Personal Narrative: A Coming Of Age Experience
A Coming of age Experience
“Bye mom, bye dad! I’ll miss you both so, so much! Have a nice summer, I’ll see you soon!” Lacy said, with a hint of nervousness in her voice.
“We’ll miss you very much, Lacy! We love you!” Her dad reminded her as he watched her get her luggage from the trunk of his car.
“Have fun, honey. Don’t stay up too late either!” Lacy’s mom advised from her rolled down window.
“Haha, I’ll try not to. Bye, I love you two so much!” She shut the the trunk and walked towards the airport. She slightly turned around as if to show all of her mixed emotions, and her parents smiled back. Her summer was almost over, but it felt like it just began.
It was a warm, sunny day in early August of 1989 when Lacy, a shy fourteen, almost fifteen year old …show more content…
from San Diego, California, flew to Frankfurt, Germany unaccompanied. It was quite a trip for her, because although she was used to traveling, she was not used to flying across the globe, alone. She had saved up roughly $1,000 by working and keeping all of the cash from gifts she received for this once in a lifetime experience to reunite with a foreign exchange student she met at Mira Mesa High School, named Babsi Petersen. The trip was the first time that Lacy had ever traveled independently, and it was the first time she’d ever ridden inside of a Mercedes- Benz.
On the airplane ride, Lacy was wearing leggings, a white sweater, a skirt, and doc martens, with her hair pulled back into a ponytail, a typical outfit and hairstyle for her. Lacy’s parents drove her to a large airport in San Diego, California, where her future would soon play out. After finding her way through the airport alone, she boarded the international plane to Germany for a nineteen hour long flight. Along the ride, she changed airplanes in Washington D.C. The overall worst part about the plane ride was the smell. In the year 1990, smoking was banned on all United States airplanes. However, when Lacy was travelling it was only 1989, and smoking on planes was still allowed, causing for an unpleasant scent the whole trip there.
“Babsi! Oh my goodness I haven’t seen you in forever! How are you?” Lacy excitedly said to Babsi when she arrived at the airport.
“Hey look, it’s Lacy! You’re looking so great! And we’ll have to catch up with each other on the trip home!”
When Lacy’s plane landed, she was at an airport in Berlin, Germany.
As Babsi’s family drove Lacy to Frankfurt, she was in a police car. However, it wasn’t because she or any of the people she was staying with did anything wrong, but simply because they had a police car and they chose to drive it. Once Lacy had arrived at her friend's house, and after the long drive, Lacy had realized that there was no speed limit, which was completely different than the laws in America. In Frankfurt, she stayed at Babsi’s place, whose ‘crazy’ aunt lived in a small hut-like house in Babsi’s front yard. Her aunt was quite peculiar, considering she loved monkeys, and would randomly give Lacy stickers.
Lacy admired the house in which she was in. One of the many reasons why was because she was staying in an ice cream factory. This was because Babsi’s parents owned a pretty well known ice cream company in Germany, and the factory was inside of their home. The house was built with the ice cream factory on the first floor, the business offices on the second floor, and a penthouse on the third floor. Another great thing about staying in an ice cream factory? She got to eat ice cream every single night for
dessert.
The trip Lacy took made her feel and become much more mature, and she felt more like an adult. Before the trip, she was the type of person who liked to stay in their comfort zone and stay quieter. Yet the trip she took to Germany not necessarily ‘changed’ her personality, but altered it. Lacy became more independent, and felt as if she could do more things herself. She learned how to navigate and get to and from by herself, and had generally became more experienced. All of the things she learned from were pretty difficult, for she spoke very little of the language of the country she was in. Lacy was and still is very grateful for the opportunity she earned to go to Germany and learn so much about not only another culture, but about herself as well.
“Bye mom, bye dad! I’ll miss you both so, so much! Have a nice summer, I’ll see you soon!” Lacy said, with a hint of nervousness in her voice.
“We’ll miss you very much, Lacy! We love you!” Her dad reminded her as he watched her get her luggage from the trunk of his car.
“Have fun, honey. Don’t stay up too late either!” Lacy’s mom advised from her rolled down window.
“Haha, I’ll try not to. Bye, I love you two so much!” She shut the the trunk and walked towards the airport. She slightly turned around as if to show all of her mixed emotions, and her parents smiled back. Her summer was almost over, but it felt like it just began.
It was a warm, sunny day in early August of 1989 when Lacy, a shy fourteen, almost fifteen year old …show more content…
from San Diego, California, flew to Frankfurt, Germany unaccompanied. It was quite a trip for her, because although she was used to traveling, she was not used to flying across the globe, alone. She had saved up roughly $1,000 by working and keeping all of the cash from gifts she received for this once in a lifetime experience to reunite with a foreign exchange student she met at Mira Mesa High School, named Babsi Petersen. The trip was the first time that Lacy had ever traveled independently, and it was the first time she’d ever ridden inside of a Mercedes- Benz.
On the airplane ride, Lacy was wearing leggings, a white sweater, a skirt, and doc martens, with her hair pulled back into a ponytail, a typical outfit and hairstyle for her. Lacy’s parents drove her to a large airport in San Diego, California, where her future would soon play out. After finding her way through the airport alone, she boarded the international plane to Germany for a nineteen hour long flight. Along the ride, she changed airplanes in Washington D.C. The overall worst part about the plane ride was the smell. In the year 1990, smoking was banned on all United States airplanes. However, when Lacy was travelling it was only 1989, and smoking on planes was still allowed, causing for an unpleasant scent the whole trip there.
“Babsi! Oh my goodness I haven’t seen you in forever! How are you?” Lacy excitedly said to Babsi when she arrived at the airport.
“Hey look, it’s Lacy! You’re looking so great! And we’ll have to catch up with each other on the trip home!”
When Lacy’s plane landed, she was at an airport in Berlin, Germany.
As Babsi’s family drove Lacy to Frankfurt, she was in a police car. However, it wasn’t because she or any of the people she was staying with did anything wrong, but simply because they had a police car and they chose to drive it. Once Lacy had arrived at her friend's house, and after the long drive, Lacy had realized that there was no speed limit, which was completely different than the laws in America. In Frankfurt, she stayed at Babsi’s place, whose ‘crazy’ aunt lived in a small hut-like house in Babsi’s front yard. Her aunt was quite peculiar, considering she loved monkeys, and would randomly give Lacy stickers.
Lacy admired the house in which she was in. One of the many reasons why was because she was staying in an ice cream factory. This was because Babsi’s parents owned a pretty well known ice cream company in Germany, and the factory was inside of their home. The house was built with the ice cream factory on the first floor, the business offices on the second floor, and a penthouse on the third floor. Another great thing about staying in an ice cream factory? She got to eat ice cream every single night for
dessert.
The trip Lacy took made her feel and become much more mature, and she felt more like an adult. Before the trip, she was the type of person who liked to stay in their comfort zone and stay quieter. Yet the trip she took to Germany not necessarily ‘changed’ her personality, but altered it. Lacy became more independent, and felt as if she could do more things herself. She learned how to navigate and get to and from by herself, and had generally became more experienced. All of the things she learned from were pretty difficult, for she spoke very little of the language of the country she was in. Lacy was and still is very grateful for the opportunity she earned to go to Germany and learn so much about not only another culture, but about herself as well.