On the day this column first runs, I will have been away from my girlfriend for one week solid.

This may not seem like a big deal, but consider this: we started dating in February — when she lived in Columbus and I lived in Athens. This was a three-hour drive and not something that could be done without some planning and manipulation of schedules.

However — despite our best efforts — we never went more than a week and a half apart without one of us breaking down and going to see the other.

Now she’s in Germany, some god-awful distance from Athens that I’d rather not calculate, on a study-abroad trip and will be gone for another four weeks — until July 26.

This means she will be gone for a total of five weeks. Still think this isn’t a big deal?So now the question is: how does one deal with a barrier such as the Atlantic Ocean?

Telephone, you suggest? Let me let you in on a little practical experience I’ve gained: no matter what your cell phone provider says, calling a U.S. phone while it is in another country is no easy task. There are international calling numbers, country codes and even city codes.

To give a little perspective, when I was younger most of the metro-Atlanta area went from seven-digit dialing to 10-digit dialing, and I thought that was a pain in the ass.

But now, I’d give anything to dial just 10 numbers and hear my girlfriend's voice.

So e-mail seems like a good alternative, but when the convenience factor of the personal computer is gone, the traveler must rely on computer labs — which may or may not be open 24 hours a day.

So for someone like me, who is used to the immediacy of cell phones, I find this method frustrating and unfulfilling.

Bitch, bitch, moan, moan you’re probably saying. “I’m halfway through this column, and I’ve been given nothing but complaining.”

Hey, I’m getting to the message, just give it time to develop.

So what is a needy boyfriend to do while his girlfriend studies abroad?

Trust and wait.

That is all there is to do. For someone who enters the culture shock of another country — I sometimes get chills watching the National Geographic channel — a trip of this length can be a little intense.

So while she is gone, I wait by the phone and computer for that little role I can play in helping her through any tough times so she’ll have an amazing time on her trip.

Despite my somewhat-jaded view and the fact that I’ve never been on a study abroad trip myself (I can’t seem to give that kind of time commitment to anything not in the good ol’ U.S. of A.), I do see its appeal and understand its value.

When else can you travel to a foreign country, stay, learn and have the experience of a lifetime on a small budget?

I’ll answer that: when you meet a philanthropist with personal scholars in Rome or when you are in college.

With plenty of options available through the University System of Georgia, it’s a wonder that study abroad programs aren’t mandatory.

Many times, the HOPE Scholarship will pay for tuition and fees, so all that is needed are the plane tickets to and from and the arrangements to travel.

Of course a little spending money is nice, but a digital camera can bring back much more interesting things than something with 17 consonants in its name.

source: www.redandblack.com