My best friends on exchange, or as I call them, my international family

Do you know these movies that start with a scene of the present and then show you the twelve hours prior to that scene? Well, today I will do something similar, but slightly different because instead of a few hours I can tell you that this happened to me in one year or so.

My International Family

I currently have friends from all over the world with whom is very difficult to connect. Sometimes when it is daytime for me it is nighttime for my friends, meaning that they are sleeping and I’m wide awake, or vice versa. Or sometimes they have exams and I’m on vacation or the opposite. It is very difficult to feel like they are still part of my present but I know that somehow they are.

Among of all the people I met during my exchange through Rotary International I have some with whom I connected more. These people are mostly from South America (like Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, and Chile), but also from Thailand, Germany, and Turkey. I met them during an orientation camp organized by Rotary. We were all going to spend one year studying in the same area and that orientation was meant to teach us what the rules were but also to get to know one another. It was truly one of the best weekends of my life so far. Our phones did not have service as we were lost somewhere in Wyoming. All we did was playing some games in the forest, singing by a bonfire eating smores, and sharing our past with one another.

(My friends and I hanging out at the mountains, Wyoming).

That was just the beginning because from that time on I started hanging out with the closest guys to me. We went karting, went to the corn maze for Halloween and then met in December once again. Another memorable weekend was the one we spent together in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It was a cold weekend of January and Rotary took us to ski for a day. We also danced and had dinner at the top of the mountain. The ride on the Gondola was amazing. Steamboat is such a small place but once up there it was beautiful to see it lighten up.

(Steamboat Springs, Colorado, at night).

By then our bond was stronger than ever and so we decided to organize our own weekend instead of waiting for Rotary to organize one for us. We went bowling, for a little hike and also to Starbucks because first, we needed coffee, second, we needed a warm place to chat. It was always hard to leave them.

Once home my next trip was New York City, with just three of my friends. But no need to worry because in NY I met other eighty people. Didn’t really become close friends with everyone but it was still nice to talk to them. The Big Apple was absolutely amazing, but that’s no news. I love it and I could not be happier at the time because I was visiting it with international people.

The highlight of my year was the West Coast Trip though because I went on a road trip with my best friends for over two weeks. Fifteen days of pure laughs, singing sessions on the bus, hikes and jokes. I truly felt like they were my third family, after my biological one and my American one. I felt like I could be myself with these people. They have seen the true me. Sometimes strangers see my pictures on Instagram and they like them and they think they know me just because they have seen my pictures but the truth is that probably no one knows me like these people do. Our group is so nice in its own way. Everyone is different yet everyone is friends with everyone. We come from different places and different cultures, yet we hug (or used to hug) one another. Our trip ended in San Francisco and something really cool happened on board of our SouthWest flight to Denver. One of the flight attendant found out that we were on board and she welcomed us exchange students saying that she was very happy we were there. It was very cool and I was able to record part of it.

(Some of my best friends and I on Route 66).

Before going on exchange...

And this is the part when we go back years because prior to my exchange I would have never thought that I could meet such wonderful people. I knew I was going to meet people but I didn’t know I was going to have such a big group or wonderful souls altogether. That’s all I ever wanted. I know a lot of people from all over the world now but all I miss is having a big group. It would be really neat if we could be all together in the same place for at least twenty-four hours, without rules or troubles finding rides to see each other. We would have so much fun again.

People I’m thankful I have met during my experience as an exchange student abroad:

• My American Family because my year would not have been the same with different hosts;
• My International Family because again, I do not think I will ever be able to meet a group as nice as this one again.

- Cristian