"The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people ..."
It was never in my childhood imagination to meet people abroad. People who speak different language(s)from mine. I myself couldn't have thought to meet them along my journey.
(Every Nation Church Cambodia 8th anniversary)
Let me talk a little bit about Chile for awhile. Chile is located in the continent of South America, it covers 743,812 square kilometers of land and 12,290 square kilometers of water, making it the 38th largest nation in the world with a total area of 756,102 square kilometers. This is a place where I haven't thought of going or meeting someone from.
However, here is a Chilean lady from Chile. That's where she is from - the another side of the globe. She speaks Spanish (which I know a bit of) and more in English. She is a friend of a friend of mine. Meeting her at first is quite uncomfortable because her words are never cheap. She thinks and organizes her thoughts before opening her mouth. Many times we had meet ups, but still she's like really from Chile and I'm from the Philippines - two different nations with such diversity in many ways.
Let's give it more try. We had a trip together with our common friend and my sister in amazing beaches in Cambodia. We did all things together. There were times when both of us were left on our own, for sure it was really hard for me to start a conversation, yet to break the ice, just giving unnecessary comment was uttered. She did respond, but for me her English sounded so poetic . It made me speechless and just smiled even if I didn't get it. (It's for real.)
These uncomfortable situations with a Chilean made me realized something that is - I need to listen more to understand. Also, my prejudices about dealing with new individual who I know only by name had to be cut off for a better communication. As a result, it made our time more fruitful and being more friendly to each other happened. It happens in the beginning of any relationships. To tear down jugements will definitely lead us to see things in different new angles. I appreciate her more as a Chilean and of course a person just like me.
We meet as strangers, yet to remain as one is a choice. Be open to new possibilities along the journey - as a quote says, "The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people ..."
Thank you for reading!