O Omaha, my Homaha...how do I leave you?

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August 1, 5:48 PM

by Julie Foubert, Chicago Study Abroad Examiner

 

 

          The view from my L.A. office

Though it was thrilling, it was quickly begun, and just as quickly ended.  It just wasn't meant to be. A few days ago, I said, 'Au revoir!' to sunny Los Angeles and returned to my hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.  I had spent four weeks as an intern at CCAE, 'California Consortium for Agricultural Export,' in downtown Los Angeles [ccax.com]. And even though it was quite a ride...

I was itching to return to my realm of 'Midwestern charm.'

Every time I travel, I find myself experiencing moments, if only fleeting at times, where I long for faces I know, for familiar haunts, for the home of my childhood--even for my mother's screeching at me to unload the dishwasher.

Traveling can be exhilarating, what with all the nouveaux choses (new things) to enjoy.  Like in Los Angeles, where I lived in an apartment in Santa Monica, just 2 miles from the ocean, worked in the financial district in downtown L.A. as a college student, and experienced places like the Hollywood Bowl and Dodger Stadium.

Being a young person and seeing the world is definitely exciting, but with that excitement can come the cost of long days away from family and familiarity. The beautiful part is that a long day makes you appreciate the place you call 'home.'

As I prepare to leave for France in about three weeks, to live and study there for the next academic year (for what will be my junior year of college), I find myself taking time to stop and appreciate that from which I often fly so far. The sight of the Omaha Eppley Airport and the dusty green squares of farmland that I glimpse as the plane's about to land remind me that even if I go as far as L.A. or France, or even as close as Chicago, where I'm a student at Loyola...

Omaha is my homaha, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

               View of Omaha from the airplane

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