Introduction

The moment has finally come, and here I am presenting this zine to the world. I have to admit that a part of me thought that it would never be finished. I wrote the first tidbits of this zine back in February. The bulk of the work started in late April, and now here I am. It�s late June, and finally this whopper of a zine is up. Throughout its pages you will find that both my writing and my emotions change as time goes by. The most recent articles focus on the end of my exchange.

For the last ten months I have been living in France as an exchange student. At times it has felt like a non-stop rollercoaster, and at other times it has felt like nothing more than a long and weary trudge along an endless road. Nevertheless, it�s coming to a close in four short days for me, and I feel like a pensive ship making my way slowly to shore. Thus the title.

In this zine you can find articles on everything from being an exchange student, to high school track, to politics, to religion. Unlike my last zine, which was completely held together by a single theme, you�ll find that this zine is more of a patchwork quilt of ideas that I�ve sewn together into a cacophony of words. I hope you enjoy it. I most certainly did and do.

As always, at the end of my zine is a link to a feedback form, and I do hope that you will take the time to fill it out. I would be happy to answer any questions you have on any of the articles.

And so I leave you now to take a voyage into my mind. In the meantime, I�ll be continuing on my own long journey. Stroke by stroke, I�m finally pulling myself into that Not-So-Distant Shore. I can feel the sand on my feet already. It makes me want to dance!

Are you ready? Let�s go.