As a Burmese who was coming from Southern Burma, Myanmar, snow in the early winter of New England is fairytale-like, a very brand-new experience to me. So, I started my very first semester as an international student in the US in Massachusetts in 2011, fall semester. I went back to my country during the December holidays. Soon after I finished my last class of the fall semester, I rushed to the airport, and went back to Burma because I left my four-year-old son. As a mother, I have separation trauma and worries. So, I went back home to my country, and I stayed the whole December holiday then I came back to the West to Waltham, Massachusetts in mid-January.

Soon after I got back to the US. I had to start my first day of spring semester. So, I brought a winter coat from Burma. It’s funny as preparation for winter in Massachusetts, and I thought that the walking shoes I have that have hard soles might be good enough to deal with the winter in Massachusetts. I did not prepare enough since I went back to my country. So, on the first day of my spring semester, I went to class with housemates, and we went there on a school bus. Soon after I got down from the school bus, I started to feel threatened by the slippery walk on the snow. I was swinging when I walked, there was so much fear that I would fall down, and also with fears and worries, I was laughing at myself. I looked so funny to my friends. I couldn’t walk whenever I started walking with one step in this way. So, my roommates, a Tibetan, and Indian friend, they held one of my arms so that I could go to my class. Then they dropped me at my class, we are from different programs so they noted my class finish time, and they made sure to come and pick me up so that we can go back to our house.