Well, for lack of better words, this is, again, my journey. (:
February 17th, Thursday
ROUTE 23
Cuckoo! The far cry of the rooster grows to a crescendo and there I am – a flustered-looking girl searching for directions yet clueless to where I am headed. They say maps can show you where you want to go but I don’t think that’s the case for me.
I jump at the first person I see, “Excuse me ma’am, could you help me with –”
“Of course, just take the bus on route 23 and you’ll find what you’re looking for,” the female stranger interjects before I could finish.
“But I haven’t said where I wanted to go.”
With her smiling eyes, the dotty lady laughs heartily, “Don’t worry, dear. You’ll figure it out soon enough.”
I am dumbfounded. It puzzles me how enigmatic this lady is and before I know it, she disappears as quickly as lightning. I feel the wind playing with my hair as I replay the peculiar occurrence in my head.
“Woof! Woof!”I snap out of my trail of thought just as a giant mongrel races toward me like a bullet train and licks me in the face.
“Down, boy, down!” the master’s booming voice does the trick and the dog retreats instantly. My eyes dance at the sight before me. I see a man in his fifties clad in quintessential horse-riding boots and a cowboy hat on his head. His wrinkled eyes have that authoritative glare, his belly protrudes slightly, and his poised stature doesn’t give away his age at all.
“Sorry about that. Jake has a way of greeting newcomers. I haven’t seen you around here though,” the old man tilts his hat.
“I’m just passing through,” I smile sheepishly.
“Going somewhere?”
“Um…well…have you heard of a route 23?” I blurted.
“Oh, route 23, ay? Nice choice, though you will have to be careful.”
“Why? Do you know where does it lead to?”
“Well, I’ve been on route 23,” he sighs and leans on a lamp post, “You have to keep on thinking before you leap. People are not always as they seem. A courageous cowboy can’t always count cows.”
“Huh?” my face shows utter confusion, “What does that mean?”
He laughs just like the previous lady, “Dear, what do you think I look like?”
“I guess you look like a cowboy.”
He shakes his head, “Nope, I am a chef.” I start to get what he means by things not being what they seem.
He smiles, “Don’t judge a book by its cover – that’s all I’m saying. And it all depends whether you think the glass is half-empty or half-full. Anyway, just take a left on the second block and you’ll find what you’re looking for.” As he left me thinking even more, he subsequently turns back, “Oh, and be wise in choosing your friends too,” and just like that he was gone in a flash. As I walk on, I shrug off the many odd happenings and try to find route 23. The more I dwell on it, the more of what the old man said seemed to make sense. Whatever lay ahead of route 23 sounded pretty daunting.
Just as I am turning at the block, I see a little toddler playing hopscotch in reverse seeming to be as fit as a fiddle. With a toothy grin, she says, “Hello, how’re you doing?”
“Hi, um… why are you jumping backwards?” I raise my eyebrows.
“Why not?” the cute girl retorts almost indifferently.
“Well, if you haven’t noticed, everyone else actually faces the direction they're walking,” I say haughtily.
“Oh, I know. But it’s okay not to be like everyone else,” the girl replies.I pause. She’s got a point, I thought, I guess I never thought of it that way.
“So, where are you heading?” her pigtails bob like a spring.
“I’m actually looking for the bus on route 23.”
“Then you’ve come to the right place. The bus is coming in five minutes. Are you ready?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean do you know what to do when you get there?”
“Well, I brought hiking boots,” I say as innocent as a child.
She laughs, “No, silly. The key is to stay true to yourself. Just because everyone does something a certain way or judges you for acting differently, it isn’t necessarily wrong. It’s just different.”
“Something like saying tomato and tomato differently?”
“Exactly,” she ponders at me for a full minute and smiles, “You’re ready.”
Honk! Honk! From afar, a bright yellow headlight shines as a shadow beckons toward me and I raise my hand to stop it. The bus is here. I take a deep breath and step on.
*
“Andrea! Wake up!”
