First Steps

Jannik Drescher
Sep 1, 2018 · 4 min read

“Change is hard.” The first words I wrote in my journal today should prove to be entirely contradictory to how the trip started out of which the picture stands as a visual manifestation of the events. Though the sky and the circumstances are dire, the plane, the change, enables you to break through the terror and the fear of the Unknown.
The voyage was off to a formidable start. The check-in and the first flight went hassle-free and without any issues. When looking down from the plane, I found myself stunned by the geographical structure of this country. Upon landing in Helsinki, I was surprised by how different this country looked than I had imagined. The edges of the country are covered in sole land pieces lying scattered across the Baltic Sea. I was fascinated by it. My fear was immediately evaporated and evolved into excitement. I´m walking on a good path right here. I can sense it in my heart. And though there is still a shade of sadness over what I had to leave behind clouding my vision, I know that for myself and for the people around, for whom I carry responsibility, it is the best in the end. Sometimes, it´s more important to make friends with what you do not know than sustaining the contacts who you already hold dear.

The Trial

Joensuu Airport

Up until this morning, I had not seen a lot of Joensuu, the place where I would spend the next 10 months at. I arrived at the airport very late and it was all dark. At this point of the year, the sun already barely scratches the horizon. Hence, it was pitch dark when I arrived at the airport, even though it was only 9:15pm. The airport was smaller than I had expected. No check out queue, no huge halls full of security personnel. Nothing else, except for one baggage claim area and that´s that. I really liked it. It was all very easy to overlook. I met my tutor, a very lovely person, who introduced me to some new basic procedures and then went on to bring me to the city center.
It wasn´t until there that I slowly came to realize what had happened over the course of the day. I was now on my own. In a different country to that I had been living in for the past 22 years. And though it seemed dark and scary, I could not help but feel excited for it. My tutor brought me to the part of the city where I would find my apartment, and after tumbling around trying to find a way to the apartment complex where I jokingly asked her if she even was a tutor, we found the entrance and the respective room. And it looked: well, what do you expect, it had everything I needed: A bed, a desk, a chair (Which is a blessing after I have been without one for a month) and a closet. I could not wish for anything better.
After a quick examination of the apartment, which has somewhat of a hotel room tone to it, I decided to call it a day. But why am I telling all of this?

New Footprints

As I am writing this, I am sitting in my room, it´s early morning, and I´m looking out the window, and I cannot help myself but feel a sense of calm pride. What´s been leading up to this point in time was a series of trials and errors and tests which seemed impossible at times and are now proving to have been worth it all along. I´m sitting here, and the scenery looks breathtaking. No, it´s more. It feels like not just a new beginning but a new chance for a place to be called “Home”. A home in the middle of deliriously high pine trees and an infinite number of lakes. One which is waiting to be filled with life and experiences.
Every new step you take is an opportunity for you, to make it count. Leave your mark on the world, take action, and go. Move forward one step at a time. Today it is a different country, tomorrow a new friend and the week after it is just as subtle of a change as choosing a different way to university. But as long as you keep moving, as long as you keep fighting the daily dish of negativity, you win, and you will keep moving in the right direction: Forward. There´s not much more to say for now. Like I said, this place radiates life, it radiates “new” and it radiates the Unknown. And the only way to make friends with what you don´t know is by encountering it.

Jannik Drescher

Written by

22 year old student of English and Rhetoric from Europe. Currently studying in Finland. Host of The Story House Podcast.

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