joy, and it's this up and down of emotional like,

Loridana Foksha 27:24
situations that you go through. It's, it's, I bet it sounded really good to hear at first that like, Oh, I've I'm experiencing so much, I'm doing so many things with my life. But then I don't know when I think about, like, think back this semester, although it was amazing, it was overwhelming, incredibly overwhelming. And yeah, you get to understand and see a lot of these motions, but the same time, it's like if you really need to learn how to regulate yourself in your own body and your own mental health. And

Veronika Becher 28:01
I think doing a study abroad experience is a really great, great way of learning yourself and who you are in a world that it feels, as you said, entirely disconnected from your own. That's exactly like one of the devices I will give to people. Actually, I think going abroad what it does to you. It it extracts you from your environment that you're used to. You're comfortable like your comfort, yes, but it doesn't have to be. And I realize a lot of people think, Oh, if I live in my hometown, I feel comfortable. I'm in my comfort zone. I think that's actually not always the case, because a lot of people that don't like their hometown, they don't feel like this is the place of your life. Like, maybe I have a friend of mine who just, she just really wants to move to Baltimore, like she's like, I hate it here. I don't want to I don't live my like my life. I don't feel myself. And I totally understand that. Like, there are places in the world you don't want to be it. But I think what it does to you, it completely deletes everything that is surrounding you, and basically puts you into a place where you need to be yourself and prove yourself again for who you are. And you realize, oh, what are my habits like? What am I doing? How do I act? What is it that actually makes me me as a person, and you can also almost restart everything. It gives you an opportunity. It's not a negative thing to experience these different emotions. I was talking today to you about the Mel Robbins podcast, yeah, and she had one of these. She had one episode about college experiences, because she was her son just started his freshman year in college, and I was thinking, Well, I'm a senior, I'm not gonna have this experience where I feel disconnected to my surrounding. I feel really not comfortable with the people around me. That's not true. I returned back from Germany, and I felt so disconnected. I have no idea what happened, but the water didn't taste well, the.

Other thing didn't work. I feel anxious. I felt overwhelmed. I was doing yoga at seven in the morning because of the jet lag that was kicking in and still kicking. Said Yeah, and I'm like, Since when am I doing yoga? And since when am I texting people at six in the morning? And I realized I'm probably one of the only morning people in my friend group, because no one replied,

Go ahead. Yeah,

Loridana Foksha 30:25
that like, especially

like, especially if like time, a lot of time goes by. And

my mom actually, you know, she moved from Moldova to the US in 99

she went back once afterwards, in 2003

I believe, and

when she got there, she didn't want to be there. She just like, automatically want to leave. You know, my mom holds a lot of holds a lot of memories from Moldova, that was probably very overwhelming for her. And Moldova, at that state in time, was still recovering after the economic, I guess, distress after the Soviet Union fell,

and my mom could see that everywhere she went, and it seemed like nothing changed. And since 2000 2003 I think it was 2003 sorry, Mom, if I'm

I don't know, um, but since then,

my mom hasn't been bad since back since, and she tell us all the time about her experience mold all. She was like, Oh, when I was there, I wanted to leave. And it this, this translated into whenever, when I want, told her I wanted to see all these places and travel and go to Spain, she would ask, who in Spain is looking for you? And not in a sense of, like being mean, but it kind of it translates differently Romanian as to, like, what is there for you? Like, what? What are you? I brought you here, like, America has

all of these opportunities for you. Why are you going back

this October, she went back to Moldova. She visited, didn't visit. She had,

she had, like, a surgery that she had to do. But

she, you know, was doing all the touristy things. And she said that Moldova was different, very different, and things, she noticed, things have gotten better. And I asked her, as a joke, it was like, How does it feel to be back into a country where everyone can finally speaks the same language as you. She was like,

they speak the same language as me, but I'm not like them. She's like, I'm not like other girls. She fully was English. She admitted that she kind of felt like a stranger in her own home, home, not a stranger like she still felt connected to it, but

she went to she came to America, and she identifies herself, not only as a Mongolian, but as an American citizen. And that's where she got her opportunities. That's where she finally found, you know, financial and personal and religious freedom.

