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Crossing Borders: Going East from France to the United States

By: Katie Ahlstrom


May 2, 2014

Trapped.
Terrifying thoughts raced through Victor Crindals head as he and his older brother Loc stood
back to back, surrounded by six military guards at the border of Mongolia and China.
The men circled them like a pack of hyenas hunting their prey, snarling at them with their teeth
bared. They barked at Victor and Loc angrily in Mongolian, their words almost completely
incomprehensible to the French native brothers.
We are not sitting down, Victor, Loc said to him in French. We are standing up, and we are
keeping our backpacks on our backs in case we have to run.
Victor knew Loc wanted them to act like men to avoid letting on that they were actually
extremely stressed out. A fat European-looking man wearing a military rain coat stood before
them. He seemed to be the leader the pack advancing towards them, and he growled gruff words
in Mongolian out of the side of his mouth. The man seemed out of place speaking the Asian
language without actually appearing Asian; his European exterior actually caused Victor even
more unease.
For four hours in the hot desert sun, the two brothers stood in the same place in the sand and
waited for their captors to make a decision regarding their fate. Victor watched as other people
paid over $50.00 worth of Mongolian money to jump in dirty white Jeeps in order to be
transported from the train they had all arrived on to cross the border into China. It was because

of the price that Victor and his brother were in this situation. At the time, Victor and Loc did not
have any money with them; they had spent all of their Mongol money during their travels, and
they had not yet obtained any Chinese Yuan. They did not know that this particular border
crossing station required all people to be sitting inside of a vehicle during the process. Because
they had no money, they tried to walk across the border to avoid the price. The guards
intercepted their pedestrian attempt, leaving them in a desperate situation: the lead guard was
insisting that they pay up.
We have no money to cross, Victor told them. The guards misunderstood Victor, believing
they just didnt have enough money. The lead guard tried to barter with the brothers, offering to
let them cross for less money.
But we have no money, Loc repeated desperately, trying to get the man to understand. They
had heard stories of people getting stuck between borders for reasons like this, and they were
terrified something like this would happen to them too.
After several hours of watching the last of the cars and buses cross the border, the lead guard
finally seemed to understand. There was one last bus about to go across, and the man called the
bus driver to stop. He motioned the brothers to get on the bus after a moment of conversation
with the driver. The man had decided not to hold them at the border any longer and to allow
them to cross.
You guys go. Its free, he said in Mongolian, urging them forward.

***
A Place to Call HomeFor Now.
Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, is currently the home to students from all over the
world31 different countries total. Many of them will come to learn about American culture,
others come for the scholarships and the benefits of a three-year plan, while others are here
because they simply want the experience of crossing their own borders and venturing off into
unknown territory. When I first met Victor Crindal, a 23-year old international student from
Nice, France, I never imagined how the idea of crossing a border might have meant something
completely different to him than it did to me.
Not only has he spent six months making his way across the borders of countries of Asia, but he
has also crossed over many borders in his mind about preconceived stereotypes and mindsets.
Victor has been on a journey that not many people can say they have been on.
*
Victor and I often met to talk about his stories at his Concordia home, so to speak. The Offutt
School of Business was the place he spent most of his time working and studying since he was a
finance major, so when I first approached him, he looked calm and coollike he belonged there.
He sat at a round table in the entry of Offutt just across from the BREW coffee shop where he
was looking over some paperwork. He occasionally glanced over at the coffee shop, making sure
business was not too busy for the student worker on their shift. As one of the managers of the
BREW, he always hovered nearby when he was not working in case he was needed to jump into
action at a moments notice.

At his table, He held a large white cup of Starbucks branded hot cocoa from the BREW in his
handssomething he likely prepared for himself. Every so often, he took a careful sip to avoid
burning his tongue on the scalding chocolate before setting the cup back down on the table. He
always looked like he meant business with that cup in his handlike he could delegate an entire
business convention with one hand all while holding his afternoon java in the other. Victor
himself even embodied a businessman attire, as he was dressed up enough to suit a business
casual environment: black pants and shoes, a white button-up shirt with a tie, and a royal purple
vest over the top. His shoulder-length brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and fastened by
a brown scrunchie, allowing his bright ice-blue eyes to focus on whatever was directly in front of
him and in the present. This time he was focused on me, and it was to tell me the stories about
how he and his older brother traveled for a long time so as to learn more about the world.
I called my brother and said Loc, do you want to travel? And he said Im coming, Victor
said.
And so they went.
***
How are we going? Victor asked Loc. Just two weeks after Victor suggested that they travel
together, the brothers were sitting in front of a map trying to decide where to go during the span
of one year. Victor was tired of seeing news stories that changed from station to station. He was
tired of political views affecting the way they were projected. And in reality, Victor was tired of
being in France.
Victor and his brother felt they could not decipher the truth in the world until they learned it for
themselves.

