Nostalgic Reflections

Three year's ago on this day, I boarded a Malaysia airlines flight to Singapore. I spent five hours in transit in Changi airport then boarded a Qantas flight to Germany. Thus began my AFS exchange year, which would turn out to be the most profound experience of my life.

I still remember the day of my departure was also the eve of Chinese New Year. That meant that that year, I was absent at my family reunion dinner. There was also no ang pao for me back in 2007. Nevertheless, I was still very excited that I would be living abroad for the first time. Despite my excitement, I was also a little nervous as I would be leaving behind my friends and family and everyone I had ever known and flying off into the unknown.

I remember having all sorts of pre-concieved notions about Germany and about my host family. I remember having various expectations about what my exchange year would be like. This was despite AFS Malaysia telling me during my pre-departure orientation that I should expect the unexpected. In the end, my exchange year turned out to be more or less completely unlike what I had expected it to be like, but looking back now, I realize that that was probably for the best.

Time flies and it's hard to believe that it's been three years since that day. Looking back now, I wonder if I had known the impact AFS would have on my life, would I still have dared to board that flight? Looking back now, I realize just how naive I was back then before my departure, and I also realize just how much I grew up during my time in Germany.

My AFS year made me a more confident and independent person. It has also helped me learn how to be more open minded. I am now better able to view things from different perspectives. My appreciation for cultural diversity has also increased thanks to my AFS year. I also gained a new family and many new friends.

While I was still on exchange , I did not realize just how much I had changed. It was only after my return that I became more aware of the impact of my AFS exchange year on me. Not long after my return, discovered that I could not click so well with my old friends anymore and gradually began drifting apart from them. Once upon a time I would have been saddened by this but I am not anymore. I also look back on my past friendships differently as compared to before. Since my return to Malaysia, I have gained new friends here and I realize that there are differences in the way I interact with them as compared to how I interacted with the friends I had before I left for Germany.

I could write on and on about my exchange year but words will probably never suffice to capture and describe the magic and depth of my experience as an AFS exchange student. Not a day goes by when I do not wish that I could have just one more day as an exchange student but I know that will never happen. Thus all the more do I treasure the memories of my exchange year.

Three years on, I'm still very grateful and thankful to everyone(especially my parents) who made it possible for me to board that flight from KLIA that would mark the beginning of my AFS exchange year. Even though it's been more than two years since my exchange year ended, I'm still very grateful and thankful that it was all a real experience and not just a dream. And now whenever I lie in bed before I fall asleep, I can hope for no better dreams than to dream of my exchange year and the people I shared it with. For though in real life I can never turn back the clock to the year 2007, at least in dreams I can still do so and relive the best experiences of my life, the memories of which I will cherish till the end of my days.