New Home

I'm not sure to be excited or sad about leaving everyone I've known for the past 14 years. In case you're confused let me tell you why we're going. My name is Robin and I'm 14 years old. My mom just got divorced so we are moving to Melbourne, Australia for a fresh start. My mom is looking for a new relationship and is enjoying her time. However, I only agreed to this since I got bullied back in town. 

Now back to the present. We are leaving tomorrow so I met with my friends for the last time. Soon it was the day we left. Our flight was soon so we hurried to the car. We checked in and waited for about five minutes till we boarded. 

On the ride to Australia, I sat in front of this rude kid who kept kicking my chair. I eventually got fed up and got mad but his mom started yelling at me! But the kid finally stopped kicking so it was worth it. I watched the movies I downloaded on Netflix but I only did three and they did not last. I still had eight hours left of headaches and full-on annoyance! Thankfully I remembered that I had packed a book in my carry-on. I read my book but I stupidly picked a book with big letters so I read it quickly. Still, there were 6 hours left of the flight and right at that moment, they served lunch! I ordered a caesar salad with Italian dressing and some garlic bread on the side, it was so delicious! I made sure to take my time eating! I rewatched an episode of Stranger Things, soon enough I finally fell asleep and my mom woke me up once we arrived in Melbourne, Australia!! 

We left the plane and got our bags and thankfully there was a Starbucks so we got some coffee. It was already 3 AM so we checked into a hotel and got ready to sleep, there were face masks in the fridge so we decided to do them. It was such a great choice I felt more refreshed and we finally went to sleep. I did NOT feel like going to school, especially an Australian school. As we got our food from the hotel there were some weird foods like vegemite or something. There were so many beans as well but it was still delicious. When I heard people talking I tried my best on trying not to laugh. I then remembered that school starts tomorrow, I'm a bit nervous but I think it will be better than being back home in California. 

I and my mom went out and went to look at some famous tourist locations such as going to the Royal Botanic Garden, the national museum of Vitoria, and federation square, and after we had dinner at this really pretty cafe! I expected the grass to be better and healthier in Australia but it was the same it was just more beautiful and felt mesmerizing. 

Soon it was the next day and school was starting I had to wake at 7:00 to start my first day in ninth grade, I mean year nine. The grade differences are extremely confusing but hopefully, I will get hold of it. I still can believe they call an eraser a rubber it's quite funny how they say things around here. Am I supposed to g’day mate lemme go get my crisps or can I have a botaofwaha (bottle of water)? 

Anyway back to school, I arrived at the all-girls school. A couple of girls were staring at me but whatever I guess since I'm a new kid? I pulled out my schedule and went to my first class which was Social Sciences confused I asked a girl for directions and she led me to the classroom. When I went inside the teacher introduced me as Robin who came from America. I quickly learned that another girl came from America last year. As my classmate told me and pointed to a girl in the back and “coincidently” there was an empty seat next to her and the teacher told me to sit there. I smiled at her and asked her for her name. She said, “Nancy, I'm glad there's another person that came from another country, you should join my club that has people that came here within the last three years”. Intrigued I said yes and she gave me a note with a class number on it and I shoved it in my pocket.

After school was over I texted my mom that I would be late because I had joined a club for people like us. She said that it was great that I met a friend! I went to room 605 and there were about a dozen of people in the room, it looked more like a hangout room than a classroom. So I asked Nancy and she told me “It was an extra classroom so we had permission to do anything but damage the floors or walls”. I looked around the room impressed and sat down on the rug with the rest of the people. We introduced ourselves and I learned that 5 people joined the group this year! It was fascinating to hear that everyone was from Malaysia, Japan, and Ethiopia! As we kept talking a tear fell from my face from the happiness of the feeling of belonging. 

I took a bus to the apartment my mom got which was a beautiful modern home. I told my mom about the club and she felt that coming to Australia was the right decision. Days passed and every day was much better than our life back in California. Of course, I still texted and called my friends back home. But the longer I stayed in Australia the more we became distant. I love our new home. The grass is the same color but it feels better. Australia is my new home.