Finding home far away from home
I went to live in a different country without my family for the first time at just sixteen years old.
When my family dropped me off at the airport for my flight to Norway, I felt a rush of excitement and nervousness. This was the next chapter in my life, and I was ready to fit right in—to adjust to the new culture and make friends. But it didn’t happen quite that easily.
At school, everything was taught in a different language, so even though I was studying the language, I still had to rely heavily on my peers. I started to feel like a burden to my classmates, and although I was forming relationships with some of them, I missed my family and friendships back home. Also, seeing my classmates with their friends made me feel left out, since I didn’t feel I had anyone I was close enough with to turn to.
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