In 2018, I decided to come to Europe. I was in college at the time, already in my sophomore year, when I decided to drop out and move to Russia. That was one of the grandest decision I’ve made as a teen. I remember contemplating a lot on it, if it was really worth it to drop everything: my circle of friends, the network I was building, a great CGPA, and 2 years of college to start again from scratch.
My parents weren’t as enthusiastic as I was. Not just about my moving abroad, but more so the irrationality of choosing to start school over again. But somehow we got to a convergent conclusion. I was going. It felt surreal at the moment.
After everything was all set and I was ready to leave, I remember sitting down with my dad one evening, and was having one of those Dad to Son pep talks. I took everything in and was still astonished that he was actually letting me go. The take off date was moving closer and closer.
I can still picture myself walking out of my old university campus with my friends at night. It was a big crowd, and we were just talking about life, my leaving, and what the future holds. It Felt like a dream. One second I was in the middle of all these amazing human beings that I grew to know and the next, it’s just me. It was bittersweet.
Excited as I was, I started to get tipsy about what I was getting myself into, but still moving forward. I left on the 1st week of November 2021 through emirates, transitioning for a few hours in Dubai before finally landing in Moscow. The city that will become my home for the next 5 years of my life.
Definitely a lot has changed since, but it also feels casual in the same breath. Itโs interesting after a change of habitat how quickly one adapts to the new one.
I didnโt know what to expect from my first time in Europe, besides my bag-pack of stereotypes. I was right about a few and flabbergasted about the rest.
Besides the cold, which was exactly as I imagined it (if not worse), Russians turned out to be quite different from my earlier perception of them. I used to view them as this closed, cold and ill-tempered bunch. But Iโve never seen a more open and straightforward calibre of people like them. They might seem to have a tough exterior, but once you get close to them, they accept you not as a friend but as one of their own.
Similar thing with the language. From the outside, people view the Russian language as this husky, rough, rugged & rude language. But once I started speaking it myself, It revealed itself as this melodic and ironically passionate tongue . In the sense that itโs quite emotional and openly intimate. Who could have thought Russian could be alluring hahah.
One of the perks of settling in Moscow is that itโs a metropolitan City. So you meet everyone here. People from other European countries, Asia, the Middle East, all the way to the Americas and Africa of course.
So in this past 3 years, I got to marinate with different people of different backgrounds and world views. And to say the least, it has been an eye-opening experience.
And I think if not for anything, for this sole reason, I would say my decision to leave everything behind and chart the uncharted was worth it.
It would sound cliche and pretentious to say, coming to Europe has turned me from a boy into a man, but I canโt find better fitting words. I am definitely not the same MG from 3 years ago. Personality-wise, even though I can’t call myself shy, I was quite reserved. And now people see me as out-going and spontaneous.
All in all, this is the best decision I have taken yet. And I look forward to traveling more, exploring more places and expanding my world view while growing as the Man that I am becoming.
~Donโt shy away from Life
Drink from it
And let it become of you~