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Many times throughout my life I've asked my parents for things I thought impossible. I'm not sure why I've done this, but once they actually said yes. I still remember the annoucement that echoed over the intercom. "The Frejus Sister City Association is looking for students to participate in their foreign exchange program, please contact Madame Polcha if interested." A trip to France was my dream since I was young. I went home ready for my parents to laugh in my face, but when I posed the question, "Hey Mom and Dad, Please dont laugh, Can I go to France?" Mom and Dad just looked at each other. Dad started to laugh but mom cut him an evil glare. "We'll think about it honey," said my mother in traditional parental response. Dad looked like a confused man, but he's smart enough to know when not to mess with my mother.
Before I knew it, we were attending the meetings that organized the trip. As the date for our departure grew closer, I bought many new clothes and gifts for my host family. I recieved a letter from the daughter, Stephanie, who would become my lifelong friend. She seemed very excited to have me rest with her family. She had come to America the year before. She was an actress and aspired to be a pilot for AIRFRANCE. She also enclosed a picture. This is where my nerves came into play. She was beautiful. She greatly resembled Posh Spirce from the Spice Girls. What if she would not like me? What if I get there and we have nothing in common?
The day arrived for the commencement of my travel. My parents and my cousin, Julie, took me to the Fredericksburg visitor's center where I would meet the group and catch the bus to the airport. It was a rainy day, which made my mother's qualms about letting me go increase. I had butterflies beating away in my chest as I lugged my way-too-heavy luggage onto the way-too-small Fredbus. I sat by Katie O'Brian on the way to the airport. I remember crying as the bus pulled away from the visitors center. It did not help that my mother was sobbing into my father's arms. I am glad that the bus didn't hit a red light because I'm afraid I may have jumped out.
When we arrived at the airport, we went through the normal procedures for checking our baggage. This was not as easy as it should have been because the attendants spoke very poor English and their accents were difficult to comprehend. I did not understand what they asked me so I just nodded. Looking back, this was probably not a good thing to do, but it got me onto the plane. We finally made it to the international terminal and we started the anticipated hour wait. The King George Crew (made up of myself, Katie O'Brian, Katie Mikszewski, Chrissy Simmons, Sara Wall, Emily Clift, and Kimberly Lawson) made friends with 3 boys from Fredericksburg, Nick, Adam and Hunter. They remained our close followers througout the rest of the trip. Well, an hour passed, and we were still waiting. After 3 hours, someone finally came on the intercom and told us that our plane was undergoing repairs and that we would be waiting for awhile. This is not the best thing to hear when you are about to get on the plane for 8 hours. Nevertheless, they gave us coupons for anything in the terminal. We, of course, headed to the most nutritional booth in the corridor, Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream.
When we finally arrived back at the waiting room, it was boarding time. We situated ourselves on the plane (I sat between Emily and Katie O.) Emily then said, "Suzi, I'm really afraid of planes. Can you hold my hand?" Katie followed with a similar plea, and I became the mother comforting her scared children. At take off, I had little time to think about what was to come. My mind was focused only on the claws digging into my arms. Katie and Emily were less than okay. As the plane finally evened out adn the seat-belt light turned off, I was finally at peace again. The rest of our plne ride was normal. I occupied myself with the high tech television in front of my seat. On this device, I could see exactly what the temperature was outside, where we were on a map, listen to music from any country, watch a variety of movies in English or French, play games, or contact the stewardess. I think I watched