Four words to summarize my experience? Knowledge, experience and line dance.

The day I left Sweden l ordered at a cute little sushi bar during my layover at Heathrow airport. The sushi chef looked at me and said: "You look tired. Where are you going?". "Georgia" I replied. He looked at me and smiled. "Vacation in South of Europe! What a nice little trip!' If he only knew.

That feeling of a short two-week vacation has very little to do with that feeling of 42 weeks abroad. I have been through the best feelings of euphoria when meeting the coolest host family, or seeing the amazing mountain tops of north Georgia or getting to know the wonderful Rotarians of Americus - but also the worst feelings of leaving people behind and having to give space to this new lifestyle as a traveler.

So many questions came out of this year. For example to you, all GRSP students, that are not from Sweden. How do you survive a year in Georgia, without an IKEA of your own? Without the meatballs of your country? And why do Colombians dance so freakin good while my hips are barely moving?

There are also some questions I probably won't find an answer to. How many liters of ranch is consumed in America every day? Is there something you can't add fried chicken to, and why am I the only one not eating grits with cheese..?

I also got so many answers. For example that Coca Cola actually is the coolest drink in the world. That big trucks are essential for every single college student and that T-shirts and shorts are not overrated. And most importantly: That even when l leave this continent I will have a 4.9 foot Colombian on the other side of the world that now knows me better than anyone else.

I also learned that happiness is not what I thought. That happiness is about that moment you share with yourself or others. That even the hardest part of giving something up that you love - will make you realize what you actually had and what you now will value going forward, even though it hurts. There is more to life than a spotless career or a fancy lifestyle and sometimes it will take a whole year to finally get realizations of what happiness means to you. I am grateful to every single person, both here and at home in Sweden, that put up with me this year and had the patience to let me explore and find myself and to figure out where I'm going - how cliché that may even sound!

There are people from all these different countries in the world that reason and think just as I do. Sharing experiences with 46 of these have after all been one of the best feelings I have ever had. But no feeling will ever beat the feeling of standing on Heathrow Airport, with two bags by my side knowing that I left all I had behind, ready for something new, settling in somewhere I have never been. A place where the homes are open, people greet you in the halls, restaurants offer you free refills and make sure you are a part of the Rotary family, even if you don't drink Ice Tea!

I do not know much about "Sweet Home Alabama" but when it comes to Georgia - I do agree! A big thank you to y'all! *Wareagle!