Moments of a Lifetime

Moments Of A Lifetime

A year ago, I was waiting for that particular letter everyday. That letter that I knew would either help me live my American dream or the other way round. I was already half way across the world, leaving behind all those stuff that matters to me at that moment before I even fully prepared myself for it. I landed myself at a place where nine months ago, I had no idea that it existed in the map of America, it was “The Show-Me State”, Missouri. I walked as slow as I can to the arrival hall because at that very moment, everything just seemed so surreal but at the same time it did seemed a little bit scary to me. I had always been a very independent person and I thought I could handle this well. Those seemingly simple questions such as “What’s going to happen next? How should I introduce myself? Who should I hug first?” became too much for me to deal with that time. Then, a sound came from afar, calling my name, “Anthea”. I knew by then that this was it. I was going to embark on the greatest adventure in my life in a country where no one knew what my name is. It just felt like a total “reset” button for my life. I got to be who I wanted to be all over again just because no one knew who I was before. I stepped into that decent sized house and definitely one of the coziest house I had ever been to. It was a colonial style house on a beautiful landscape in the most wonderful neighborhood. This particular house then became a place where I could call home for the rest of my life. Since my host mum was still single, I needed to face the disappointment for not having any host siblings. It was kind of a dismay for me as I always wanted to know how it felt like to have siblings. This may not be what I expected but things turned out to be better. I got my own bedroom, my own sweet time in the shower, most of the food in the pantry, the television control and time to do what I wanted to. This might be a blessing in disguise I thought. In the beginning, I felt uncomfortable. As much as I love being in such a wonderful house, I felt totally out of place. That awkward silence during dinner, the moment when I did not dare to answer the house phone and when the cat seemed to purr at me every time I walked past her as if I was an intruder. All of this just made me thought that the next few months were going to be long. “Welcome to the best high school in America!” That was how my counselor greeted me on my first day as an American high school senior student. I was like a kid in a toy store, fascinated by the size of the school, the facilities, the way American high school student looked and of course, lockers. It was like a dream come true to have a locker to call my own for I did not have one for the previous 11 years of my school life. American school life was the highlight of my exchange. I made friends with a lot of people with different personalities and of course a few exchange students from some other part of the world who then became my absolute best friends. There were those wonderful moments when I was the center of attention just because I was a Chinese girl who they thought came from China. . It’s still vivid in my mind that there was once when the Superbowl was what my classmates talked to me about all day even I have no clue what it is. It was always a big deal for me to know that we were allowed to eat in the class, to wear what we wanted to school and there will be prom coming up by the end of the school year. Things got even better when hanging out at friend’s place after school until midnight seemed legit for an exchange student As time went by, I felt the connection between me and the people around me grew. Those jokes started to make sense to me now. I already had my favorite American television show. I know which cupboard the peanut butter was. Friend started to understand my accent and we had our own inside jokes. As much as I wanted all of these to stay the way it was, the day came when I needed to leave. Time to bid my farewell to this amazing, wild and beautiful country that was now my second home. The time came when I needed to say “see you soon” to those people who I did not even knew a few months ago and now, a big part of my life. I knew this was not the end as farewell was needed so that I can meet them again. This mind-blowing experience just made me let my heart be divided into several small pieces, letting them be taken to every corner of the world in hope that one day, they will meet again.
All of this was something that will always be a part of me. This whole exchange may sounds like a big long holiday, but it was at the same time rapid and brutal. It was a complete change in lifestyle, country, language, friends, parents, house, school and simply everything. I went from thinking I knew who I was to having no idea who I was anymore to being someone totally new. It was at the same time a journey of trust. Trust people who at first were only names on a piece of paper. Trust myself that I can endure a semester on my own, outside of my comfort zone and things were going to be alright. Trust that people back home will understand that I had change but I am still who I was before. It was also about realizing that there were no right and wrong in human but just differences. Me, as an exchange student celebrated those differences and it was because of that, I had one of the most amazing experience in my life so far, without a doubt.
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