And

when she came back to Moldova, she noticed, like, you know, I'm an American now, and even though I'm speaking the same language as you, I'm completely a different person than you. This is not my home anymore. I don't consider this my home anymore. I have a home where I was able to grow and fully develop, not fully develop as a person in America, and

it kind of shook me a little bit, and made me realize, like, how, like the place that you were raised as a child, and like most of your life,

it,

it doesn't, it wasn't her home anymore. And it kind of scares me a little bit, because when I got back here, of course, I was only, it was only a semester in Spain, and I got back into the US, and I was like, okay, my people finally. But then I felt a little bit like I was walking the streets of NC State here. And, you know, once a pack, always a pack.

But I was, I was studying abroad, and I was in Spain, and, you know, I was here on F, D, O, C, on F, Doc. But you know, this technically wasn't like, I'm going, my actual first day of school is going to be next week

from the day we're recording this. And

a part of me is like, you know, where is going to be? Where is where is my home going to be? Where is it going to end up? Is it going to move from North Carolina? Because it feels like my heart is in Raleigh and in Charlotte, and then is it going to end up being in Madrid as well? You know,

Veronika Becher 34:57
I had a previous episode about.

What is home and where is home located for us when we move places and so on. And it just remind me of the episode with Lucas. And it's just, I think the environment shapes the way we feel like it makes you feel a certain way. For instance, if you've grown up in the mountains, but you actually always wanted to be at the beach, and you realize the beach makes you feel better the I think the vitamin cheats you Right? Or like you want to sit like, live in a city, or you want to live in a small town, um, but I think home is something that I experienced through people. Oh my gosh. People make you feel at home. So when I returned and I realized, Oh, my little small town in Germany is actually not the same, people left. Most people left. But what makes me feel at home was

it was, um, I was talking to my mom in the evening, and I decided to lay down on this little sofa that we have that is next to her, um, her computer, and I put on my head, on her leg, and I was like, Mom, can you just pat my head? And she she's not a physical like person, like she doesn't really show affection as much physically as other people do. Um, it's kind of funny, because I'm a big hugger. But she just started like, like, patting my head and stroking it slowly and being like, Oh, I love you, yeah.

And I was like, This is how home feels. I even, for the first year in so many years. Didn't want to go anywhere for New Years, I stayed at home with my parents only, and we ate and watched 1000 concerts and Russian

we were singing, crying, play like listening and playing different movies. Eating again. It was just, it was amazing, and I realized it was never, yes, we do attach ourselves to a place, but sometimes what made me feel at home were the people. It's like when you know that there's a friend waiting for you at NC State that you return it is this one person that texted you randomly during your break or during your time abroad and ask if you're doing okay. It's this moment of just a small I think, especially when you go abroad, it's these small gestures that people make towards, like, sustaining a connection with you that makes me like, feel like, oh, I actually do have another home there, and there are people that care, and I'm not alone, and I have always a place to return. And no matter how much I feel like I've grown out of this place, and I don't feel as connected to this one little, small apartment

with my little shrimps in it.

I think it's the feeling of I have a bed that I can crush on, and it's gonna be my bed in my room for, like, as long as I'm, like, probably alive and my parents are alive. And then I think the other thing is, I think it's okay when we grow out of places you were talking about how, oh, we, you know, how you don't feel the same way connected sometimes to places that you've been at, and then you move away. But I think we evolve, and with that comes also a certain understanding of places evolve with us too. But also we evolve as far that we don't actually feel connected to places anymore,

I know, but um, yeah, yeah. And, like, a question maybe like to build up on this whole thing is, what do you think are like the top three things that this experiences exchange taught you about yourself, about myself, about yourself. I'm tied to the US a lot more than I thought I was. I'm gonna separate this into two.

Loridana Foksha 39:05
One being I,

I knew that when I moved from home, I'd miss my family back at home, and I went to state, and I didn't expect and I came into state knowing that I was going to Spain, but I didn't expect the relationships that I've made to impact me so much, to the point where I would be so

I would miss them so much, and a part of me is also so tied to this campus as well. One big thing is that

I really enjoyed this campus, and I really enjoyed my two years out here and being in a city where that city, the entirety of Madrid would, which is like a little bit smaller than all of New York. I.

