This is the story of some exchange students who once were headed to the same desolate camp but didn't know what was going to happen next. They didn't know each other and couldn't even imagine how close they would get by the end of their experience abroad. But let's start from the beginning.

One Friday, just a few weeks after the arrival in the USA, I skipped school to attend the orientation camp. I knew I was going to meet other students but didn't know I'd feel incomplete without them once back in my home country.

After awkwardly introducing one another, we started talking about simple stuff like which grade we were in, which sports we practiced, why we chose the US and so on.

But then we had to sleep all together in a freezing cabin, take a freezing shower at 6 in the morning, hike in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming and sing around a bonfire while eating s'mores. We learnt a song called "Love in any language" during which we also signed, but we didn't know how important that song was going to be at the very end. 

I had a really good time: no phones, no WiFi, no virtual world - the only connection we had was with nature (so connected that we shared our cabin even with a couple of mouses lol that ain't fun).

The orientation camp was a really positive start for an awesome year.

I had the chance to hang out with some of the students almost weekly, but we finally met all together again in December, when we had to interview some of the outbounds - American teenagers heading out of the country -.

In January we had the Rotary ski weekend and I still think that it has been one of the best weekends so far. I had a real American breakfast really early in the morning, we skied most of the day and then we had the chance to have dinner at a western event at the top of the mountain. The view from the gondola late at night was amazing and I can remember being in there thinking how grateful I was for everything that was going on with my life at that point.

Weeks passed by, we hung out at Starbucks, played bowling, attended the outbound's orientation and before we realized it, it was the 5th of June. We were on the bus and starting our western adventure with San Francisco as a final destination. As the bus stopped in Mesa Verde National Park, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco I lived interesting days. Although we shared amazing memories and lived the trip of a life time, everyone could easily pass from being happy to being sad and angry within few minutes. Misunderstandings led to pointless arguments and we spent our 3 days conference in a very intense atmosphere. But then, we had to sing "Love in any language" in front of everyone, for the last time. Tears started streaming down, we hugged each other, we told each other how important we're for one another and that we couldn't let time or distance separate us.

That night was the last one of the conference, it felt endless and yet the shortest. We spent it in a room being goofy as always, trying to focus on the good things rather than the bad ones. Silent breakfast and then everyone had to carry out their bags and find their ride home. Then we kind of repeated what we did the night before. I cried so much I could barely see something. As soon as I closed the car door I felt like my heart was torn up in pieces. Even unpacking was hard so I just reached my bed and started staring at the brownish ceiling asking myself where 10 months went. How was it possible that I just had 3 weeks left in America when I still remembered the 15 years old me trying to convince my parents to let me go on exchange, how?

Nowadays it is still hard, because no matter how many people I meet or where I go, it will never be the same, and it is legit. I always want to experience something new and being in Denmark is amazing, but being away from home makes me also think about the good ol' days.

- Cris