Am I Allowed?
Am I allowed? I mean, really allowed? Can I have a "not so hot day" here? Oh yeah, sure theoretically I can, and actually, I have. But, am I allowed to SHARE my "bad day" with folks home? I am afraid not. No. I am not allowed. When people think of studying abroad people think of endless times of fun and constant moving and shaking and glorious amounts of wonderful pictures.....people think it is almost similar to a vacation. Well, I am here to debunk the myth of the study abroad experienceHey, guess what folks: there is actual work involved meaning, for some people their grades actually COUNT. Yup, that's right.
Oh, and guess what? A vacation according to www.dictionary.com is:
1.) A period of time devoted to pleasure, rest, or relaxation, especially one with pay granted to an employee.
b.) A holiday
Nah. Sorry. I am not on one of those.
People fail to realize that we are living here-not simply maintaing our existence here for an extended period of time-LIVING across the world from our families-all that we know-all that we possibly have ever known. And you know what? It is GREAT coming to another country to live-pushing the boundaries our existence-and it CAN be fun to visit different places, seeing the hot tourist spots.....places you may possibly never see again. And for this, I know that I, and many other students are grateful.
But here is the main point - this is what annoys me a bit about folks back home.
When they ask me how I am "doing" they don't want to know really. Uh huh. They want to know "what" I am doing. "what" I have seen and "where" I have been. They don't want to know that there are days when I want to pack my bags and literally leave-or when I miss people at home-the things that make America-America.
Why? Because that is depressing and when I state these things, it appears as if I am somehow ungreatful-but, as I said earlier, they forget: study abroad is not ONE big party and endless array of happines: it is an experience. And an experience encompasses the good and the bad.
After we all go back to the states, people will say "oh, great to have you back!" "show me pictures!" and make the typical "ooo's" and "ahhh's"when you open that scrapbook full of pics, and perhaps maybe we will bask in that light; in the knowledge that we got to experience something as theoretically wonderful as this. But, keep in mind that it was not always a grand ol' time, all 5 months...that would unrealistic-don't you think??
posted by The Eternal Student @ 10:31 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home