Sophie Olsen
MY ARRIVAL AT THE ECOLE

Overloaded with bags containing my belongings for the next year, I stepped off the train in Brunig. Just as my written instructions had said, a bus was waiting to take me to Hasliberg, where I would go to school.

I sat down in the very front of the bus. Everytime we would come to a stop I would ask the busdriver: "Is this the post office?" "No, no" he would reply, not yet. "Not yet," I thought to myself,"not yet."

I had been traveling for the last seventeen hours , and somehow, all I really wanted was for the bus to stop directly in front of my old home in Rhode Island. I could get out, collapse in my parents arms, and not have to worry about anything for a long time.

But instead, I would arrive at the Ecole d'Humanite, not knowing anyone, and carry my bags into an unfamiliar room, with an even more unfamiliar roomate. Surprisingly enough, this was the one thing I wanted to do least of all. However, as the bus wound around the steep mountain roads, I quickly realized I had past the point of no return a long time ago.

"Here is the post office", the driver said. "Finally", I thought, "this is it." I had arrived at the place I had thought about constantly for the last month.
I dragged my bags off the bus and laid them by the bench directly outside the post office.
It seemed very quiet, not the way I imagined a school full of children and teenagers to be. I walked into the office as if I were in a dream. I was really here. No helping student had met me, and the office door was locked. Where is everyone? I thought to myself. Then, a man carrying a bag passed by me "Do you know where anyone is?" I said. "Dinner", he said quickly. "Are you a new student? They are all at dinner; I will tell someone you're here." He then ran out the door and up to where I assumed the dinning room was.

I walked away from the office door and back down to where I had put my bags. No sooner had I picked up my rucksack, than Sung-A and Angel came racing down to where I stood.

Sung-A informed me she was my helping student, and hurriedly apologized for not meeting me, and did I need anything, or was I at all hungry? "No," I said. "I'm fine." Which actually was a lie. I had eaten nothing all day due to extreme nervousness. And what I needed most was a hot soak in my own tub.

They then both led me up the stairs of Wagenschein house to where my room was. They opened the door to a long, rectangular brick room, with two beds lining the walls, and opposite them two big wooden closets. It looked very bare and dreary to me at first, and I had to try hard to keep the tears from rolling down my cheeks. "Once I get settled in it will look nicer," I kept telling myself. "I'll make it look a lot nicer."

Sung-A then led me to the platz where everyone was getting out of supper. I immediately spotted Ben V.'s old sandals under one of the basketball hoops. They were the one familiar thing in this new place, and I smiled at the wonderful sight of them. Almost as soon as I saw his sandals, I heard as voice cry, "Sophie!" and Ben raced down the elephant steps, with his arms wide open. I had never been so happy and thankful to see anyone in my whole life. I could have seen anyone at that moment, good or bad, and loved them so much for just being there.
After I received a big hug from Ben, he began introducing me to everyone. "This is Sophie, Ceileidh's best friend; we're from the same town in the US." Surprisingly, after that statement, I would get a big hug, and an, "I love Ceileidh!"

I then met my family heads, and we all proceeded to the Turnhalle for games. Everyone seemed so friendly, so happy, that despite my exhaustion, I became happy too. At the end of the night we began folk dancing. A little man with gray hair led us in a big circle. Everyone kicked up their feet, and moved with the rhythm. "Here I am," I thought to myself, "I have finally made it." With that someone grabbed my hand and led me into the circle.

Look also at Elizabeth's Experience