«I want this year to change something in my life» - I wrote this wish on a little piece of paper, threw it into the champagne and drank it with the chimes of the clock, not even suspecting that the wish would come true so soon. And already in the second week of the new 2017 year I learn about the program «Work&Travel” and realize, here it is, exactly what I needed!
Without hesitating, I submit the documents for the program, and with a dream in my heart and eyes burning, I wait for that very day when my life will change finally and irrevocably. And so, finally, on June 9, 2017, I stand in
Sheremetyevo Airport and hear "boarding announced for the flight to New York." It is at that moment that the realization comes that there is no way back, and I am practically standing on the threshold of an immense country that had been my dream since early childhood.
I was completely alone, with a huge suitcase, afraid to speak
English, but with an immense desire to fulfill my dream and not regret it at all. And I did not regret it, for which I am insanely grateful to fate!
Two months have already passed since the moment of my return, but I still cannot stop thinking about every moment spent there. Do you know why? Because there I first learned what happiness is and how to be happy for no reason. For the first time in 19 years I realized that it is possible to be boundlessly happy even when everything around is far from rosy. I do not know what was so magical and special in the States, but at home in Russia I have never experienced the same emotions as there. My happiness was in every moment and every second. Then, when I saw the ocean, received my first paycheck, met a passing stranger, and he told me « You're so beautiful» and a thousand other such moments.
America taught me to enjoy life when everything goes to ruin, taught me to cherish every moment.
Once, when I, inspired again, dreamed of going to California, my flight to Las Vegas was unexpectedly canceled. Then I simply could not believe it, because I had no idea what to do in such a situation. But the troubles did not end there. I had to spend the night in the airport, my bank card was blocked, and I had virtually no cash. In the morning I went to Washington to restore the card and buy a new ticket, lugging my suitcase around the city in the hope that this apocalypse would end and I would still fly to
Vegas, to my friends who were waiting for me there. And after a day, having lost the $300 I had honestly earned, I landed in Las Vegas and realized that everything that had happened to me was worth it to be here and to set off on my first adult trip around California, which I had paid for myself. Honestly, at that moment I was very proud of myself and realized that I was growing up, because
I had the strength to cope with all the difficulties and come out of the situation with a smile and say to myself: "Thank you, life, for this experience and for these memories that I will cherish very much." Under this motto my whole life in America went by! Everything that happened there and everything that remained there is dear to me. Those people who surrounded me. Those amusing incidents that keep a smile on my face. And those genuine emotions that I had never felt before.
Thank you, USA, for all my dreams that came true there. For the first swim in the ocean, for the incredible sunset seen on Santa Monica Beach in Los Angeles, for the first true American party, for the new iPhone bought on the very first day of sales and, of course, for the fact that I returned home a completely different person! A VERY HAPPY PERSON!!!
One day I wrote on Instagram this phrase «Now I am absolutely free and happy as one day when my plane has landed in New Yopk airport at 9th of June.» And you know, if I were offered now to relive everything from the very beginning, I would, without hesitation, say YES!»