When I was 16, I convinced my parents to send me to France, by myself, for a month.
Let’s back up.
One of my best friends at the time was going to Spain with a program to learn Spanish for a month during the summer and I remember thinking, “I could never do that. Go to another country all by myself where I don’t even speak the language?” Then a few days later that same best friend told me she didn’t want to be friends anymore. I was crushed. I was so crushed I thought, “hell, I might as well try to leave the country. “ I started searching online for programs for Americans to learn French in France. I gave my address to a few sites and I got some brochures to show my parents. I’m not sure whether I ended up picking the program or they did, but they said they would pay for me to go to Cote D’Azur and go to a French school for a month, by myself (this is one of the reasons I have the greatest parents in the world but that’s a different story altogether). It was all set up and I couldn’t believe it- I was scared out of my mind.
I went to France on my own. I lived with a French family and a Swiss roommate, I went to school, and I made lots of friends right away. I had the time of my life doing it. I think that’s when I got hooked. France was when I knew I loved being in a new place and living a whole different life than the one I was accustomed to. It was bigger and better than traveling because it was getting to know a place and finding my own place in it.
I think about my life and I can hardly believe I’ve actually lived it. When I’m talking and I say something like, “well when I lived in New Zealand…” it just amazes me. Now I’m in Korea and it’s the 3rd foreign country I’ve lived in, 4th if you count my month in France. As I read this it sounds like I’m 60 looking back on my travels with awe and fondness. Heck, I was only living in New Zealand two years ago. It feels like so much longer than that though. I think it’s because with each new country it’s not just a year, it’s a whole new life in that place. Different friends, different apartments, different jobs and even different standards of living are part of what make each place unique.
Now I am in Korea. I don’t know that I love Korea, but I know that I love being in Korea.
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