It's huge, and

I wanted to be in a place where I know and seen, like interact with different people, but it's overwhelming when there's so many people. And I think I really missed and really loved being at a campus, and

I think I was never one to have college spirit, but I think I'm very much like my a part of me really belongs at NC State, and a part of me really belongs with being with people. Another thing I found out about myself is and part two of that is that when I was in Spain, like when I was here, right? I felt like I could differentiate. I can differentiate myself more with people around me, because I was moldovian, not me like my family, like I was. That's where my culture, that's kind of a very big identity of mine, and I've always found myself to be I found differences in myself than with other people, right? And when I went to Spain, I found myself being more American in Spain than I've ever felt in America. I felt more patriotic. I felt

like I was standing up to I was standing up for myself and up for, you know, the people that I've left behind because of a lot of stereotypes that Europeans, I'm not saying all of them. I'm saying like generally as a whole, have made and created about America and Americans. What are some stereotypes that you feel like give them content the most in Spain, not good ones.

I think one of the biggest, biggest things that I was offended about, which to them, was a compliment, was that I me and the other Americans that went with me, but we broke stereotypes. I think that was a big thing, because I always found myself like as as much as I saw differences in myself, I realized that, like I was also very similar to most of the Americans around me. And one big thing is that English is the only language that we know.

And for most of the like, for a lot of people in America, that is true, that does prove to be true.

But I also like for example, most of my friends here at NC State know another language other than Spanish, or they're at least learning or they're part of a different culture. They have a different identity, apart from being American. I think the term of a melting pot

of America rings very true, especially being in such a big school like NC State.

Veronika Becher 42:50
I was like,

speaking of languages, um, I literally was sitting today in class and this guy goes, Oh, how many languages do you speak? And I was just telling him, oh yeah, I technically know three fluently, one that I've kind of lost. And then he goes, I've lost my Spanish, but I decide to pick up Swedish, and I'll turn around. I'm like, what that's a choice? Well, it's not a bad choice. But I've never met anyone at state who's like, trying to learn Swedish. And I was like, that's so fascinating. You say, Yes, I love the culture. I would love to go to Sweden one day. And I was sitting there and thinking, I think the reason why people in the United States less likely maybe learn a different language, and is, first of all, the education system that kind of doesn't start as early as in Europe to like, teach you actually actively language. But then the second part that is missing is the so called emerging, like emerging yourself in the different language, in the different culture. And yes, we have a lot of Hispanic communities here, but the issue is you don't have the accessibility to actually travel randomly in two hours, and you're in a different country where you actually need a language, like English, you need to communicate. You live close to a different country. There is no other way of you getting around if you don't actually learn it. So when I was talking to this guy and these other guys that were sitting next to me, and I'm like, Hey, I think there's a misconception. Because the guy asked me, What are the do like America more than Germany? You know, typical question, that question I got asked so bad, yeah, but it's also, it's valid, right? I'm like, How can you compare two different countries that have actually nothing to do with each other, to each other, and say like one is better than another? It's a preference thing, right? There are things that I hate about Germany and love about Germany. Same thing about the US, but I was sitting there and I'm like, one misconception that people have with Americans is that me Americans are dumb, and then they looked at like the guys were laughing. But that's true. I'm like, No, it's your belief system that says that, oh, we are all dumb. We cannot do anything. I'm surrounded by so many smart people, literally.

We talked today by one of the nuclear engineer guys, and I'm like, Jacob, you like, I don't know if Jacob ever listens, listens to this podcast. I think he's one of the smartest people I know, and there's so many smart kids like my horticulture science professor today, I feel like I'm so passionate about defending patriotic

Loridana Foksha 45:19
defending the US citizens, but he was to even make Germans patriotic about the Yes, right? He was explaining to us that He wants us to excel. And so when he enters the room and sees all the students in his class, he's like, I see people that are excellent, not averages. You not see all of you guys, and then we have a couple of a US students. You are all a students. To me, yeah. And the reason why you get a B or a C is literally because of something that happened or maybe you didn't put 100% effort into but, but it has nothing to do about you as a person. This grade doesn't dictate who you are as a person. This grade doesn't change who you are no matter what. It's just a assignment that you decide to get a letter on a grade, a percentage on your paper. But it was just I started thinking about it. I'm like, we have a misconception. There's so many people that know other languages, but also, I think the perception of, if you go abroad, you should stop pursuing your own culture. Happens a lot in the United States as well as also in Europe. How many people move to a different country and then, like, we should forget our past in teaching that comes with a lot of history as well. Yes, because, um, like, back when there was a lot of immigrants coming into the US, a lot of them were being discriminated against and being not persecuted, but discriminated against for, you know, their own culture and and they still are today, but it was very prevalent back then. And with that came the American dream, you know, the idea of not even not only leaving but escaping your country in order to pursue opportunities that are offered here because of our capitalist society. But I mean nonetheless, opportunities. And you know, I'm so happy that my parents taught me

