Happy Accidents

My name is Haley Sue Long and I'm going into my senior year as a music therapy student at the University of Georgia.

While I wouldn't call ending up in Germany an accident, it certainly feels that way sometimes. I never planned on studying abroad while I was in college-- it was a spur-of-the-moment decision between friends last fall that led me on the plane, across the ocean, and to a new country.

Sometimes one accident can lead to another.

It was day 2 when I got lost for the first time. Of course I don't speak the language, but I was lucky enough to be with two other students. We jumped the gun getting off the tram and ended up walking in the general direction of the apartment. That doesn't really sound like fun and it was definitely an accident, but on this walk we found the cutest little music store. It had music equipment, like guitars and pianos, but it also had music souvenirs that I'd never seen in stores back home, like umbrellas and scrapbook covers. So despite accidentally getting off the tram too early, I am the happy owner of a musical teacup set.

On day 5 it was supposed to rain, so when it didn't, we took a walk across the Old Bridge to check out the shops in that part of town. It was great seeing the river from a new perspective and taking pictures of everything and each other. However, right when we got to the other side, the rain finally made its appearance in the form of a huge, crashing thunderstorm. Our group of 11 scattered with plans to meet at the cathedral at the end of the road. When my group's first shelter ended up too crowded, we ran across the street to an open restaurant. Once we got in and settled at a table, we realized it was actually a gelato shop-- something we'd been looking for for a few days. We all ordered and I came to the conclusion that the best possible place to be during a thunderstorm is an open-face gelato shop in Germany.

During week 1 I've definitely learned that some of the best experiences happen when things don't go the way you planned.