What can I say? I like Austin. A lot. Sometimes when I’m sitting somewhere just having a cup of coffee and that warm, snug spring wind hits me, I can’t help but thinking I might be in love. And like in a corny movie script, I get this bittersweet feeling, divided between the happiness of being here, and the thoughts of when time comes to say goodbye.

As pathetic as this may sound, I think this is the life of an exchange student. Or at least the movie L’alberge Espagnol agrees with me. Not because we, Internationals – as we call ourselves — don’t like or miss our countries, but because being on exchange is like traveling to a parallel universe, where time and space have their own personal way of working things out. It’s just hard to let go of a place you go exclusively to dedicate yourself to…yourself. Academically, socially, professionally, you name it: it is the chance to do things your way, to start things over, like a child who is discovering new friends, new tastes, new hobbies, learning how to speak (we are all learning a new language), how to move around. It is all about discovery. You know when you look back and think “I wish I could go back in time knowing what I know now”? That is the life of exchange. You are a child, but you got the experience. You got the means, you can talk the talk and walk the walk. It’s fun, I gotta tell you.

So yes, I will probably be a little cheesy in my posts. I will be comparing Porto Alegre, my hometown, with Austin, my Home-town. Not because I want to state one is better than the other, but because they are both my lovers. Because both are part of me. Because I can’t decide which one I want to marry and have kids with. Or maybe just because like a person who is in love, I just want to find excuses to bring up their names in all my conversations. Who knows. Who cares. I’m just a woman in love. I’m not supposed to make sense.

Keep yourself weird!

-K.