and that I was raised with being Slavic and being moldovian, and that's like a very part, big part, of my identity. But there are also a lot of people like, I have this one friend back in Charlotte, and like her grandparents speak Polish, and I think her mom would also speak or like her grandparents, like didn't teach her mom, or her mom didn't teach her, but she never ended up learning polish. And it came comes from that, like that fear of, if someone knows what kind of who you are or where you come from in America, then you're not gonna become successful, which is the main reason why they, you know, went there in the first place, and, yeah, and it happens all over as well. I also want to touch on when you were talking about how big America is versus Spain. And I also find that

being American there you're asked about a lot of American things,

and a lot of things we don't know, because America is so big, and so much of media comes from America. And like, I was in class once, right? And my econ teacher was, I don't know, talking about some some city, and he went to us, he calls us like Chica Americans, chica Americans. And then ended up saying us girls, which is another story. But he went up to us, and he was like, What do you know? Jackson Hole, we're like, what? Because they can't really speak English, and to to when they talk to us, or trying to speak in English, because they think we don't know Spanish. And really, we just don't know the answer their question, and we're just confused, like, what's Jackson Hole Wyoming? We're like, I don't, we don't know, like, what is Jackson Hole Wyoming? And they'll just ask us a lot of, like, different questions and or, oh, like, where do you live? Oh, I live in the east part of America. I live in North Carolina, Catalina de Norte, where, like, oh, that's like, the east part. Oh, like, what do you like more the east or the west? I've never been to the west. I've never been farther than Tennessee. I've never been to that part of the US and to them. It's such a shocker. It's like, what like, Have you not traveled like, I've traveled like, up and down the East Coast, but that's as far as I went, because America is so big and and in Spain, you know, people in their Europeans, in their own respective countries, know everything about their country because it's so small, and they're always so surprised, like, oh yeah, I just got my passport. I just got my passport last year. And for them, it's like.

Been traveling ever since they were born,

and it's just it's a shocker to them. We, with me, and a lot of Americans, we just kind of continue to shock each other back and forth with own topics of our own culture and our own countries. I actually disagree. My really directness was just coming through and get on. I think I disagree with we know everything about a country.

Veronika Becher 50:28
Okay, that was an exaggeration, no, but it makes sense, because I think that's the misconception people have too. Yes, we might know more of the cities, but I have two experiences that I think in my life with Germany. And one is like, Oh, I know, I've been to Germany. And then I'm like, Where have you been in like Berlin? And I'm like, do you know that it takes me

probably 10 to 12 hours to cross Germany to Berlin, and it's further away than France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and then the person looks at me like, What do you mean? I'm like, I've only been twice a Berlin, even though maybe the distance is not compared to any of the like American standards, but it's like, for German standards, that's far we and that's what I'm saying, is that 10 to 12 hours is a lot, yeah, but it's, well, it's still a lot here, but like, I think for my family, at least, like, we always try to avoid going on the plane, because saving money, whatever. So whenever we had to go to Massachusetts, like, where a lot of my family is, we would drive there. It would take like, 13 hours. But, I mean, you still

