Bonjour, new life.

There we were packing my bags, in the heat of summer of 2005, in Moscow – planning for the year ahead with no one knowing what to expect. My parents and I, we have visited a few boarding schools in Switzerland during the spring of that same year to select a school that would be a perfect fit. My parents were going to entrust the upbringing of their first daughter to a boarding school in an unknown country, with the ultimate goal of providing her a better life, education, and future. The choice of the school fell onto St George’s school, in Clarens (Switzerland), simply because it was girls only boarding space, while boys were studying as day-students; no sleeping over was allowed.

As we were packing my bags for a year of adventure, I was both excited and nervous – you know that warm and fuzzy feeling you have, like before going on a date or the night before Christmas? I had so many questions in my head and literary no one to answers. My parents were coming with me on that first trip to drop me off and stay a week there to ensure smooth transition. They kept saying “We will be there for you all the steps of the way. We are doing this for you, and we love you. We will visit you – do not listen to anyone who says otherwise”. At the time, I remember thinking like why would anyone say anything mean about me or my family? What’s the point?

When we finally made it to Switzerland, my parents were in awe and taken by the breathtaking views. I kept thinking to myself “this is temporary, I will go back to Moscow once school is over. Maybe even I will go off and live in London, but I won’t stay here.” My brother was with us that day, so were a few of family friends. It felt very surreal like the entire world was about to shift. Despite the issues that I had with my classmates back home, all I wanted to do was to send them letters and messages and share with them what I am feeling.

Switzerland welcomed us with open heart, beautiful landscapes and warm weather. We reached the school in Clarens for the admissions, and this is the moment that it hit me. I am out of my league. I did not understand much when they spoke English and everything was a blur of white noise. Suddenly, I opened my eyes, and they were showing me a room with a roommate, who also just joined the school and happened to be Russian speaking.

In a blink of an eye, the idea of living a Harry Potter style boarding school experience was unfolding before my eyes. They were talking about the house system, mine was yellow, and they started laying down the rules. If it were a movie, I would be standing in between blurred out fast-paced motions of all different colors. My parents were like “Let us help you settle in”. Settle in? That sounded like there was no way going back now. There were girls that just arrived and were as clueless as me, and then one could easily spot the girls that have done this the year before, and one before that.

For someone who has been brought up in very comfortable domestic situation, this new reality was far out of their comfort zone. I was not sure what to expect, and how would I live this new life? Would I make friends? When would I see my parents next time? This new life was happening, slowly and then all at once.