My first Thanksgiving experience

When I first arrived to these new city back in December, determined to make friends in my Masters class, I never thought I’d end up celebrating Thanksgiving, for a number of reasons.

First of all, I didn’t think there would be any Americans in my class. In fact, there are three. Which is great (foreign people, come at me!). Secondly, I wasn’t that sure we’d be friends (my experience had taught me otherwise). And last but not least, I never really saw the point of this certain celebration. I thought it was just another normal day that people chose to stuff themselves with home-made cooking. How wrong was I.

Turns out that the actual ‘I’m grateful for this and that’ part is waaaay more important than the turkey. Even the cooking process is more important than that. We got to our friend’s house and started cooking, all together. I went to the living with one of the girls to prepare the table, and one of the Americans came to us, all happy and emotional, to say “this means a lot to us, it’s so beautiful to see us all in the kitchen, talking and cooking all together”, which really touched me.

After the turkey was (finally) place on the table, next to the rest of food we’d prepared, they three told us it was time to gather around and say why we were grateful for. At first, none of us wanted to do it (expressing our feelings to people we’ve known for two months? Yeah, sure). But they told us that was the tradition, so we actually HAD to do it. And we did.

Never judge a book by its cover, they say. Thanksgiving seems to be all about the food, the drinking, the stuffing, the turkey. But really, it’s all about friends, family, friends that become family in your home away from home. Last Thursday I was grateful for a lot of things. Today, I’m grateful for friends who keep showing me things are never what they seem.

There’s always a moments pause after the bread is broken, the meal is shared, and the toasts are given that lends itself to looking around a house full of family and reflecting.

Cultivating gratitude is a wquick and delicious way to change your life. I’m so thankful for my loved ones, who make this existence an adventure, my opportunities to pursue my passions and live life fully, for all the hard times that taught me how to truly feel joy, and for every time people have surprised me with their incredible goodness.

There is so much magic here…

Sophia Bush

Summing up my second year abroad

Hi! I’m back! I know it’s been a while but I’ve been a busy bee over the summer holidays. I’ve just stumbled upon this draft I wrote back in June and thought I’d share it with whoever is bored enough to be reading this blog (thanks though, pal!)

I should start packing; instead, here I am writing this. This year has been completely different from the first time I lived abroad. I am a bit older (and I’d like to think that also a bit wiser) and so are the people who shared this experience with me. I have met less people, and I certainly don’t know if the few good friends I’ve made will still be friends with me in the long run. But I guess you don’t even know that when it comes to friends you’ve had for years. I have also drunk way more cocktails and beer than I’ve done in my entire life, and I’m okay with it (actually the beer part wasn’t that hard to top, taking into account I didn’t like beer until I had no other option if I wanted to save some money).

I have grown. It took me years to finally realise I had to put some distance between myself and a certain person. It was never easy because we had been good friends for years, but the end of 2014 was some kind of revelation to me.  I decided I was going to finally be happy(ier) from 2015 on. And I’ve accomplished my goal, somehow. I’ve said “yes” to most of the plans I’ve been proposed. I had the time of my life travelling with three of my best friends over the weekend. And I even practised sport. My 18 year old self wouldn’t believe it. And the best of it all, I’m doing everything for myself, because I want to.

If during my first year abroad I learnt that distance really means “nothing” if you try to make your relationships and friendships work, this year has proved that I can be happier if I have a more positive attitude towards life.

I have also learnt that if there’s only one step from love to hate, it only takes a couple of months to walk from hate to love. My 11 year old students are the best example. As rebellious, loud and careless they were at the beginning of the year (and all the way until its very end, let’s be honest here), they turned out to be the most loveable class I’ve had. And I’m not only saying that because I may or may not have had a couple of secret admirers among them. Not at all.

The beginning of this experience was certainly one of the hardest times I’ve had in my entire life, and some things didn’t go quite as I had imagined. But you know what? It’s okay. And if it’s not, it will. I’ve had a lot of time for myself that I invested not only in watching tv shows. I’ve thought a lot about everything, about everyone.

If I had to sum up my second year abroad in just one sentence, I’d say that thanks to this experience I’m finally on the right way to getting to know myself. And that’s a big step for my life. It’s a start, at least.