also another thing is that, like, it took, it was quicker for you to go to other countries than it was for you to go to Berlin, yes. But that's also like, but we are looking at just Germany, right? Yeah, yeah. And then the other thing is people, because they think Germany is so small, they have this misconception of, you know, of course, we have four handshakes, but people forget about the four handshakes before you meet this one person. So they like, Oh, I know this one German person. Do you know Jana? And I'm like, what? How should I know this person? Like, you're just mentioning a random German that lives in Germany, and you're expecting me, not even from the same town, literally across of Germany, to know this person. Sometimes it happens, but it's really rare. We're not. It's like, there's this joke that Irish people do that they would ask, What is your connection? And who do you know? Because apparently, my Irish professor was explained to me seeing that, yeah, that people, everyone's related, yes, yes. She's like, who's cousin Are you? Like, oh yeah, this is my on. Oh my God, I know her, yeah. And she even said it's almost accustomed to invite an Irish person over, even though it's stranger at first, to your family gatherings and dinner to, like, see if you're related in any kind of way, yeah. And so you just talk about your family tree, yeah, like 30 seconds, and you're like, up there you are. Yes. And then so my Irish professor was like, I actually met this random lady and decided to invite her over. My husband was freaking out because I just invited a stranger to her family dinner, and then realized that she went to school with her brother or cousin, something like that. Yeah, in same small town. It was hilarious. I'm like, I'm not ready for that, but we are drifting apart. Um, part is crazy, drifting away or drifting away.

Loridana Foksha 53:22
You we I was asking you, what are the top three things that it taught you? I was a type. I guess this is something that was always in me, but I just like never, I guess I never realized it, but it feels new. I growing up, I wanted to get out, and I wanted to explore the world, and that's why I'm doing this program in the first place. And I thought that when you're young and before college, you had to rush through experiences and traveling and doing everything that you possibly can, and yeah, you should take advantage of those opportunities when they're young and when you don't have responsibilities of your own, but at the same time,

why do it all

at once when you're low on energy because of school or because you're in a different country, and why just Go at one after the other, after the other, because that's I feel like I've been experiencing that burnout of living in different country and visiting different countries as well. I'm definitely taking that opportunity to being, especially being so close.

But

there was a lot of things that I hadn't planned right and while I was still in college, and this experience taught me that I don't need to do that right now. And what is really,

I guess, trying to put out my priorities and trying to listen.

So you know what? What do I need to be not happy, but content? And I think chasing happiness leads you to kind of a downfall every single time. A friend just told me this yesterday, they did an experiment where they measured happiness levels at for like, a little being an athlete that just got just what just won a gold medal, and the levels of someone who's just been paralyzed. You know, it's completely different levels of life, right?

But those extreme moments, slowly over time, would level out and would meet in the middle at some point, what I realized is that constantly chasing that high will lead me to become overwhelmed over and over and over again until I'm burned out by the time I'm 25

and I think

it would be, it would be nice to, you know, live in Europe right after I graduate. And, you know, do go to different countries and do things over and over and over again. But, like, even this semester, I got burnout and I wanted to go home. And by the by exams, I wanted to go home so bad I would, I would stay up every single night,

not being able to fall asleep, because I knew that. You know, in two weeks, in two weeks and one week in one week, three days, three days, I'll be back at home. I'll be back home. I'll be with my family, to a place, not where it's like,

not because it's comfortable, but because it's where a piece of me lies. And I think I realized for myself that I really value where home is and not a specific place, but like you said, with the people that you belong to, and I thought that I would find those people like that in Spain. I definitely have to some degree, but I think the first ones are really special. Well, so deep, so deep, so deep. Did you,

Veronika Becher 57:09
I assume you felt lonely and homesick being abroad, but would you ever if you go back? Would you ever make the same decision to go, like going abroad,

Loridana Foksha 57:22
no matter the consequences and the feelings that yes, 100% yes, I because, first of all, if I haven't gone, if I didn't go, then I would just keep regretting not going, and I would, I wouldn't have As many special moments with people, as I did, I got I got very, you know this, I got very in touch with my emotional side when I left.

I have never cried like that in so long. It really worn me out.

But when I got there,

it, mean it's it's amazing. Spain is amazing and of itself.

And

Madrid is amazing.

The people in it are amazing, and the people that I've met you know,

I wouldn't have been able to realize it's that phrase. What is it like when you leave you don't know the things you love or that you hold true to yourself when until you miss them? And I think that's what I needed to miss a place, to miss the people and to just I don't know it's an entirely different it's a new experience, and something that I've been wanting to do my entire life. And I don't know it was, it's it's exciting to say the least.

