The journey begins with the first step. An
ever astute observation to whoever coined this cliché. Of course the journey
begins with the first step. But who remembers the first step? I think this
cliché should be replaced with the journey is most memorable with the first
misstep. I have found during my breakaway that my experiences that I remember the
most were not the everyday mundane activities but instead were undertakings beyond
the world of Aralyn’s comfort zone. My memories consist of laughter,
nervousness, mistakes, failure, friendships, and new experiences that changed
my outlook on not only life but how to live it.
Something that I will never forget while
abroad actually didn’t have anything to do with Winchester, the school I spent
3 months studying at, but instead occurred while I was traveling. It all
happened in Paris France. A beautiful city and my second country I had the
pleasure of visiting. It was a 3 day visit with a friend from Winchester. Coincidentally
3 other lander students planned a separate trip to Paris that same weekend. A
group of 2 became a group of 5 and we all experienced Paris together. I didn’t
really care what we did in Paris. My reasons for travel had more to do with
experiencing the genuine French cuisine and my secondary thoughts revolved
around seeing the touristy sights like the Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, the
Louvre, and the Eiffel tower. I of course remember the food and I even took
pictures to remember each dish I tried but that is not what I remember most
from my trip. The thing that I remember is my clumsiness which lead to my brief
pain and an everlasting memory.
So why is my clumsiness so memorable? I suppose it has to do with what
actually happened and something one of my companions said after my blunder that
made this experience one of the funniest from my time abroad. The setting of my
ineptitude was the Eiffel Tower. It was drizzling, mind you, and the wind was
outrageously strong. I actually had no difficulty with going up; it was the journey
down that caused me problems. Since it was drizzling the stairs that we had
to walk down from were wet so you can imagine our troop had to walk with care.
I actually was wearing a pair of hiking boots that not only were water
resistant but were advertised as having extra grip to prevent tripping or
falling in slippery mud. Apparently it only worked for slippery trails and not
metal because even with these boots on I managed to not so gracefully slip down
8 or 9 stairs. I remember it so clearly. My hair becoming disarrayed, my scarf
flying over my head so I couldn’t see, the pain in my back and arm as I hit the
stairs and my only thoughts, “crap, damn, ow, shit”. It was rather fortunate that no one was in
front of me or else we would have played human dominos. When I got up and
walked the rest of the way down (because I just had to fall at the half way
point), I was suffering the pains from landing on the metal steps and all I
could think at the time is that my trip is ruined.
When we did reach the bottom and continued
on our way to the next destination someone said “well at least you will be one
of the only people who can say I fell (Eiffel) off the tower”. I just cracked
up at this play on words that accurately described what just happened in a
nutshell and was a unique experience even if it was a clumsy mishap. It was
then I realized that my clumsiness even though at the time felt humiliating and
was painful actually enhanced my memory of my trip to Paris and it ended up
being one of the best times I had while abroad.
When remembering important events that
happened it is not always going to be the happy ones that give way to the most
unforgettable memories. The actual pain and humiliation that occurred when my
clumsiness presented itself was brief. But, on further reflection I realized
that my clumsiness helped create an experience that not only became a good
laugh but also a great story to tell in the future about my time studying abroad.
And it is this story and laugh that has made my clumsiness eternal.
Aralyn is a senior with a major in business administration with an emphasis in marketing and management. She went to Winchester University for her study abroad. Her plans after college are to work in the hospitality and tourism industry.
