A New Beginning
“It’s a new beginning”! People always cheerfully say this to me when I have to move to a new school or even a new country, as I have done three times in my life. But just because they seem so happy doesn’t mean I am! Instead, I am always anxious and scared of these new changes and adventures. This is the story of how I adjusted to moving to Phnom Penh, Cambodia when I was twelve.
When I learned we were moving to Cambodia, I did some quick research on Google and found a website about it. I only briefly looked at it because I was already extremely unhappy with what I learned in that first minute — I felt quite gloomy about this move.
I learnt that Cambodia has a high rate of petty crime, including muggings and shoplifting. Secondly, the country’s environment is in shambles, and the air you breathed is harmful. There are also many dangerous and unsanitary animals everywhere, such as snakes and rats. Finally, my parents informed me that Cambodia is a third-world country, which means that the overall economic state of the country is very low and less developed than most countries. After reading all that, I dreaded moving to Cambodia and was very anxious, because I was sure I was going to be miserable there.
One or two months before I moved, I told my friends I was moving, and it was a really sad time for me. It was hard for me because not only was I moving to a country where I didn’t speak the language or know much about it, I was also leaving behind everything I knew and liked, such as McDonald’s and all my friends.
The Move
After moving to Cambodia, I was scared, thinking only about the country’s negative aspects. For example, when I arrived at my new house, the first thing I saw was a kid stealing a grandma’s bicycle, and in response the grandma started chasing him, holding her slipper and attempting to whoop him. It was funny and scary at the same time, but I just wanted to go inside and hide.
What I learned
After living in Cambodia for a few weeks, it surprised me to discover that Phnom Penh was more developed than I thought it would be. There were malls with international brands, and not just rip-off shops. Surprisingly, I hadn’t encountered a single animal that was either dirty or harmful. Also, when I first went to school, I expected everyone to be poor, since Cambodia was a third-world country, but to my surprise, they weren’t; some students were actually from affluent families and welcoming! The restaurants I saw were clean and modern, and there were many places I could go and not feel uncomfortable at all. I started to realise that Cambodia wasn’t as bad as I had perceived it to be; maybe life in Cambodia wouldn’t be so bad after all!
Important Lessons
In this experience, I learnt many things. For example, I had stopped my Google search too quickly and should have searched for more specific information about the city where I would live, Phnom Penh. Something else very important was never to judge a thing based on only one side of the story, because if you do, you may think something to be either better or worse than it actually is. Most things are both.
Look for the Positive
Thus, I learnt to never focus only on the negatives and to think there are no positives. Instead, look more carefully for the positives, because they might be very well hidden. Some people have a hard time finding the positives in life because they focus on the negatives instead of the positives. In my opinion, this isn’t entirely their fault, as it’s built into our brains to worry more about the negatives. I think this is because our brains are designed to keep us safe from harmful negatives and to be more aware of all the dangers rather than the positives. For example, in the news, we hear about all the scary things happening in the world — robberies, kidnappings, and so on — but we rarely hear about all the good things happening. It seems that most people just focus on the negative.
I’ve been this type of person all my life — looking for the negatives and not thinking about the positives, depending on the situation. I want to change this, so therefore, my New Year’s Resolution is to look more for the positives, not just the negatives.
So, the next time I’m facing a new, difficult situation or change, I’ll do my best to cheerfully say, ‘It’s a new beginning!’, just like everyone says to me.
