"I want this year to change something in my life" - I wrote this wish on a piece of paper, dropped it into my champagne, and drank it as the clock struck midnight, not even imagining that the wish would come true so soon. And just in the second week of the new year 2017, I found out about the Work and Travel USA program and realized, this is it, exactly what I needed!
Without even thinking, I applied for the program, and with a dream in my heart and shining eyes, I waited for that very day when my life would change once and for all. And finally, on June 9, 2017, I stood at Sheremetyevo Airport and heard, "Boarding has been announced for the flight to New York." It was at that moment that the realization hit me that there was no turning back, and I was practically standing on the threshold of the vast country that had been my dream since early childhood.
I was all alone, with a huge suitcase and a fear of speaking English, but with an immense desire to fulfill my dream and not regret it for a second. And I didn't regret it, for which I am insanely grateful to fate!
It has been 2 months since I returned, but I still can't stop thinking about every moment spent there. Do you know why? Because it was there that I first learned what happiness is and how to be happy for no reason. For the first time in 19 years, I realized that you can be infinitely happy even when everything around you is not so bright. I don't know what was so magical and special about the States, but back home in Russia, I have never experienced the same emotions as I did there. My happiness was in every moment and every second. When I saw the ocean, received my first paycheck, met a simple passerby who told me, "You're so beautiful," and thousands of other moments like that.
America taught me to enjoy life when everything is going downhill, and taught me to appreciate every moment. Once, when I was once again inspired and dreaming of going to California, my flight to Las Vegas was suddenly canceled. At that moment, I just couldn't believe it because I had no idea what to do in such a situation. But the troubles didn't end there. I had to spend the night at the airport, my bank card was blocked, and I had almost no cash. In the morning, I went to Washington to restore my card and buy a new ticket, dragging myself around the city with a suitcase, hoping that this apocalypse would end and I would finally fly to Vegas to my friends who were waiting for me there. And so, after a day, having lost 300 dollars earned by honest labor, I landed in Las Vegas and realized that everything that happened to me was worth it to be here and go on my first adult trip around California, which I earned on my own. Honestly, at that moment I was very proud of myself and realized that I was growing up, that 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." My whole life in America passed under this motto! Everything that happened there and everything that remained there is dear to me. The people who surrounded me. The funny incidents that still make me smile. And the genuine emotions that I had never experienced before.
Thank you, USA, for all my dreams that came true there. For my first swim in the ocean, for the incredible sunset I saw on the beach in Santa Monica in Los Angeles, for my first real American party, for buying a new iPhone 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!!!
I once wrote this phrase on Instagram: "Now I am absolutely free and happy as one day when my plane has landed in New York airport at 9th of June." And you know, if I were offered to repeat everything from the very beginning right now, I would say YES without even thinking!
