Keeping contact

Kind of a personal blogpost for me to write, but at the same time I really want to share this story. This story is the story of me and my best friend, Johanne.

I haven't seen Johanne in half a year, and there is still half a year until I'll see her again. Johanne is an exhange student in Austria and having the time of her life exploring a new country, learning a new language, meeting new people and experiencing a whole new kind of living.
I miss her, a lot! But we keep the contact and now we're giving some advice on how to be keeping the contact:
I feel like I should begin with telling you how Johanne and I met. We met three years ago when Johanne came to my school, and so did a whole lot of other people as well - and I hated them. It was in year 7 and i just I hated that I had to meet so many new people at the same time, I hated that everything changed and I was thrown out of my comfort zone and got a bunch of new people into my class.

After a while I started to feel more comfortable again, and I began to open more up to these people. In the morning Johanne and I was some of the first people who got to the school that early. We would talk about books and stuff we like to do and we found out we had a lot in common.

We started in the same class in August, but I remember us not being friends (or at least "officially") before one time in November when we went to the cinema together. Then we became friends and we spend every day together in the school ever since. That was the start of our friendship.

Then out of no where we were in the last year of public school, and our last year together. I was going directly into high school and she would go to Austria.  But before she travelled we had one big experience together; we went to London. It was an amzing way to say goodbye and have something we could remember and look back on the year we would be apart - and it is! The pictures below are from London.

The day came where we had to say goodbye, it was just a funny day like everyday with Johanne is. It was not until I came home from her that day that I realized that was the last time I'll see her for a year. It was a crazy thought and it just felt so unreal. That my friend for three years I had spend so much time with was just not here anymore, the person I sat with on her bedroom floor eating ice cream when I was heart broken, the person I went to a Taylor Swift concert with, the person I've had so many good times with.

That day I left Johanne a little gift and a letter. The funny thing is that Johanne and I never really said that we were friends, not until the letter i left at her place that day. In the letter I wrote she was my best friend and I would miss her. And that was what made us best friends, that someone finally said it.

So that said let's get into how we keep in contact!

Advices:

The first time: Let the other person text you first. Okay this I found to be really important. Yes, I missed Johanne and I wanted to text her all the time, but I waited, because she was the one going through a big change in her life, and I was scared that she would not get a good start, if she always heard about what happened at home. The first time is the most important for someone to get to feel comfortable a place, and I was scared to make her feel home sick. I waited for her to text me, and then I knew she was ready to talk again.

Do exactly what you did before. Now I just write to her everytime I have something exciting, sad, annoying or good to tell her. We tag each other in stupid things on instagram and facebook. Another important part is not to treat each other differently just because you're not next to each other.
When we text each other it's never "how is it in Austria" and we talk about that. We talk about the most stupid and total unimportant things, and I think it is important just to talk to each other like you would if you were next to each other.

Letters is a good way of keeping contact as well. Johanne and I have sent each other a few letters, and it is in the letters we really talk about how Austria is and how high school is, and how life is going. To be honest it's ten times easier just to text each other, because it doesn't take a week to get a reply to what you wrote, but there is something so charming about the letters and when she is home again we will have so much fun with reading and looking at them again. Even tne years from now they're nice to have!

Skype is a brilliant idea. The man who once got the idea of skype saved so many friendships and relationships who troubled with distance. It's funny seeing each other insted of just typing it, hearing each other say it. Do it random when you both have time or do it like every two weeks.

Presnts for birthdays and christmas is also such a nice thing to recive. When  Johanne sent me a christmas present from Austria I cried a little. My eyes teared up, and I think it was one of the best christmas presents I got this year. Even if it's just a little thing, it means so much when they took their time to send it to you.

Take your time. I know it seems like we're always busy with something and we can't find time to write that one message or do that Skype call. But trust me on this: when you do it you feel so much better. I've made it one of my first priorities to keep in contact. In the end of the day, that is what will make you happy.