November 29, 2011

How to explain this?

Well here will be a post of how I have been. Exchange is exhausting. mentally, emotionally, physically, everything. Simply stated.
 Mentally, Hearing a different language all day, it overloads your mind with so many new sounds and words. Now I am taking Italian in school (They are in their first year of learning it, so I can follow), and that would be language number 4 for me. A bit crazy. And also all the other subjects in school, in a different language. Trying to make plans with trains, and meeting other people, trying to figure out how much money you need for weekends, it all overloads your brain. I am struggling to write this post, haha, to actually think coherently and write a comprehend-able post.
Emotionally, exchange is a rollercoaster, not a fun one. One day you feel on top of the world, you feel like youve mastered german, and that you have so many friends, have a bunch of plans, have money =P, and the next its the complete opposite. All of sudden you feel you know zero german, that you feel really alone, and you cant stop but thinking bad thoughts, and it naturally makes you a bit homesick.
Physically, Well even if I dont go climb a mountain, (which I have already climbed 3) Crazy...I still feel extremely tired everynight, and waking up the next morning sucks. =D
From what I understood, this part of exchange is apparently the worst. The part where you get over the initial hype of everything, the part where you are not yet fluent in your host language, and when the holidays start, where homesickness is suppose to hit hard. Added on top of that to my situation, me switching cities and schools, new people, new friends to make. Well we will see how it goes. But I am ready. But still being an exchange student is not easy at all. easily the hardest thing I have ever done. Not having anyone to really fall back on, well you do, you have rotary, and your host parents, but really essentially you are alone. And at age 16 while it feels extremely liberating to be Parent free in a foreign country, it is also a bit uneasy, and overwhelming at times.
But I wont let you forget, this is also the best decision I have ever made in my life. While I dont go writing on here every single little joyous moment of my exchange, still understand, it is simply put as amazing. The people you meet, the things you see, the places you go, are all once in a lifetime opportunities. And my personal favorite, other exchange students, really by themselves no matter how bad your situation is, make everything better. They are truly the greatest friends on the world, and it makes me soo sad to think I have to leave them in 8 or so months. And also to let you know, the good moments overwhelmingly outnumber the bad ones. While exchange is not always glamorous and fun, I truly believe after you do this, there is really nothing I can think of in life that would be harder than this. I should post a picture also, Here it is with some really good exchange friends, Left to Right, Me, Angi (Ecuador) Julia (Brasil) Victor (Mexico) Bianca (Brasil)







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