Post #5

When I read about Peter and his experiences in a new place I immediately connected this to when I first came out to Chicago for school. It’s scary walking into the unknown; not being familiar with your living situations, not yet having a routine or really knowing any friends or people to connect with. Adjustments certainly have to be made when trying to make a new situation more comfortable, but Peter’s story is much different than mine because he is pretty much alone in a new place, whereas I had several hundred people all in the same boat as me. That fact alone helps the adjusting process go by much smoother. Peter, though, doesn’t have that luxury and on top of that, he is in a new country with people who don’t even speak the same language as he does. So, his opportunities for finding people to bond with are much more slim than mine were. But, he still puts himself out there and tries to make living less lonely, much like I did at first. He said he would go on walks and wait for locals to spark up a conversation with him. And even going to school events and participating in class was my way of finding people, the overall outcome is the same.

I think people, whenever or wherever they are in a new place, there’s always fear there, but as long as they try to make the best of it and adjust, their new place will eventually form routine and will become more comfortable, just like Hessler and I’s did.