A LEAP INTO THE UNKNOWN

by Dahiana Nicolas (France)

A leap into the unknown Australia

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On a hot summer day, I landed in the far far away land of Australia. Needless to say that for me the word adventure just took a whole new meaning. To understand my saying, you need to know that I am from French Guiana, a French territory based in South America. I have no real speaking English competency at the time of my travel to the biggest island in the world, and I have absolutely no idea of how this will turn out, the only thing I know for sure is that I will take on this adventure with all the good, less good and surprises it has in store for me. I surprisedly come out of the airport and hop on a taxi , directly to Melbourne cbd , my first stop, there I have booked a hotel for the first week in order for me to see what is out there . Australia is wild , even in its biggest and most economic city. My first real and long encounter is with the taxi driver, all the way from the airport to the cbd, we were trying to have a conversation, him, an Indian expatriate, me a French speaking young woman, with little English and a lot of imagination... this was going to be interesting... so I started to introduce myself and tell him where I needed to go ,making my best ally mc beal speaking mimic, making big moves explaining the city center , I started tap dancing, singing, and all just in order to make myself clear, showed him my reservation online, and then he say: oh you are French, I speak a little French .... wow , what a way to start the adventure, so we exchange in French and at this moment ,I know this adventure will be O.K , as all is good and all is written perfectly... arriving at destination, we greet each other and exchange details in case I need a ride and don't need a headache trying to explain myself. After checking in and getting my things in my room I decided to go eat something outside, the city is big, there is all sort of nationalities, colours , smiles, shapes, and smell, I am taking it all in and realise that I am far away from home, with a big smile on my face, I make my first attempt to a conversation with the lady sitting next to me on the tram, " hello, my name is D and I would love to know how to get to the best restaurant in town." the lady looks at me and with a kind look, starts speaking very slowly, yes she understood I am not from here and my English is definitely not local... I got a general understanding of what she says and I thank her greatly for her time and effort, she smile and says" your English is fine, don't worry mate, in her best Australian accent, I smiled and get on my way to the best restaurant in town , a smile on my face and my heart beating to the rhythm of this beautiful adventure I am embarking on. Do all locals are so thoughtful, they must be used to travellers, with the worst English, I am thinking, and here and there , I let myself go and forget all about the stress of being new in a foreign land , I start trusting myself and allowed myself to live every minute of this adventure, like if it was the last one I will ever lived...