Veronika Becher 58:51
What is probably the best thing you've experienced, like traveling to different places, being out there. What was something that you feel like, stuck with you and you're like, Whoa. I love this one moment, because it made me feel so happy and so like, fulfilled. So I'd say this moment was in Italy. In the Roma, Italy,

Loridana Foksha 59:18
there was a night where it was 11 or 12. And I don't know if you've seen this on media, but there's this cathedral in Italy where you walk in and there's like a mirror on the ground, and you'll, you'll have to pay it, but then, like you can, it shows you the ceiling of the cathedral. And it's just like all these beautiful illustrations depicting the Bible, and like its stories, we didn't pay them here, obviously, but the lights were lit, and there wasn't. There was a lot of people there, and it was just us five, and there was a sweet music playing in the background of, like this, this nice, I don't remember, there's, like, piano or violin, something like that.

And I can just envision it now. Walking in, there wasn't a lot of people there, and it was quiet,

and there was these benches. And after walking around for a little bit looking at everything, we laid down on the benches in the dark and just stared up into the ceiling for a good 30 minutes, and it was, I think, one of the one of the most truly relaxing

and like meditative moments I've been in my life where

I was really connecting with, like, all the biblical stories that I've seen up like I was looking at and or like all of the history depicted on the ceiling of the cathedral, and also, at the same time being side by side with the people that have came with me. And I took a lot of I was just processing that moment for a very long time. Then afterwards, we went to the triangle fountain, and then we just made fun of everyone who was taking selfies there

for like, they would stare at the fountain for like, five seconds and then just take selfies and, like photos for their gram for like, a good 20 minutes. It was sad to see, honestly, like, it is really depressing, but it was funny, and I think that, like sudden change, I find amusing and ironic to be, like completely, just like fully, just in one space and meditative and just thinking, and then next moment, just being in a very crowded area and just laughing with everybody. And I think that was a very healing night for me to just like, you know, I'm here, and I really took in that moment to just take everything in and be like so many people have been here, and like, thinking back to my friends and the fact that I'm in Italy right now, which I never thought that I would be for the next, like few years, you know, until I decided that I was gonna go to Spain. I think that was just, Oh, I love that cathedral. I would go back. Where would you go in Europe? If you would have a chance, a place you have me like, I know we always talked about how you want to see Italy, but I'll be curious. Will be place you actually would like to see that you haven't seen yet?

Um,

I would, I want to go to Romania for obvious reasons. Um, a Romanian? No, I'm not. I, well, yeah. Um,

I, apart from that being a big part of my identity. I've seen, I've heard a lot of different experiences of it being a very underrated country in Europe,

and that is someplace I would love to go, just to see all the mountains and the castles. And I've heard that the community in Romania is so welcoming, especially to tourists and to, you know, just new people. I would love to have a conversation with some of them and get to know, like,

about Romania and, ah, I it's just so beautiful. I've seen photos and I've heard stories, and you know, I would, I would love to go to Romania,

Veronika Becher 1:03:25
beautiful me one of your bucket list things, I have to go fulfilled this year. Wants to go with me

Loridana Foksha 1:03:34
trip. I was literally thinking of you, describing your experience with the paintings. And I was thinking, how, how scared we are of loneliness, but then the the places or the experiences that stick out to us and we remember other other moments where we talk the least we don't actually have words to describe it, where it's a feeling of just fleeting moments and not caring about the past, the future, and just being in the moment. Like, let you what people always tell us, right be in the moment. Like, enjoy the moment, don't which is hard to do right now, yeah, especially in the society where, like, and I've talked to a lot of people and my friends, where I felt like I was, like, in in the US, I was always thinking about the future, the future being in Spain, and now I'm in Spain, I'm thinking about the past a lot, and I have to remind myself to just stick in the moment, like I'm here now and I'm 20 and, you know, and that's all that should matter. And I think, as you were saying, with those moments where you really are quiet, I think it's because we're just observing, and I think that's a skill, and something that we should do a lot more often is just observe. And a lot of people in Spain do this, we're gonna just look at you and you feel you're being stared at wherever you go. Because, you know, in America, you glance and you just look away. You can't look at people directly in the eye. There's this book. It's called the voices of Marrakesh on Morocco.