A ray of light blinds me slightly as I try to open my eyes. It takes a few seconds before I come to my senses. My friend, Ahmad beams back at me, “We’re here! We’re in Montana!” My eyes widen and they flicker toward the window of the plane. I am struck with awe at what lies below. A never-ending row of majestic snow-capped mountains and amazingly spacious green fields remind me of picture perfect postcard images. As the pilot announces our arrival, I take a deep breath thinking about the dream I just had and smile. As I hoist my backpack on my shoulders, I catch a glimpse of the person sitting in front of me wearing a cowboy hat and I wonder if it was just a trick of the light.
A ray of light blinds me slightly as I try to open my eyes. It takes a few seconds before I come to my senses. My friend, Ahmad beams back at me, “We’re here! We’re in Montana!” My eyes widen and they flicker toward the window of the plane. I am struck with awe at what lies below. A never-ending row of majestic snow-capped mountains and amazingly spacious green fields remind me of picture perfect postcard images. As the pilot announces our arrival, I take a deep breath thinking about the dream I just had and smile. As I hoist my backpack on my shoulders, I catch a glimpse of the person sitting in front of me wearing a cowboy hat and I wonder if it was just a trick of the light.
*
Having the courage to set foot on a foreign land without anyone to turn to is not an easy feat. Ask any exchange student and they’ll probably know what I’m talking about. As for me, my journey has just begun and I have realized that learning is one of the most inevitable things throughout this bus ride. I learnt that being an ambassador of your country is not a bed of roses but then again, learning from mistakes is the spice of life. They’ll be people who judge you or put you down but what matters, I learnt, is that you remember who you are when the road gets bumpy. Doing something differently isn’t always wrong. You’ll never know, I might be able to find what I’m looking for.
March 1st 2011, Tuesday
CINQUAIN
I dream
Of purple stars
Dancing in the blue rain
Why? That is just the way they are
Insane
THREE DAY JOURNAL
14th February 2011, Monday
The day of love – today was Valentine’s Day and it amazed me to see how big of a celebration it was in America with the flowers, candy and chocolate as compared to my home in Malaysia. So, I decided to be part of the hype by making teddy bear-shaped cards for my host family and somehow got people to send it to them at school as a surprise.
I saw most elementary school kids wearing red but realized as they get older, high school kids become less enthusiastic about it. I was planning on cutting down on sugar this week before the large portions of American food showed in my body size but the sight of sweets being passed around got the better of me. The day went by quite normally and Choir class made my day with Mrs. Nelson serving us cake! During the last period, I received flowers from my host family that just made me smile.
At night, I decided to accompany my host mom to a church meeting which turned out better than expected and I would have definitely done it again. Not knowing what to expect, we brought some pens and a notebook but ended up not using it. Instead, we managed to see a fire demonstration and learnt how to extinguish a fire! We ended the day with another free piece of scrumptious cake and all was well!
I saw most elementary school kids wearing red but realized as they get older, high school kids become less enthusiastic about it. I was planning on cutting down on sugar this week before the large portions of American food showed in my body size but the sight of sweets being passed around got the better of me. The day went by quite normally and Choir class made my day with Mrs. Nelson serving us cake! During the last period, I received flowers from my host family that just made me smile.
At night, I decided to accompany my host mom to a church meeting which turned out better than expected and I would have definitely done it again. Not knowing what to expect, we brought some pens and a notebook but ended up not using it. Instead, we managed to see a fire demonstration and learnt how to extinguish a fire! We ended the day with another free piece of scrumptious cake and all was well!
15th February 2011, Tuesday
Today I started off not as well as I hoped. I had set my alarm for 5.30 a.m. to review a bit of Calculus but couldn’t seem to get up so I ended up snoozing till my original wake up time – 6.30 a.m. Nonetheless, the little moments that happened throughout the day were what turned my day around. It started out with Calculus class when Mrs. Hertz had heart-shaped frosted cookies! My eyes lighted up and the thought that I ate WAY more in school here than I did back home made me laugh. I wasn’t complaining. The Calculus test results that had me pretty anxious was out and overall, I was glad with how I did in spite of what some of the other students expected of me.
