Pre-Return Orientation

The first people I ran into upon arriving in Fribourg was the latino band! They gave me hugs and smiles, advancing towards the platform with boisterous laughter, wearing burger king hats and playing spicy dance music (like always)! Isabelle said later that she had joined them as she loves latino music and had a party on the train that probably broke every Swiss privacy, tranquility, and respect bubble in a quarter mile. We would not expect anything less! <3
I found my friends from Fribourg at the platform, and we rode in the train and talked together about our experiences as exchange students as well as our plans for the future, signing flags and writing notes for each other in our journals. There was no anxiety, no worries, no "when are we getting off the train?" because we had so adapted since the beginning of the year that the train car felt like our living room! Any listener would have heard our accents, each from a different country, and seen our foreign faces, but Switzerland has become home, and we are not foreigners any longer!

 We rejoined the others at the bus stop, greeting and smiling at every face we saw! I moved around on the bus, hugging friends and packing in to make room for the others. It didn't matter where I was or were I sat because I felt comfortable talking with everyone and as though I knew them all. I danced in my seat to French rap with Estonians, and laughed as Yash paled at the latino party behind him. When we arrived I hugged the volunteers I had known throughout the year and had seen me through all my changes. Unpacking I did not care about creating my nest or personal space like I would have before, but took the opportunity to greet all my roommates with warm smiles and lighthearted conversation, hugs from the Japanese girls, and Swiss flags draped all around the room to be signed by all!

Heading downstairs I found the dining tables draped with Swiss flags and notebooks that were being covered in loving scribbles. When the last students arrived and announcements began, I was at the front surrounded by good friends and glowing from ear to ear. "Luna! It's you!" A counselor who calls me Luna Lovegood was blinking at my face covered in black curls. "Yea! I cut off my blond hair!" I laughed. I even listened to the announcements in German and could understand general concepts the way I could in French at the beginning of the year. In the seminars we processed our exchange years together as we do each time. I was so happy to hear how the others had found their places and overcame the struggles they had brought to us before. Everyone was comfortable and at peace, a canvas of their mother country that had been painted on and accentuated by their experiences in Switzerland. We were unlikely friends from different corners of the world, making jokes and laughing about things only our group could understand in a newly acquired language, changed from our old identities and lives. Knowing who we were, calm, open-minded, original, comfortable, conscious, brave, lighthearted, loving, understanding, rebellious, visionary, prepared to conquer the world, and savvy, we were finally ready to go home to re-start our lives!

As after every camp, we gathered outside in a circle. One person turned to their neighbor and gave them a hug, then they moved on to the next and the next as the circle folded in on itself and everyone hugged everyone! There were tears and sad goodbyes as we let go of and realized the departure of every beloved freind and unique person we were getting to know.
When the bus pulled out of the parking lot, packed in with everyone and all their belongings, waving to the counselors and the Norwegian boy who took off on his bike, we realized it was our last moment all together with the familiar faces and friendly smiles we had conquered it all alongside.

It gave me hope for the world, because despite our inherent differences and numbers, we still created a bond that overcame all prejudice and exclusivity.
Coming back home and returning to school I missed that unreserved compassion that I had been immersed in all weekend. At the beginning of the year, I had laughed about their metaphor of an island, but it is true that at the orientations we are in a different reality where we are safe, appreciated, and loved the way we are!