Lets go east. Loc suggested. He pointed out that they could travel across Europe into
Ukraine, take the trans-Siberian train through Russia into Mongolia, down to China and Beijing,
Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. There were even plans to move on to Australia and into the
United States if there was time.
And so the brothers agreed that they would indeed travel to the east.
On August 11th, 2011, Victor and Loc departed French territory by car with Victors Polish
then-girlfriend Johanna. The plan was to travel across Europe to Belgium, The Netherlands,
Germany, Poland and to their first non-European border Ukraine. Johanna drove the brothers as
far as the Ukrainian border and left them to cross on their own.
The border crossing ritual is different for every country. Some countries are more strict about
who can or cannot cross due to their own laws and regulations. Luckily for Victor and Loc, their
first major border crossing into Ukraine was easy. The Ukrainian border-crossing method is
much more laid back.
For the first time in Victors life, he set foot in a country outside of his European homeland.
***
Even though Victor and Loc had their trip planned down to every last detail, they very soon
realized they could not stick to the exact schedule. By the time they had crossed into Ukraine, it
was mid-September, and they needed to make it to the border of Russia by the fourth of October.
Since Victors girlfriend Johanna had dropped them off at the border of Ukraine with nothing but
their backpacks, they expected to hitchhike most of the way.

Walking along the side of the Ukrainian highway between Kiev, Ukraine and the border of
Russia, Victor and Loc searched for a vehicle hitchhike with. Occasionally, a car would pass
and Victor would hold out his thumb to signal their request a ride. Drivers seemed reluctant to
stop on this particular day, and hours passed as their sore feet took new steps. The September sun
beat down on them, already threatening late afternoon, and the brothers were beginning to worry.
The sun would soon set, and the brothers did not want to set up a camp along the side of the
highway. They were looking to find a small town to sleep for the night and to hopefully find
some food.
They had long since finished the last few crumbs of bread, and there was only a little water left
in their water bottles. They did not even have money to buy more food. They needed a ride, and
they needed it soon.
Finally, Victor spotted a mini bus approaching them on the highway. He quickly thrust out his
thumb, signaling his silent desperation for a place to sit for a while. Expecting the mini bus to
pass them like the other cars had all day, the brothers were surprised to see the bus pulling over
to the side of the highway and stopping in front of them.
Its a bus, Victor said to Loc, coming to a sudden realization. Are they going to make us
pay?
Lets find out, said Loc, and he walked toward the bus.
They were not sure what to expect when an adorable brown-haired European-looking girl
stepped out of the bus to greet them.
Hi Im Tanya, she said in English. Do you guys need a ride?

Victor and Loc looked at each other, their faces expressing eagerness; they were thankful they
could finally communicate with someone who could speak decent English, a language they also
spoke quite well.
We dont have any money, Victor said, questioninghoping it would not affect their chance
for a ride.
Oh thats okay, she said forgivingly. Come on in and sit down!
Relieved and pleased to finally get inside of a vehicle for a while, the boys followed Tanya onto
the bus. To their surprise, the only people on the bus were the bus driver and Tanya. No one else
was with them, so it was almost inevitable that they stopped to pick up two hitchhikers along the
way.
Where are you guys headed? Tanya asked Victor who sank comfortably into a bus seat. The
fabric of the seat felt like heaven to Victor; it was nice to finally be off of his feet.
We are traveling to the border of Russia, he said. We are travelling to see the world.
Tanya seemed to understand this, and she explained that she was also travelling to explore. As
the bus headed nearer to the border of Russia, the group talked and shared their stories. Victor
and Loc told Tanya about their native country of France and their travels so far. To Victor, their
story seemed ordinary; instead he was much more struck by the story Tanya told about her
traveling experiences. She described how, months before, she had attempted to travel to Algeria
to visit her son. She was eager to get to him, as she had not seen him in over six years. She had
originally gotten as far as Kiev before she discovered she had a problem with her passport; she
could not leave the continent. Because of this, she was unable to continue her travels, so she
went back to Europe and was forced to reschedule her trip with an acceptable passport. It was

