The neverending story of change

My beloved Helsinki seaside, november 2012

Ah, change. 

Lately changes -in different ways, shapes + forms- have come across my path. What struck me most during these changes, is the amount of fear of change so many people seem to have. I'm not saying that I have no fear of change, but I do try to welcome change with open arms. I see it as an opportunity to grow. While a part of me might feel the urge to fight it, I know I will never win. The world won't stop spinning, the story will never end, so I might as well go with it. Spinning round and round.

Today I wanted to address this topic by sharing a story with you. Here goes:

When I was sixteen I changed everything about my life. I moved abroad, without my family, to a country where a language is spoken that I didn't understand at that time. I moved to a place where seasons change more rapidly + are more steadfastly than where I'm from. I moved to a new school, with a different curriculum, I moved to the land of cinnamon buns and sauna's.

The decision to move to Finland was partly fuelled by the opportunity to study in English there. It was the only country in the EU where you could study in English at that time. That is, the only country that the particular organisation I chose to arrange my year abroad, offered. The US wasn't an option. Being 15 at the time of signing up, my parents thought I was to young to travel all the way across the globe. Being my fabulous 15 year old self I thought this was stupid of course, that is until my eyes caught sight of the Finland option.

To try and make a long story a bit shorter; upon arriving at my new school it became clear that no teaching was done in English. Except for English class. You think math is difficult? Try it in Finnish. Another one of the promises made in the brochure, was the one of staying at one host family for the entire year. Prior to my departure it became clear that I would stay with several families. One of the children of my first host family was a wee bit young at the time, which was why they only wanted to host a student for a maximum of five months. (Just FYI, those were the best months +  to this day I visit my 'Finnish family' almost every year.)

When my time with my first host family was up, I moved to another family. They didn't have room for me. Literally. I didn't have a room, I slept on a sofa bed and shared a tiny space with a very, very spoiled girl. An only child, like me... During the course of the two months I spent there, I wondered many a time where I had gone wrong in my career as an only child. I mean when she told her dad to give her money NOW! he gave it to her. I never mastered that art...

Fast forward to March and I was in my home away from home away from home away from home. This time I got to spent my days with a fun older host sister. She had been in my shoes, being an exchange student in the US, several years before my arrival. We got along quite well, which made those last months all the more fun.

Looking back I did try to fight these changes from time to time, but I never managed to hold on to that anger for long. I took the changes to heart once I saw the opportunities it supplied me with. Like being able to travel a lot. Because I didn't have to worry about studying/grades. When you don't understand a language teachers tend to turn a blind eye come midterms. As long as you tell lots of stories about your native country that is. So I traveled across Finland and visited Sweden, Estonia + Russia. I went on an epic journey on a massive ship during one hell of a storm. I almost -almost- bought dried fish right from the glove department in an old + rusty Russian cab.... Last but not least, I went out, a lot. (Not to bars, well except the time when my 19 year old host sister sneaked me and my 16 years into a 21+ bar and we had a cider .) And I went on countless other adventures, but that's a story for another day.

And yes, perhaps it wasn't what I paid for. It all looked different in the brochure. But I learned early on, that change -deliberate or unexpected- isn't a case of right or wrong or a case of better or worse. It's just different. Change will always happen, no matter how hard you try to fight it. And what comes from change, is entirely up to what you make of it.