A Little Eccentric

C'est la vie....

Tonight was our big study abroad meeting. They assembled all us in one room to discuss culture shock, safety, and all the lovely, frightening little things about being an American student abroad. It was cool because they set up all these tables according to what country you are going to. There is only me and one other person (a girl named Tchikita) going to France, so we also sat with the Netherlands and Hungary people. Tchikita is also going to Tours, which is awesome. We exchanged numbers and are going to try to meet up and talk about what we need to do, living arrangements, etc. It'll be good to have another person there from my school.
There were a lot of people there, and the most popular countries were England and Germany. There was a really hot German guy there, but his accent was such an Austrian-schwartzenegger-type that it made me giggle. Then Tchikita wrote a note to me saying the same thing so now I know she rocks. Maybe the riots frightened off any other little Frenchies. All of us "second language site" students were a wee bit snobby to those going to other English-speaking countries.
They told us all about what to expect. The emotional rollercoasters, how not to piss off the locals, how to handle being of legal drinking age, communication problems, etc. Julia (the study abroad coordinator) wore a sweatshirt, baseball hat, jeans and white tennis shoes to demonstrate how not to dress. You never realize how entrenched in a culture you are until you analyze or go into a new one. It makes me feel so...American. We have so many little things we do that we don't even think about like waving, smiling, wearing brand names or sweatshirts. Also, we talked a little about how it'll be weird when we come back. That parts freaks me out too. I will have spent a whole semester by myself, in another country adjusting to their way of life and then I will have to come back and be myself again. And on that note, I must go do MORE paperwork. I think I have filled out approximately 10,000 forms stating that I am sane, capable, legal, financially stable and know where France is located.

posted by Molly Jo @ 7:01 PM