then when she decided to make her way back to Kiev, stopping to see other different countries
along the way.
Ive been eager to travel again, she said. France is actually one of the countries Ive wanted to
visit. I wanted to visit Italy and France, but now thanks to you guys, I feel like I have kind of
traveled to France because youre here telling your stories.
After they had chatted awhile, Locs stomach started to growl loudly, reminding the brothers
that they had not eaten in a long timeand that they still did not have any money to buy food.
Oh, are you hungry? Tanya asked. Do you have any food with you?
Locs stomach roared again, affirming that they most definitely did not have food.
Well then, lets stop, and Ill get us some tea and chocolate, Tanya suggested.
They stopped at a caf along the side of the highway, and they sat down to have some tea and
chocolate together. To Victor and Loc, Tanyas gesture made her seem like the wealthiest
woman in the world. Even though Mongolian currency is worth much less than European Euros,
the simple act of Tanya buying hot tea that could warm and soothe their stomachs and rich
chocolate that melted like velvet on their tongues made her appear almost opulent.
When they had to part ways after their stomachs settled, Tanya pulled them aside and left them
with something Victor knew he would remember forever.
I want you to have something, Tanya said. She reached into her over-the-shoulder bag and
took out a small brown leather wallet that was stuffed to the brim with different types of cards.
She rifled through them for a moment and then took two of them out. She held them out to each

of the brothers, and they took them into their hands and looked at them, feeling the smoothness
of something definite under their fingers.
Thats a picture of St. Christopher on those cards, Tanya said. He is the guardian of travelers,
and he will watch over you during your travels out east. Keep that with you.
She then reached into her pockets and emptied them, generously giving the brothers all of the
money she had.
Ill be fine. You need the money much more than I do to find something to eat and to get to the
border, she said, reading the concern on their faces. Shocked, the boys took the cards and the
money and stowed them away in their bags, grateful that they had met this amazing woman who
had so much to offer to strangers.
***
Concordia College is a private Lutheran school that reflects religious views in both their mission
statement and in scheduling formats. It is because of this that those who identify themselves as
Atheists are less abundant on this campus. However, when Victor explained his experience
receiving the card from Tanya, he felt it was necessary to explain to me that he is an Atheist.
Wringing his hands in his lap, and taking a moment to gingerly sip his hot chocolate that was
probably already cold, he paused before he said this:
I told her that I didnt really believe in all that, Victor said. But I kept the card. And I still
have that card. And not because I believed in St. Christopher or anything. It was because I
believed that this woman was so amazingwhat she had done to us. To me the St. Christopher
protector is not a person in the sky. Or a person. Or asomething. To me its more the St.
Christopher in each person that we met after who helped us out. They were St. Christopher.

To me, Victors statement seemed much more important than anything else. For him, his travels
were not about where he had been. Instead, they were about what they meant to him and how he
got there. Without people like the Mongolian gentleman at the border who let the brothers pass
or Tanya who had given them everything she possibly could have to allow them to move on,
Victor and Luic would never have had the experiences that drove them forward to other
experiences.
***
In November 2011, Victor and Luic had made it to China. They had already been traveling
together for three months, and they had taken a train across Russia, through Mongolia, and
finally into China where they hitchhiked into Shanghai.
While they had found their travels to be fulfilling, Victor and Luic were starting to grow tired.
For over three months, they had been trekking across the span of Asia. With them, they carried
nothing but a couple sets of clothes, a small tent, some cooking utinsels, and a camerathey
enjoyed roughing it, but they both felt their trip was beginning to come to a close.
One night, Victor sat on a motel bed with his brother in Shanghai. On Google maps, he looked
over the places they still had planned to go: Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Cancun, Las
Vegas and many others. He came to the realization that while these were places he still wanted to
visit, this was likely not going to be the trip to get there. He had other goals in mind instead.
I want to finish college soon, Victor told his brother. He had only completed two years back in
France, and he needed to finish his degree. Luic understood, feeling that his travel bug was dying
as well. Luic had taken a year away from his work with autistic children to travel with Victor,
and he was beginning to miss them quite a bit.

