exchange student

hej alle sammen! det er et digt som en anden udvekslingsstudent har skrevet og synes lige jeg ville dele den med jer. i sær til kommende udvekslingsstudenter.

I'm standing on the edge. In less than two months I have been gone for 9 months. (jeg kan sige sige less than 1 month) I left my home, family and friends fighting my tears, and now I have to do it all over again quite soon.
I remember the night of my departure day as it was yesterday. I was excited, ...nervous, overwhelmed, and terrified. Will they be able to understand me? Will I understand them? Will I get any friends? Will I gain weight? How is my school and friends gonna be like? What will my family be like? Will I get homesick? Will the plane crash? Will I get along with my family?
Hugged my family goodbye, cried the last tears and I was on my way. I didn't know what to expect. So many 'what ifs' flew threw my mind. What if my family don't like me. What if I don't get any friends. What if I get homesick. What if we don't understand each other.
I was blessed with a new beginning. I got the chance to start all over. I got a new family, new friends, and a new life. I had the best of both worlds. I had a family to take care of me, that I could cry to and get a hug from whenever I needed it - I had a family at home ready to do the same as soon as I would return. I had friends I could share tears and laughter with. - I had friends at home, I could share all my new experiences with.
My exchange year is soon over, and I will leave my family and best friends, to return to my family and best friends. I will return home to a new world. Even though not much have changed, I have. I have changed, and I've become a new person. A better and more open person, I'm ready for life, I'm ready for new adventures.
It's time to realize who my real friends are in both worlds. Who will make sure I made it home, who will keep in touch with me, who will honestly miss me. Who will come see me, who will call me, who have changed, who will disappoint me, and who will stay my friends.
Being hours away from home knowing that you're best friend, or sister needs you, is the hardest thing ever. You wanna take the first flight home just to be with them, but you can't. The time difference makes you sit up all night and talk to whoever needs you, and not even realize that you have school the morning after.
There have been times where I've felt helpless and desperate. The time difference made it impossible to talk to anyone from home, your host family was asleep, that's when your exchange friends kicks in. An exchange year will give you friends all over the world. For the rest of your life, you will have friends to visit in nearly every country in the world. The only ones who will ever truly understand you, your frustrations, your homesickness and your tears.
In a very short amount of time, I will leave - I will take down everything, pack my clothes, my memories, experiences and my life. I'm going to leave my life and my second world.
In a very short amount of time, I will arrive - I will unpack everything, my clothes, memories, experiences and my life. I will return to my old life, as a new person. I will share my memories and experiences with people who won't ever truly understand it.
Ready or not, I have to change one more time, and say goodbye one more time. Very soon.