So they’re bound to
happen, like it or not. And some will be worse than others. Here’s a few that
have happened to me in my four months here.
First
day of school = Not knowing what the hell to do.
So
it’s the first day of school and lunch time rolls around, having never had a
cafeteria lunch before, I was completely clueless to what I had to do.
I had a bit of luck with my host sister
being in the same class as me the period before lunch, so she vaguely told me
what I had to do before running off the joining the queue. I followed slowly
behind and awkwardly tried to remember what she told me to do. Picking up my
tray and just doing what the others were doing, I pretended to know what was
happening with everything.
Then, after doing that, I was faced with
the big decision of where to sit. I didn’t know anyone and had no clue if I
could sit wherever I liked, or if there was some kind of order. My host
sister’s table was already full, and scared to just approach a random table, I
went and sat by myself. For a bout five minutes I was there eating my lunch all
on my lonesome, until my host came and got me and pulled up an extra seat.
The next day I wasn’t so lucky.
The
same thing happened where I awkwardly followed everyone’s lead at the cafeteria
line, then I went and sat by myself, this time for the whole lunch. I could
feel everyone’s eyes one me and feel them talking about me.
Probably one of the most awkward days of my
life.
First
day of classes = Where in the world should I sit?
You
get to your first class, softly knock on the door and quietly tell the teacher
who you are, and while she beckons you in, you let your eyes wander around the
class and see your new school peers, then, realise, you have no friends, and no
where to sit. Is the empty seat in front of you for someone who was away? Or was
it a free seat? This unluckily happened to me 8 times, one for each class
period, and each time it just got more awkward.
Thongs.
For
the love of sanity, please, do not say this if you mean the shoes you wear
during summer, also known as flip flops. Please. Save yourself the stares and
the raised eyebrows. Another recommendation, don’t tell people that ‘In
Australia, there’s always thongs that people have left on the beach’.
Rubbers.
Those
things that you use when you’ve made a mistake in pencil? Yeah. They’re
erasers. Not rubbers. I unfortunately learnt the hard way in Maths, when I
asked if anyone had a rubber I could borrow…Confused by the weirded out looks,
I asked again, making sure I was speaking clearly, then explained what I wanted.
As one guy explained what a rubber was in America, I was praying that hell
would open up and take me right there and then.
I'm
sure everyone will have their own awkward moments, but they’re just the ones I
could think of that has happened to me so far.
47
days until my dad comes over!! Fully pumped!!
