Finding Community through my Passions
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There are so many opportunities when studying abroad to explore hobbies. You can take a dance class or a cooking class. You can join a club or start your own new club. You can play a sport or coach a sport. Whatever your passion is, do it abroad. You get to experience being a dancer, a swimmer, a gamer, a runner, or a pianist abroad! Whatever your “thing” is, the thing that you enjoy doing, there are probably people in your new place who have the same passion.
I had dipped my toes in climbing over the past few summers. I really enjoy the physical challenge. I decided that I wanted to go to a local climbing gym that has a connected cafe, so I could alternate between studying and climbing. Turned out, the gym is known as the top climbing gym in all of Latin America! The Chilean national team would train there, and just about everyone there was a high-level climber. What a cool opportunity! The Chileans loved to help out their tall, lanky beginner climber. Through my time there, I ended up becoming good friends with many of the workers and regular climbers at the gym, and I met people from all over the world. The gym became a place I knew I could go to get a smile from a conversation with Filipe, Gonzalo, Ricardo, Alan, Alex, Peachy, or Ulysses.
Additionally, when the weather was nice (which was basically every day), and I had some time to play with (less common of an occurrence), I would go to the local basketball courts. I have played basketball just about my entire life, and it turns out the language of basketball is international. Playing pick-up ball with Chileans was a quick way to make connections with others who love to play. Basketball became a barrier breaker, where I didn’t even need to speak a word. That’s the beauty of sport, or really any other hobby. It has a language of its own that connects all those who speak it.
So whatever you like to do, do it abroad. You will definitely make some friends for the season, and if you’re lucky, you could make a friend for life!
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