Initiation on a Bus
I was an exchange student travelling through Europe, making my way to a tiny town set high in the mountains of Calabria in Rome. My parents hadn’t wanted me to come, said it was too dangerous going off alone to another part of the world, anything could happen.
I tried to tell them European kids travelled at much earlier ages than me, some even younger than sixteen which I thought was a bit young, but I was already nineteen and eager to see some of the world as Australia was so far away from everyone else.
The school assured them I would be properly supervised once I arrived, that they need not worry. My parents then feared I’d be abducted travelling alone by plane and other forms of transport. I begged and pleaded until finally they resisted allowing me to fulfill my
