...going to new places

Dear American Friends,

This must be one of the hardest things I’ve done since I left Sweden in August of 2010, to come live here. I left my family, I left my friends, I left everything I knew to study abroad for a year. I came here as a pretty scared girl that knew English, but did not understand half of what “y’all wer’ talkin’ ‘bout” with that southern draw most of you have. I’m leaving you as a young woman that kinda have that southern twang going on from time to time. I came as a cellist, and I’m leaving as a singer.

Being in America has taught me the importance of family, because here in the south, family matters. Family comes first. And that might be good or bad depending on how you see it, but it has taught me to appreciate my family more.

Being in America has taught me that there is absolutely nothing wrong with loving your country. It has taught me that it is okay to say that you’re good at something. “Yes, I am good at singing” is nothing that would come out of my mouth before I came here. America has taught me to love fried chicken. Ranch dressing. TACO BELL. Febreeze.

Now I might take on a kind of comical voice, but I mean every single word written in this letter. It is hard leaving the people you love. It is hard not knowing when I will see you again. It is hard. Lots and lots of tears have been shed while attempting to write this.

I’m now leaving my American family, my American friends, and all I know about America to study in Sweden, also known as “home”. But I want you to know this, that thanks to you, and I mean every single one of you, America will forever be home to me. It will be my second home, because I believe that wherever you have people that you care about, and they care about you back, is home. Home is where your heart is. And my heart is spread all over the place, a piece here, a piece there.

At last, I just want to tell you all something. Nike is right when they say “Just do it!”

Do you want to become an astronaut? Win a tony-award? Go to Paris? See the pyramids? Skate in Charleston? JUST DO IT. You might fall and bruise your knees, you might lie in bed crying for two hours not knowing if you’re ever going to be able to get up. You might be so far away from everything you are familiar with and hyperventilate and think to yourself “this is how I die. How pathetic.”

But guess what? You can do it. You can go through with it. And how do a young woman from Sweden know, you might ask?

-Because I’ve been there. I’ve been in that bed, telling myself this is it. I’m quitting. I’ve bruised my knees, my heart, my everything. And you know what? I’m alive. And I’m not strong, but I’m alive and I constantly meet people that I like and want to keep as my friends.

Be brave. Take chances. And take care of the people you love. Because love conquers all.

With love and gratitude,

Mathilde

Ps. I’ll be back.