Veronika Becher 1:05:00
Depends, like, what version your read is a German, oh my gosh, German scientist. I'm not even sure if he was like, director or scientist, but he went to marques basically, and

he documented it, and it's back in the 90s or 80s, where you didn't even have any social media or any like people wouldn't know about this country, and he didn't speak the language either, so all he did is record this diary. You can read it, and it's not a thick book. It's actually something really visible for everyone to read, and it's just him explaining that his experiences abroad and how he doesn't understand what is happening. And one thing that stuck out to me is like him looking at this blind man who is accepting gold coins. He's sitting on the standing on the street, and he's licking them off and handing them back. And then there's so many, yes, there's so many things where I'm like, Whoa, what's that? And you never know, but it's his experience that he he's had. And, you know, I think part of being not a tourist is just looking, not judging. Yes, I think while being observant. I think a big thing is to ask, is to be curious instead of not knowing, and not willing to know. But it goes both ways. I think a lot of times, people are so determined, that's how it works, that's how we should do it, that they are not open to questions. But I think the advice is, find someone who will,

and there will be people, I think, like, I would like to maybe end the podcast episode with one last thing that you feel like will be an advice to with someone who wants to go through this experience and something, maybe another thing, something you're actually looking forward to, and your next chapter is still staying in Spain that you want to work on. Yeah, um,

Loridana Foksha 1:07:11
advice I would give so many things come to my mind. I think last time I said you're gonna change, but stick to who you are this time.

Know that

you're in an entirely different country,

and

only so much can prepare you. You can read, you can talk to people, but unless you have that first hand experience yourself. You're never fully going to be prepared

when situations and circumstances come up.

You can't

for a few times. I was so confused as to why it was like I thought it was prepared for that. I thought it was prepared for this, you know, and it's good to be prepared. It's good like, it's very important to do your research before going into any country, and think and figuring out we know what is right for you. But also be prepared to be completely unprepared. Be get ready to know that once you're in a new place, you're especially for me, like, I'm in there for the long run, um, not too long, you know, but two years is pretty long, and there's a lot of things that I wasn't prepared for, and a lot of things that I didn't expect, um, and I don't think there would be anything that would have let me know that I Like, there wouldn't be, there would there wasn't anything, there couldn't have been anything to prepare me for that. And I think that first hand experience you really have to come to terms with. You know this is happening, and I need to know the next steps in order to,

I guess, regulate myself, and I need to know, to be gentle with myself, and, you know, talk myself through these circumstances and figure out, you know, what is best for me, what is right for me. Do you have an example

school? I knew it was going to be a small school, I knew it was going to be a private school, and I knew that a lot of the Spanish students were going to keep to themselves. I wasn't prepared for how

much different I didn't know. Here's some things I didn't know about the school. You stay in your own class with your own select group of people for the entire year, and your professors come in, and they'll, you know, come in

every two hours, because every class is two hours, and they'll teach, and you stay in that class for the whole day, for the whole week, and for the whole semester. So.

And

we stick with the same students. I wasn't prepared

that, for that, and I also wasn't prepared that I wasn't gonna like it,

I think a big thing. So to that I'd say I wasn't prepared that I wouldn't

I, I can't say out loud that I

Veronika Becher 1:10:22
you can

again, I don't think, I don't think I like my university. No, I don't think that's a bad thing. I think it's not. I think that's a really mature thing to say, isn't it? Yeah, if you think about it, it's like actually acknowledging the fact that you don't like your experience. When people talk about, I like my experience, I don't like my universe, when people talk about exchange, um, exchange gears and things like that, do you know how many people would not like their host family and things like that? Like, oh, I don't like my state that I lived in in the United States, or something like that. Like, yeah, I didn't experience that. But I think there are a lot of people that do. I think there's, it's a great deal to understand that, hey, it's nothing for me. Yeah, it is also something that makes you grow and understand that, hey, I actually don't want to live in Europe, or I actually always dreamed of visiting the city, but I don't like it.

Do you know how many people romanticize Paris, but get so disappointed because Paris is not the cleanest city that you probably encounter. Yeah, it's such a view, like romantic view of, Oh, I'm gonna go abroad and study within a different country, and that's gonna be so prestige and beautiful. Do you know that's not how it is? Do you know half of the time you have a break down about your life and your life choices? You miss home, you feel lonely. You cannot connect with people because you feel like no one understands you, and you speak two different languages, but once you go back home, you feel still disconnected. And I think the thing that unites international students is the fact that we all experience the same thing just on different festivals. Yeah, there was a lot of things that I didn't like about Spain and Madrid and my university, and of course, I've met so many people in my university and through my exchange, my broad program from different countries, and I love them. And I understand that, you know, my university in Spain, there are a lot of opportunities that come with it, especially if you stay in Spain or stay in Europe. And I understand, I'm being taught by professors who excel in their discipline. And I'm getting, even though it's in a different language, I'm getting one of the best, you know, pieces of advice and instruction and networking from this university.

