My Voice

 
    
30
Nov 2012
5:23 PM CEST
   

Reflections on my Year Abroad.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anais Nin

Life can get overwhelming, especially when living in a foreign country. It is amazing the amount of courage�you need to truly "go it alone". �It is often the case that there is at least another poor English schmuck going through the same experience, if not a worse one. However, I have not met another native English speaker where I live to date. In my life, I am the foreigner. I am that schmuck.

Despite my apparent “schmuckness”, I wasn’t going to let being a foreigner ruin my chances of making friends. I mean, how hard is it to make friends? Right? Well, in this little village, it seems that if you didn’t go to school, or already have a connection of acquaintances, it becomes pretty hard to join the social ladder. I’m not at University or in a job with “young” people. The majority of teachers have families to go home to. So instead, I decided to join a Latin Dance School.

I realise that I may have lost a lot of your attention after reading those last three words.

If you know me well, you will know that I love to dance. It was only natural that I should join a dance school, because it is probably the only sport I am moderately capable of doing.

Whilst reflecting upon my dancing progress over the last few months, I realised that I have been quite lucky:
  1. I joined a beginner dance class.
  2. I (tried) to speak to Italian people
  3. I moved up to intermediate
  4. I moved up to advanced
  5. I became I staff member
  6. I danced.
  7. And danced some more.
Sounds good, right? Well, I still managed to feel unsatisfied. After such a successful rise in the dancing ladder, I realised that I would never be “one of them”. Was I even on the social ladder? I was not directly invited out to join in with their social events; it was all very much a closed discussion among the selected few. Despite being a member of staff, I was never asked to teach in the dance class, because I wasn’t able to explain the steps as well as all the other native Italian staff in the class. My attempt at making friends failed, because no one was interested in being the “foreigner’s friend”. I mean, it might mean talking to her in English. Don’t be ridiculous.

This is where courage expands life: I invited myself to social events. You’re never really going to be invited to events if you don’t spend time with people. There are moments where you just have to feel socially bold, and go for it. If you don’t, you’re settling for a life. Not striving for a better one.

Nowadays, I feel comforted by the fact that the invitation to go out of an evening is extended to me.

GET IN THERE. � � � ��
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Amy Jean's Profile

  • Username: Amy Jean
  • Gender / Age: Female, 32
  • Location: United Kingdom
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