Before embarking on my life changing adventure, I too heard the horrifying tales of "reverse culture shock." The stories that I heard informed me of the trials and tribulations of being an outsider among people you had known for your whole life, but I always took these stories with a grain of salt. I knew that each experience would be just as individual as each person. A few months after my 1998 arrival in Brazil, my family in the States informed me that my old room was going to be put back in use. They were planning on hosting another exchange student. This surprised me, and for a split second I felt replaced. Though immediately I realized that whoever came would be one more exchange student, making them all the more special. I just had yet to realize how much.
Before I knew it my family's phone calls included another voice at the end of the speakerphone. My brothers were sometimes around and my parents were always there, but often there was another female voice, slightly accented, that belonged to Tina from Taiwan. Six months after Tina had arrived in my family, I returned to them. I arrived home a day late, on a midnight arrival, to be greeted by a multitude of family and friends that I had kept in touch with over the year. There were people I had known my whole life, and there was one that I had never met. I made my way through the crowd of familiar faces greeting everyone. As the crowd broke up I saw a new face standing on the outside of all the commotion. A small Asian girl with sparkling eyes was quietly watching the chaos that was occurring. I stepped towards her smiling. "You must be Tina," I said, and gave her a hug. At that moment I knew I had met one more amazing person.
Though she had moved out a few weeks earlier, Tina and some other friends spent that night catching me up on all I had "missed". Her first impressions of me must have been strange. A jet lagged girl, with multi-colored hair, who claimed to be American but could barely put a coherent sentence together was sleeping in what used to be her bed, in what used to be her room. Her impressions from the following day couldn't have been much better. After a middle of the night trip to the doctor, my suspicions of an infection in my ear were confirmed. I ended up spending most of my first full day home, and most of my welcome home party, in bed, asleep from jet lag and medication. I must have looked like the stereotypical, ungrateful American. Tina never held it against me.
The following six months were the hardest thing I ever had to do. If it wasn't for Tina, I don't think I could have survived. The night I arrived home I was happy to hear about everything that had occurred while I was gone. I wasn't ready to tell my stories and not many people were ready to hear. When I was ready to talk most people had little interest. I would be asked questions about my travels but I quickly learned to keep my answers short and sweet with most people. They had no interest in another "Stephanie Story", and I had no interest in telling my stories to people who didn't care. I began to think of my stories as a privilege for people who were willing to sit nicely through them. The problem with my idea was that there was, and still is only one person privileged enough to hear all the stories. Tina was the only one who would sit quietly and listen to me talk for hours on end without interruption. I don't quite remember how the conversations started, but we would often end up in the Barns and Nobel café or another obscure place sharing stories. She would tell me about her experience in the States and I would follow with a story of Brazil, or vice versa. We could spend hours relating one story after another.
Tina and I created many of our own memories after I returned, sometimes with other friends, sometimes just us. Every week we would spend our money at the theater. We couldn't go to the mall without getting a soft pretzel and cheese. Red Lobster was where we splurged. The camera was often utilized. My house remained her house, and to this day her toothbrush is still has its place in the cabinet.
If it hadn't have been for Tina I would have gone crazy. I would have tried to keep quiet on how I was feeling, and I don't know if I could have survived the return home. Tina is truly my savior and without her I wouldn't be the person I am today. I keep a number of pictures of her around my room. I have often been asked who she is, and I always reply with the same answer, "My sister." But Tina was more than just a sister, though she truly was that too, Tina was my savior. She helped me during one of the hardest times in my life. She was willing to do what few others were willing to do, listen. She could do what only other exchange students can do, understand.
I don't get the chance to talk to Tina much anymore. I'm away at University studying broadcasting, and she's back in Taiwan studying to get into University. But everyday I think of her and all she has given to me; more than words can say. I will never be able to thank her enough.