The Midterm report for my Calculus is probably on top of my list of best things that have happened so far – I managed to get 99%! Seeing that I enjoy eating when I’m happy or need something to boost my mood when I’m upset, the chocolate cake I had during Speech class was heaven! We were doing a maid of honor speech and I was pretty excited. English class seemed packed with homework but at that point, nothing could bring my spirits down.
Night was rather busy for my family as my siblings had piano lessons and my little brother was starting wrestling so even though I didn’t do much, I was glad to have tagged along. Being as unaccustomed to snow as I was, I managed to slip on the porch and slide down three steps of stairs but strange as it might sound, it was fun! Just before bed, I also managed to slip in some time to play the Wii – my host family’s newest addition to the long list of games they already have.
The Midterm report for my Calculus is probably on top of my list of best things that have happened so far – I managed to get 99%! Seeing that I enjoy eating when I’m happy or need something to boost my mood when I’m upset, the chocolate cake I had during Speech class was heaven! We were doing a maid of honor speech and I was pretty excited. English class seemed packed with homework but at that point, nothing could bring my spirits down.
Night was rather busy for my family as my siblings had piano lessons and my little brother was starting wrestling so even though I didn’t do much, I was glad to have tagged along. Being as unaccustomed to snow as I was, I managed to slip on the porch and slide down three steps of stairs but strange as it might sound, it was fun! Just before bed, I also managed to slip in some time to play the Wii – my host family’s newest addition to the long list of games they already have.
16th February 2011, Wednesday
Learning – I guess people go to school to learn but I’ve realized that if you actually opened your mind to what you can get from each day, it’s amazing how much more you can learn from the people and situations around you. In U.S. History class, I managed to get five points extra credit for my handwriting which was interesting because I couldn’t imagine my school in Malaysia doing that. For some strange reason, I was rather hungry for lunch and the classes after that were rather empty because everyone was either at the Math Meet or preparing for the carnival.
The major attraction for the carnival was probably the Pie in the Face game whereby people could just throw pies at people’s faces. It’s scary to think that people enjoy that idea but they really did. Overall, I had a blast helping out at the carnival for the Bingo game but it really burned me out by 8 p.m. and my stomach kept on grumbling for skipping dinner. I was delighted to find that there was relatively no homework because I could not imagine myself completing them. After a quick sandwich and a shower, I decided to call it a night – excited for what was in store the next day.
March 10th 2011, Thursday
HAIKU
It's warm where I am,
Of hope and love around me,
Like spring; flowers bloom
Bright - I see the light,
Before you take me, mom, know
That I love you so
TANKA
Graceful like a swan,
The paintbrush swirls and dances
On the canvas floor,
Unknown, the story begins,
The story of a painter.
March 15th 2011, Tuesday
SEDOKA
Picture you and me,
When I’d be king, you’d be queen,
Laughing at ourselves,
Dancing in the moonlit sky,
Happily ever after,
For we need not say goodbye.
When I’d be king, you’d be queen,
Laughing at ourselves,
Dancing in the moonlit sky,
Happily ever after,
For we need not say goodbye.
LIMERICK
Sitting on the old brown oak tree,
I think of ice cream and Slurpee,
Then a bird caught my eye
Waiting high in the sky
For spring and daisies – just like me!
Sitting on the old brown oak tree,
I think of ice cream and Slurpee,
Then a bird caught my eye
Waiting high in the sky
For spring and daisies – just like me!
BLUES: Always
Why do we have to live apart – why?
What is on your sweet mind, my darling?
Why didn’t I get to say goodbye?
Why didn’t I get to say goodbye?
Your smile remains in my memory,
Why did you have to leave, my darling?
The story of us is just like a tragedy
Why did you have to leave, my darling?
The story of us is just like a tragedy
The sun setting – that’s what I see,
Do you know what jolts in me?
A picture of you and me laughing with glee
Do you know what jolts in me?
A picture of you and me laughing with glee
Hours turn to hours, days into days,
Nothing expresses how I feel – not even a phrase,
But I’ll always wait for you. Always.
Nothing expresses how I feel – not even a phrase,
But I’ll always wait for you. Always.
<3 BLUES~
ReplyDeleteHaha. You do know that it's fictional right?
ReplyDelete