They're coming!

Less than three weeks. I had to pinch my arm to make sure I’m not dreaming. In less than three weeks I’m having a visitor. From Norway!

I’m so looking forward to Kiki’s visit. We met almost a year ago, in a hotel in Saint-Petersburg, we spent a wonderful first evening together and had a lot of fun during our journey on the transsiberian railway.

After she’s gone, there’s another special person coming to stay with me for a week. A long lost sister. Julie spent a year in our family, in 1974, and – unbelievable but true – she’s coming to see my family and me again in september.
I have to admit that it’s a strange but oh so exciting feeling.
1974, the pre-internet era, which means we completely lost track of each other after she left. I’m so glad I found her again. My sister and I are almost fighting to host her. It’s been 37 years, so I guess we look a bit different since the last time we saw each other.

We haven’t had really nice weather so far, but august 24th, that’s when my summer starts!

1974.

When I was a four year old kid, my parents hosted an exchange student from the United States. She stayed in our family for a year, went to school here and learned (so I hope) a lot about our country and our culture.

In 1974 this was not a common thing to do. Leaving your family for a year, start a new yet temporary life abroad, and being dropped into a bath of another language and culture cannot have been the easiest choice to make.
For the younger readers amongst you, I’m talking about a pre-internet, pre-skype, pre-cellphone, almost pre-historic era.
Basically, leaving your country meant cutting off yourself from your own world.
Making a phonecall from Europe to the States was extremely expensive, which means that the only thing you could do to stay in touch in 1974 was write a letter.
Needless to say that at the age of four I wasn’t capable of writing at all, let alone write a letter.

So after a year in Belgium, Julie went back home. And I never heard of her again. Or at least not that I remember of. So if you’ve ever written me, Julie, please forgive me for not remembering…

Over the past few years, the thought of trying to find her again crossed my mind on a regular basis. A thousand questions about her kept popping up.
I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity of crossing her path.
She has been a great influence for me. She partially made me the guy that I am today. I would never have travelled the way I did if I didn’t speak English.
Whenever people ask me where I learned to speak English, the American-girl-staying-in-our-family-story comes up.
The fact that this blog is written in English, is thanks to Julie. I have met a lot of interesting people, and I have made many new friends thanks to my knowledge of the English language. And therefore thanks to Julie.

A couple of days ago, when visiting my mom, I asked her if she could remember Julie’s surname. And to my surprise, she did. So that’s where I started my quest. I googled her name, searched for her on Facebook and sent out a couple of emails.

Coming home today after a weekend away with a couple of friends, somebody named Julie replied to one of my messages. And guess what? Yes, indeed! I found her!
I can’t begin to express what I felt. The words joy and happiness would be real understatements. I was overwhelmed with a warm feeling of gratitude, and I can’t wait to find out more about her.

Julie made my day. What a nice surprise.