And so the brothers formed a new plan: They would split up for the next month to discover some
things on their own. They would travel to Laos where Luic would stay while Victor visited
Thailand for a while before meeting back up with Luic a couple of weeks later. They would then
travel to Vietnam for Christmas and then fly back to France for New Years to get back on with
their lives.
And just like that, their trip was ending, and Victor began the hunt for a college where he could
complete his education.
***
Victor discovered Concordia College when he was scanning the Internet for schools during his
stay in Shanghai. Though he and his brother were ending their travels, Victor still had the urge to
go to the United States. With a business degree in mind, Concordia was one of the American
schools he found that would fulfill that goal. It may not have been his original first choice, the
school looked promising and the business program was good. And it was in America. He filled
out the application in Shanghai, and was immediately reeled in by the college admissions
program and the Director of International Recruiting and Support, Don Buegel and his
counterpart Liz Maleki.
According to Buegel, the goal of the international admissions program is to provide as much
information as possible to foreign students during their college search. Both Buegel and Maleki
were in contact with Victor while he was researching the school, and they provided him with the
information he needed to complete his application. It was an easy choice when Victor made the
final decision to go to Concordia. In March 2012, not even a year after he had been in Shanghai,

Victor flew across the ocean to Chicago to travel and visit a friend for a few months before
school at Concordia started.
In August 2012, he made his way to Moorhead, Minnesota where he would stay put for the next
two yearssomething he had not done in over a year.
***
Victor recently finished taking an Aikido martial arts class at Concordiaa cultural experience
he never expected to impact his thoughts about his travels. While he found he loved the art of the
throwing and locking techniques used by the martial art, Victor did not take the course by
choiceespecially since the extra class credit called for a $750 schedule overload fee. He took
the class as a supplement to his Religion in the Body coursea 300-level religion class he was
required to take at Concordia College to round off his liberal arts degree.
It wasnt that he did not want to take the class. In fact, he specifically chose Religion in the Body
because it was the most objective view into religion he could findconsidering his Atheist
background.
Even after travelling, I still had all these stereotypes about religious beliefs, he said. Even
when I went into China and Mongolia, we were surprised to see how much people would just
throw plastic on the floor or throw plastic bags from the train. We had this idea of China that
they were really spiritual and that they would respect the earth. We thought they were in a close
relationship with nature, and we discovered that it wasnt necessarily true.
But when Victor took Religion in the Body, the course discussed how Chinese people see things
regarding nature differentlya fact that Victor did not even realize when he had been travelling.
He realized that everyone has different beliefs and different values. So while Victor might be an

Atheist and believes nature to be a more true explanation of life, the Chinese might believe in
something more spiritual but might not realize that plastic is bad for the earth.
I was really close-minded before, Victor said. I still have trouble understanding some people
as far as their beliefs go, but I think everybody does.
Victor believes that by having a more open mind to different beliefs, he has had better
relationships with people, and he is more willing to try new things. Even after traveling for
almost six months in Asia, he was not as culturally accepting as he could have been.
I think I reflected more about my travels in my classes at Concordia, Victor said. He had more
time to think about his experiences abroad have affected the way he views people and things.
Nothing holds you back except yourself, Victor said. Ive learned about being more open to
taking opportunities.
***
With spring fever of 2014 affecting students across campus, Victor is not immune to the travel
bug. His final year at Concordia College came to a close, and he has been looking for a new
place to walk the earth. In the past three years of his life, he crossed the borders of at least fifteen
countries. Now he plans to continue exploring the world to see what else he can learn. He will
carry his experiences in Asia with him just as he will bring his college education along with him
too.
For Victor, grad school might be the next movebut the where is the factor he needs to
consider. He wants to see New York, so he has thought about applying to schools on the east

coast of the United States and to reapply for his student Visa. He also considered returning to
Europe to further his education and having the ability to see his family.
Whatever is in his future, Victor knows he is ready for the next step. He has already crossed
borders into many unknown territories, but now is the time Victor Crindal will cross the border
into the most unknown territory of all: his future.

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