New Paragraph, New Chapter

The time has come for this year long chapter to come to an end, allowing another to begin. I left New Zealand at the end of April 2011, I had a plan. I knew where I was going and what to do. After spending a few months gallivanting around England, off I went to Italy. I soon lost the spring in my step after a month of experience as an au-pair. With a two month contract, I cancelled one month in, not able to stand one more minute of living under someone else’s roof with unknown expectations that I couldn’t live up to.

Swiftly, I moved out into a friends’ apartment, feeling like a mollusc in a shell I attached myself to the security of the situation while I slowly recuperated my thoughts and devised a new plan. Unknown at the time, but this was a turning point. I felt lost in the world and only when I got kicked into gear did I sort out a life for myself in Bergamo. I found a flat with people and began the process of settling into a more normal life. Piece by piece, the puzzle started coming together, forming my life once again.

Only then did my world get turned upside down when I met Marco. If I hadn’t have moved into the flat in Bergamo and been taken out to a party with my flatmates, I wouldn’t have met him. He probably would have remained in Berlin, where he was living at the time. However, once arrived back in Berlin, Marco booked tickets for me to visit him at the end of that month. I jumped at the idea and after spending those five days with him, I knew my heart was taken.

However, the main reason for my travels to Italy was certainly not to find love, that was just a bonus! The ten month course I took has left me with a heck of a lot of paper work and materials that need to be shipped home. But that’s certainly not it! The last ten months have been the most inspiring of my life. Spending almost a year studying in a foreign country, most of your classmates become family. The course not only educated us on the typical subjects of schooling, but delved into the psychology, and once one question has been posed, so many others crop up in mind.

Many of us had a few months of battling with a mixture of homesickness and self-discovery, and with no family, we really depended on each other to pull through. There were many terrible periods of time shared out in the class, with a number of broken relationships. Although the hearts were not mended we all provided the shoulders to cry on and the arms of a secure hug. For me, I struggled when moving in with Marco and his parents. I struggle enough with my own parents, let alone someone else’s who, at the best of times, I don’t understand. Yet, with help from Marco and friends, I pulled through and discovered the patience I needed to live, without being driven insane.

During the year, I’ve managed to visit other parts of Europe including Berlin, the UK, Barcelona, parts of Switzerland and also the mountains in Chamonix, France. I’ve tried out skiing and mountain biking to a bit more of an extreme level. I have seen big cities, beautiful villages, experienced crazy Italian driving, had true Italian meals. I’ve also had the opportunity to pop back to the UK to see family, friends and weddings. There is no doubt, this is an ideal gateway to Europe. But I’m ready to leave this crazy life behind and begin to relax again.

We had our graduation ceremony last week, after a tough final exam, we were able to relax and have a glass of champagne with a Countess living in Bergamo. At the ceremony we also gave everyone a blast of Tutira Mai Nga Iwi and the Haka, unfortunate that my hands and legs were doing their own movements rather than the ones we practiced! But we had fun and I enjoyed being a part of the crazy kiwi clan.

A week later, after all the other students have packed up and left, I find myself staring at our own luggage. Two lives worth and a heap of Montessori materials squeezed into two suitcases, a box and a sports bag. After packing up and leaving a number of times, I’ll be quite happy not to try again for a little while. It’s a stressful event, we’re both feeling it. Not always knowing what our hands and feet are doing because our mind is somewhere else; have I packed this? Will this weigh too much? Let’s leave this here for next time. I look forward to getting on the plane and having 24 hours to sit, watch movies and not have to worry that I didn’t manage to squeeze my ski jacket on top of the suitcase. No one looks forward to a 24 hour flight, but it’s the means to the beginning of the next chapter. One that will begin by Marco meeting my parents, us searching for a house, starting up an elementary classroom, and many other things that will be ticked from our priority list… including buying him a new bike! Time will fly, just like the last year has.

I thank everyone and everything that has appeared in my life the last year. I’ll take the knowledge and memories, continuing down life’s path. This time, I have someone to hold hands with along the way.