Advice for all exchange students out there!

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My friend from Brazil wrote this when she got back from her exchange in New Zealand. It's a real good piece of writing and so very true so you'd better read it! Thanks for letting me post it here Mary! IF U ARE AN EXCHANGE STUDENT OR U INTEND TO BE ONE OR U HAVE ALREADY BEEN ONE U BETTER READ THIS I got home nearly two weeks ago but it actually seems ages.Like months coz time is going really slow since I got back.My life is not the same anymore.But i should know it would change coz everything changes and anything keeps the same forever. My family hasnt changed much though.Neither have my friends. But I have. And you dont realize it till you get back to ur home country. You start feeling that everything that was really fun in the past now is just another thing, is not important anymore.You start getting really critical..asking what you would call 'stupid questions' if it was last year..you really do change. And thats not bad, not at all but people start seeing you as a different person and then they keep on saying ur looking and talking different.They dont understand it at all.And Im not the first one to tell you that.Not at all and you know that. You know that all those volunteers said that to you one day...from the very beginning ..they say ur gonna change heaps and you ,as an inocent person ,just nod and agree.Coz u dont know whats gonna happen to you. You dont know how yur gonna feel after a whole year or even six months away from ur parents, ur language, ur friends..u just maybe imagine but u can never actually have the exact idea of it till u go through it.Enjoying it or hating it.Having an awesome host family or an evil one.You grow...inside (and outside too).Yep..and I reckon that this thing about growing outside sometimes hurts some exchange students feelings. Coz u do actually look bigger(not always, there are some rare cases people dont get fatter) and people dont tell u that (sometimes they do..sometimes)..they just see you and say "You're...ahm..different''..not more than that..but its enough to gather that they actually mean "How much weight did u put on?"..i just ask you:if you are know fatter than you were when you left your home country and you could go back on time, would u just give up and not go on the exchange?would u do that?only if u were crazy or u were depressed...but anyway..u grow man, u learn, suffering or enjoying it..ur gonna be a better person..in the way that ur gonna be more responsible and independent..ohhh...independence..another dangerous word..and you just realize the meaning of it when ur by yourself...every teenager dreams with their independence..from their parents, school and all these stuff..but when ur by yourself, when you have to do all those things you would never ever imagine urself doing, then u realize whats to be independent..is to be responsible, is to think twice before crosssing the road (literally!!), is to do everything watching out..u cant just relax and sit back..uve gotta run and do all the boring stuff ur parents used to do to you...sounds scary???at the beginiing it is actually..after a while u get used to it..and then u...GROW!!simple eh?? im writing this letter to you..thats maybe confused..whether ur still in your home country or not..whether ur an old exchange student or not..every exchange student goes through the same feelings at least once..and its because of it that the camps r the best bit of the whole thing...coz u can meet people that have been or r going at the same time through the same problems, the same funny questions, the same doubts..its good..coz u see ur not alone, ur not by urself in this battle..its a battle..coz u have to fight against ur feelings, against all the thoughts that keep u away from enjoying ur time in ur host country..u have to be strong, really strong..to calm down when u feel like ur gonna blow up...sometimes u cant just breath and face up..sometimes you have to cry and see that u came to a battle..that ur weak but even ur weak u cant just give up..no one wins a battle giving up..the winner is always the one who faces the problems up..is always the one who gets over them..after falling down a few times...is the one who get up and look up..and smile..although sometimes you think u dont have any reasons to do so... enjoy it if ur going soon keep enjoying it if ur still in ur host country and get over all the stuff ur having trouble with and if you r back home..never forget all the awesome times u had in ur host country..ur lucky..really lucky..i know how tough is to come back after a long time being away..coz u cant cry everytime u want to..its another battle...to fight against ur feelings ..to fight against the tears..