I had two days to pack my suitcase for a three-week vacation. I had two days to prepare myself that I was even going to be departing on a three-week vacation. Let's rewind to when I was placed on the waiting list for my ninth grade Quebec bursary trip. I was defeated, destroyed, heartbroken. Waitlisted is almost as bad as receiving a straight up “NO!” However only two days before the program was deemed to start, two days before we had to be in another province; 1589 kilometers away, my mother got the email. The email that meant that I would have to prepare myself for my first real trip away from home. Something that made the overnight field trips as a kid, feel like mere moments away from home.
Fast forward to two days later, to my distraught mother, two weary siblings, and a nonchalant father. The airport was inexplicably full for a five am flight. As soon as my flight was announced over the P.A system, it was as though someone flipped the switch to turn off my possibility to feel fear. Quebec was suddenly nothing to fret about. And getting there, on my own, with it only being my second time flying ever, was no big deal. Three planes later and a very stressful (mildly-bilingual) taxi ride to Campus …show more content…
And boy, was I in over my head. There were so many more stores than what we had back home. They were also substantially bigger, brighter, and all around more impressive. I spent three hundred dollars, in two hours at that mall. But hey, I was splurging, right? Regrettably, it kinda felt like I had flunked part of the test when I had to call my parents and give them the bad news of the damage that I’d done to my bank account, but also send them pleas for more money. Fortunately for me though, after buying all the souvenirs and gifts I’d needed to bring home, spending got easier than just purchasing the first shiny thing that caught my eye. It became easier to budget, just like everything else I was afraid I would struggle with
Fast forward to two days later, to my distraught mother, two weary siblings, and a nonchalant father. The airport was inexplicably full for a five am flight. As soon as my flight was announced over the P.A system, it was as though someone flipped the switch to turn off my possibility to feel fear. Quebec was suddenly nothing to fret about. And getting there, on my own, with it only being my second time flying ever, was no big deal. Three planes later and a very stressful (mildly-bilingual) taxi ride to Campus …show more content…
And boy, was I in over my head. There were so many more stores than what we had back home. They were also substantially bigger, brighter, and all around more impressive. I spent three hundred dollars, in two hours at that mall. But hey, I was splurging, right? Regrettably, it kinda felt like I had flunked part of the test when I had to call my parents and give them the bad news of the damage that I’d done to my bank account, but also send them pleas for more money. Fortunately for me though, after buying all the souvenirs and gifts I’d needed to bring home, spending got easier than just purchasing the first shiny thing that caught my eye. It became easier to budget, just like everything else I was afraid I would struggle with