Foreign but familiar

Being in a foreign country does not mean that people cannot feel familiar or happy. It means that you are able to open your mind and thoughts for a new way of life, culture and language.

At the very begging of the trip, I had like a mix of feelings since I was trying to relate everything to what I was accustomed to do, or I tried to adapt myself as soon as could to the new family I had because I didn't want to look like weird to them. 

So, the question is how can I explain this topic? 

Well, when you travel outside your country for the first time everything makes you feel sad and exited, for you feel sad to be far away from you family, but excited to discover new things, and meet new people. 

One of the things that helped me “survived” since the very beginning was the host family I got. They were trying to help me to adapt myself to the new environment. The questions is... how did they help me? They took me to different places like parks, lakes, and shops in order to know each others in a easy and simple way. The first week was a time to visit different shops in order to helped me buy the necessary things I needed it. Also, they tried to make me feel part of their family by taking me in to account at the time of having dinner together, or by going out as a family.

The second difficult part was the first day at the school because I didn’t know anybody else just my “sisters”. They were really nice to me by showing me every part of the school.  But over there, I met the other Teacher Assistant Students from Spain, Colombia, and Chile. I guess everybody was feeling the same, so we were a support to each other.

To summarized, the bittersweet feeling at the  beginning of your journey will help you make friends, overcome sadness and look for comfort in your host family and school. Nothing is easy, but it is rewarding at the end!