A stroll back into the past
I learned of true strength in high school. It was when I believed Hali to have left me, and I was left alone with nothing but my thoughts. I strove in school for achievement, to redeem for my past sins, and I worked to ease the burden on my parents and to provide for myself. I remember going to school until 4 PM, working from 6Pm to 11PM and coming home to do homework until 2 AM, then waking up for class the next day at 8 AM. Whenever I had what little spare time I did, I always found myself alone and it troubled me deeply. I didn't know what to do, so I buried myself in movies. Every weekend I went to blockbuster to rent a movie and watched it alone, in the darkness of my room, and the films I watched during this period are forever burned into my memory.
One of them was Les Miserables. I rented it on a complete fluke, mostly picking it up to learn about the classic tale that I never quite got around to reading. I was utterly surprised to find myself moved and forever changed by the end of the movie, my eyes locked onto the scene of sunrise over Notre Dame upon the river Seine, my thoughts abundant. The acts of ValJean and his character inspired me to be something more, to give to those who have not, that the ability to redeem one's character was not entirely impossible.
I've been to France countless times. The day that forever changed my life was on the seaside cliff of Biarritz, overlooking the ocean and imaging the thousands of countries waiting for me. Of the mere fact that I was in a new place, a new culture, a society far, far away from that little secluded town in Utah called price. Were there placed as beautiful as this for me to see, was life a never ending ocean that reached out into the distant sunset rich with color and opportunity? Will France and America be my last destination?
Will I ever make it to Japan? I closed my eyes and threw my heart into the ocean. I am a woman with ambition, with hope, with optimism--I had finally discovered who I was, and all it took was a little visit to this remote French town near Spain. To the Eiffel tower. To a whole new world outside of Utah I could never imagine.
After watching Les Miserables I realized that I will reward myself with a trip abroad before University, despite lack of money. I will work hard, I will strive, I will succeed to achieve my dreams. So I saved, and I saved, and I saved until I made 3,000 dollars from a 6.00 wage to journey to France with my best friend with whom I had made amends.
I went to Paris.
The images of Paris are etched into my memory like some highly detailed sculpture. The castle of Versailles, the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, the river Seine, Montmarte, the Louvre... it was my first true excursion abroad and I can taste it like fresh wine upon my lips.
It all helped lead me to that dream that was Japan, no matter what the outcome of that experience may have been. Everything happens for a reason, the omens tell us where to go, we are tugged around by the intuition of our hearts, but whether we have our mind and logic act on it remains unanswered. If there is a destiny, a god, a greater being; it is not there to control our lives, but to push us forward into what we were meant to do.
France gave me the inspiration to go to Japan, where my most fondest memories were created. Japan introduced me to love, to friendship, and to a whole new world of greater opportunity. I found love in the mountains, the sea, the rice fields, the laugh of children, the echo of a taiko drum, the soft scratching noise of a calligraphy brush on rice paper, the melody of the Japanese language itself. It taught me who I am, what I need, and what I was meant to do; although it made me realize that what I sought was not in Japan, it gave me invaluable lessons that will be all but impossible to forget.
Japan gave me the signal to move west, west to a country that has been involved with my entire life. I felt it from the moment I first set foot in the country. You and I have a destiny.
I imagine myself sitting at that ledge at the park overlooking the Eiffel Tower, thanking god for all the wonderful things has given me. To gaze upon a world so beautiful, so wrought with riches and wonder that we can't help but stare. Stare at the history of the world sitting all around us.
One of them was Les Miserables. I rented it on a complete fluke, mostly picking it up to learn about the classic tale that I never quite got around to reading. I was utterly surprised to find myself moved and forever changed by the end of the movie, my eyes locked onto the scene of sunrise over Notre Dame upon the river Seine, my thoughts abundant. The acts of ValJean and his character inspired me to be something more, to give to those who have not, that the ability to redeem one's character was not entirely impossible.
I've been to France countless times. The day that forever changed my life was on the seaside cliff of Biarritz, overlooking the ocean and imaging the thousands of countries waiting for me. Of the mere fact that I was in a new place, a new culture, a society far, far away from that little secluded town in Utah called price. Were there placed as beautiful as this for me to see, was life a never ending ocean that reached out into the distant sunset rich with color and opportunity? Will France and America be my last destination?
Will I ever make it to Japan? I closed my eyes and threw my heart into the ocean. I am a woman with ambition, with hope, with optimism--I had finally discovered who I was, and all it took was a little visit to this remote French town near Spain. To the Eiffel tower. To a whole new world outside of Utah I could never imagine.
After watching Les Miserables I realized that I will reward myself with a trip abroad before University, despite lack of money. I will work hard, I will strive, I will succeed to achieve my dreams. So I saved, and I saved, and I saved until I made 3,000 dollars from a 6.00 wage to journey to France with my best friend with whom I had made amends.
I went to Paris.
The images of Paris are etched into my memory like some highly detailed sculpture. The castle of Versailles, the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, the river Seine, Montmarte, the Louvre... it was my first true excursion abroad and I can taste it like fresh wine upon my lips.
It all helped lead me to that dream that was Japan, no matter what the outcome of that experience may have been. Everything happens for a reason, the omens tell us where to go, we are tugged around by the intuition of our hearts, but whether we have our mind and logic act on it remains unanswered. If there is a destiny, a god, a greater being; it is not there to control our lives, but to push us forward into what we were meant to do.
France gave me the inspiration to go to Japan, where my most fondest memories were created. Japan introduced me to love, to friendship, and to a whole new world of greater opportunity. I found love in the mountains, the sea, the rice fields, the laugh of children, the echo of a taiko drum, the soft scratching noise of a calligraphy brush on rice paper, the melody of the Japanese language itself. It taught me who I am, what I need, and what I was meant to do; although it made me realize that what I sought was not in Japan, it gave me invaluable lessons that will be all but impossible to forget.
Japan gave me the signal to move west, west to a country that has been involved with my entire life. I felt it from the moment I first set foot in the country. You and I have a destiny.
I imagine myself sitting at that ledge at the park overlooking the Eiffel Tower, thanking god for all the wonderful things has given me. To gaze upon a world so beautiful, so wrought with riches and wonder that we can't help but stare. Stare at the history of the world sitting all around us.