The story of an Exchange student

This is such an accurate quote. How would I have been able to experience this amazing experience, without leaving my comfort zone? Don't let me kid you with all my happy posts, it's not all amazing. The truth is it is hard. To start with the language barrier poses a very hard challenge! I have mastered the art of charades and facial expressions, in order for people to get what I'm saying. The downside to a different language is you can't always tell if you have been understood properly and you can't always tell if you have understood what the other person has said! Here I have to look at people when they talk and read their body language and facial expressions to fully understand. This makes the conversation a lot more engaging and I find I tend to not day dream as much and actually listen to the person! 

At an AFS mini orientation last week they said to us, not everyone could do what you are doing, you are brave and we congratulate you for that.

That stuck with me, and I have thought a lot about it. It would have been very easy for me to stay in Kaikoura, the same town I have been in for my whole life, go to a school that I have been going to for 4 years, speak the same language that I have spoken all my life and be around the people I am most comfortable with. But instead I chose to leave everything in order to experience a different life and culture on the other side of the world. And yes this takes guts. A lot of people were very surprised that I was going to do an exchange. Natisha, the shy and quiet girl. They said "Aren't you scared?" "Will you miss your family?" Yes of course I was and I still am getting used to it now. The truth is not everybody can be an exchange student. Not everyone would be willing to take this giant leap of faith.

In the last week of NZ life and first week of ARG life I doubted myself too, I never truly knew if I had the courage to do this. It felt like a dream for such a long time and now I'm living it. Whenever people laugh when I don't understand or say stupid or mean things, I feel a bit embarrassed and sad. But really I should just hold my head high, I am here doing something so new and scary and they are still living their same lives they have for a long time. It takes real courage and grit to get through the hurdles this exchange poses and I am going to have to gather all of mine in order to make this exchange amazing. I came to Argentina to find myself and become more confident and day by day I am discovering new things. 

This will be unforgettable but challenging experience that will stick with me forever. 

If you have read this far I hope this post will make you think too. I didn't mean for this to be a negative post, but it's more like all my thoughts finally written. I am happy here, everyday I am able to communicate better and feel more at home here. I have discovered that little things make a hell of a difference. Today one of my friends said "Ah you are getting a lot better at understanding now!" That made me so happy to hear that, and just that little sentance made me feel a lot better and confident. Here I have learned to appreciate every moment and take everything just one step at a time.