Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

I’ve been trying to keep track of the different lessons I’ve learned while being here.

• Language has the ability to both make you feel totally at home and completely alone.
• There’s nothing better than saying hello to friends or family and nothing worse than saying goodbye.
• Charades is more than a game. It’s a life skill.
• Getting lost is half the fun.
• I love teaching.
• Kids are more or less the same world over.
• I’m incredibly lucky to be Canadian. You will never know how much you love your country unless you leave it.
• Traveling is good for my soul.
• I like being alone but love being with my friends and family. There’s no way I could do this trip by myself. I’m too neurotic.
• It’s the simple things in life that you miss from home – like knowing your way around the grocery store or hopping in your car to go for a drive.
• Home sickness is terrible.
• A package from home is incredible.
• Logic is my friend.
• I like being from and living in a small town.
• English is unnecessarily complicated. There’s no need for a language to be this difficult.
• Having English as your native language is a serious advantage that I never realized.
• Pictures of friends doing everyday things are more valuable than pictures of new places.
• Food should be enjoyed, but you can eat just about anything and survive. This includes dried squid and butterfly larvae.
• PEI is beautiful. Really, really, beautiful.
• There are some people who come into your life and instantly you know you were meant to be friends.

I’m sure there are many more things I’ll realize that I’ve learned after I get home or during the next few months of traveling but for now, I think I’ve done quite well.