By KARIMA FATIH
If I had told 17-year-old Karima what happened during these few months in Beloit, her jaw would drop to the floor in disbelief. This article is quite the follow-up to the culture shock I had when I first stepped foot in Wisconsin. Now, months have passed, and many plates of Commons fries later, I am not the same person I was. Beloit changed me.
For as much as I was shocked by the waffle machine, I have become the typical Sunday brunch eater, sausage lover, cheesy eggs cherisher. I even have a go-to drink at Dunkin now. I am a loyal Walmart shopper, and Amazon orderer, as I may have fallen into consumerism harder than I expected but isn’t it the raw taste of the American experience after all?
I have discovered new passions and art vocations throughout my sculpture class. It is really overwhelming to think of all the things we are talented at, and we are clueless because we never push outside our usual corners. I never knew I would love indulging in other forms and expressions of art this much, but I guess the six hours of sculptures a week really allows one get to know their ceramics curves.
As every broke college student, I am (cupid) shuffling between my studies and two campus jobs. I would’ve never thought there was this much comfort in memorizing your regular customers’ orders and starting to make it as you see them peek through the door. Somewhere between the Sagittarius Ponderosa and a million mochas later, I got attached to coming to work and laughing with my coworkers about how poor we are. Every aspect of work made me so polyvalent; I am firmly convinced I can wrap my head around any task now.
I have developed an American resistance to cold legs, no matter how cold it is outside now, I will be wearing them skirts on Saturday night, I will be sitting at the table outside of C-Haus with different people each time (whose names I may remember for an hour maximum). Although my legs are immune, the rest of my body hates to see the negative temperatures coming and the sunset at 4 p.m.. The vibes daylight savings time brings to the function are sinister. Logically so, less and less people are outside at night, and just like that, my last wall party would have been my last without me knowing it.
Obviously, my time here would not have been the same without people around me, my fellow blue chair sitters, foreign language speakers, fairytale makers. I am still deeply unsettled by how humans bond in such a short time and become each other’s shelter in a random place in the world. I have entered this Beloit house with big dreams and I am about to leave home with the fond memories of faces I will cherish forever. I have traveled a little around, and my one silver lining is that beautiful encounters also offer themselves to you when you take the risk to see them, unplug your headphones, look up, and smile at the adversity of walking alone in an unfamiliar territory. From strangers at the red line stations to a dear friend living on my floor, everyone and their mother impacted me in one way or another.
My Beloit chapter is viable proof that the world offers itself to you when you decide to take a chance on it. My exchange semester may end in three weeks, but this is far from being the end. December 14 is nothing but the beginning of newer stories, different dimensions of my own self, and other chairs to camp on all around the globe. I have jumped into the unknown void coming here and I have successfully landed on my feet, so if you are afraid of anything, feel the fear and do it anyway 🙂
Farewell bumpy Wisconsin roads, I will miss you!
Leave a Reply