It’s official. Studying in Spain has changed me as a person.

A fairly epic snowstorm seems to have hit Europe with effects analogous to a zombie apocalypse. I’m writing from an airport in Amsterdam at 3:47 AM local time and currently waiting in a line to find out the best way to get home (I should have been home Friday for dinner). When customer service opens in six hours, hordes of highly strung travel warriors, complete with crying babies and excessive luggage, will demand a trip home.

I’ve fortunately never been the type to go hysterical over delays, but the Steve Henke before this semester would have certainly been at least somewhat worried… how am I going to get home? Where will I sleep? How is this Dutch cheese going to survive the journey? [note: see my first blog entry immediately before my departure for Spain. Nervous wreckage in written form.]

But now? My first thought was legitimately “Where am I going to charge my iPod?” I tried, futilely, to consol fellow study abroad students, helped an elderly find a bed for the night, and befriended some people from Spain.

According to a professor from the University of Valencia, the key to worldy success is twofold: be a nice person and speak English. This semester, I’ve been working on the former and learned not to worry so much about myself. I do everything that I can to solve a problem, and then move on to the next step or help others.

In the eloquent words of David Celma, “There’s no problem that can’t be helped significantly by a hot shower and a good night’s sleep.” Spain has taught me to keep a cool head.

Time will tell I this is an entirely beneficial philosophy… there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done (LSAT prep! Student Senate work! Christmas present wrapping!), but my mind is uncluttered and there’s a smile on my face. Thank you Spain.

Now back to work.

Sidenote: the last thing that my host brother Oscar said to me was, referring to my fall break adventures: “Well, you should be in America by what, three months from now? Maybe? Have a good flight.”