Sorry

Good day unknown person who has a story,

I’m here to tell you mine.

I’m the child of a Hungarian woman and a Belgian man who met at a congress in Stockholm in nineteen-ninety-something. They lived in Spain for a while, my mum got pregnant with me there but then I was born in Marseille, and since then we’ve lived in that area.

My childhood was a pretty happy one, I met my best friend in the first year of kindergarten and we haven’t let each other go since then, in spite their family moving to French Guyana for two years and then coming back to metropolitan France – but in Paris.

In my preteen years, my parents decided that our family (which had by then expanded thanks to two little sisters) would spend a year in Australia, partly for their work, partly for us kids to learn English. I cried so much when learning that, but once I was there, I forgot every opposition I had given and just enjoyed everything. I was in a school with program for people who don’t know English yet, so in my class there were people from all around the world, it was so awesome seeing all of us with such different cultures coming together ! I could go on and on about Aussie but I think I should stop here so it doesn’t get too long…

So, when we came back, I faced problems at school. I didn’t get along with anyone and I was lonely all the time. I couldn’t imagine the end of it until I learnt that I could leave and get into an international school, so I tried my best to do so, hoping with every fibre of my being, and eventually I learnt I was accepted. I still remember the moment : I was in school and my mum sent me a text telling me that, I started screaming and jumping everywhere. Now this may sound like I’m trying to look good for my teachers, especially since at least one of them will read this, but I don’t care : even though that was my reaction at only getting in, that happiness hasn’t faded. I love the OIB so much, I am so thankful for it, I love every single person who is there with me, and being there got me out of the bad place I was in.

Also, being in such a place with so many wonderful people made me realise some things about myself, like :

1. I am not straight.

2. I might need to stop struggling with religion and just let myself be an atheist.

Thanks to that, I came out both as queer (to most people in the area, but not my very religious family on my dad’s side) and as an atheist (to the religious family I just mentioned, because telling them I don’t believe was as hard as telling people I’m gay), and that has helped me to accept myself as I am : a wonderful person who likes and dislikes varied things, with mixed origins, and who still has a lot to figure out but that’s OK, because I am h a p p y.