Loridana Foksha 1:12:38
I I just, I found out for me that like that, that type of structure and that organization for me, and those classes, they didn't fit me in what I needed. And

I think you just, you just have to expect, not only that, to be unprepared, but also, like, you're not gonna like some things, and it's not leaving like, Oh, I feel homesick, because, of course, like you are gonna feel homesick, but like, in your own in your own foreign exchange, in your own country that you're in, you're not gonna lie to you're not gonna like a lot about the things about it, you Know. And I think you just have to be happy to come terms with that fact.

Veronika Becher 1:13:25
What is the advice that you feel like, not advice? What is something you want to work on that you feel like, something you want to take away from the semester and be like, this is something I'm gonna change next semester, or this is something that I feel like I want to do.

Loridana Foksha 1:13:42
I

think I want to connect with more people in my study program,

and I also want to work on my work ethic.

Classes are very different, and the amount of work that you have is very different. You have a lot of more projects and more exams, but less homework. I had a homework assignment like once a month, and

I became very lazy and lax with my classes and not taking the time to study my notes afterwards. And something that's very hard for me is

doing something when I don't need to. At that moment, I find like, that's something that is really hard for me to do, like, unless I'm preparing specifically for something that's coming up. I don't, I don't want to do anything about it, and that one of those big things is studying. And I really need to work on my work ethic. Another thing, like, as I said,

is making more connections with people and hanging out with more people outside of, you know, the girls that I came to Richard with, shout out to, specifically Isabelle and Kay. Oh.

Yeah,

I would not be there for them. Oh my gosh, and I owe so much to them. They are like, the light of my day. I get I wake up every morning just so that I can, like, go talk to them. Two beautiful people, beautiful girls, really enthusiastic. Always open the doors to you. Oh my gosh. I love these two too. I'm, yeah, I met them here. So fantastic people. But yeah, just And the crazy thing is, we were barely friends back at home, back in Raleigh, and as soon as we got there, we just connected so well, especially like that happens when you live with people, you just you connect with them on the spot, and we do everything together.

I took on the liberty of cooking dinner for them every single night. Well, like, a lot of the time, they'll get groceries, or they'll clean up after dinner, and, like, I don't know it's a very it's a privilege, I'd say, to be with these girls. But I really also have to go out of my own little bubble of these girls and meet more people outside of them, because, you know, they're not Madrid. Madrid is Madrid, and I really need to connect, especially the more Spanish people,

because they can keep to themselves a lot. But,

yeah, just connecting with more people in my school and making sure, you know, there's a lot of people I can name on top of my head that'll be like, You know what? I should hang out with them more often. So I think

those are my two for sure.

Veronika Becher 1:16:38
Yes,

well, I think that was a wonderful ending of this episode. I I know this episode, like I said, can probably never cover everything that we could have talked about. It takes, it'll take a semester, y'all, and

even then, I think you forget a lot of things. But Oh yeah, I'm really happy to have you here again in my studio for just one day, but thank you for having me. It feels so good to be here,

and

I love the studio. Well, that's the first that people

I'm joking.

So my dear listeners, please get out of your comfort zone. Meet new people, especially if it's your first semester at college or maybe not, no matter what year you're in. And if you want to study abroad, go out there and do it. Give it a try. And, you know, do it or you're born. No, oh

my gosh, please. Um, so don't be scoring. Be there. Be square. Don't be square. Conquer your fears. Um, I'm trying to be so emotional here, like, deep meaning, and then conquer your square. Like, what the heck? Okay, whatever. Basically, no.

Um, thank you so much for listening. I hope we're gonna see each other or each other again. In a semester

for everyone who probably oh my gosh, who missed lotana, you get a special app. I miss you too. So thank you so much for listening and

oh my gosh, have a nice day. Bye, bye, bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai