Today marks the end of International Education Week, so in light of that, I thought I'd share some of my favorite exchange student stories I collected over the years. One thing I miss about my job is that I don't get to hear these sorts of anecdotes anymore. What am I going to talk about at parties now??
When I dropped a student off at the airport to travel to his host state, I explained that his coordinator would pick him up at the airport and drive him to his host family's house. The student had seen a picture of his coordinator so knew she was a 70-something grandma type. He looked at me incredulously and said, "She drives a car??" Yes honey, in America, babushkas drive themselves around :)
I was at a mid-year gathering of exchange students and asked them what had surprised them about America so far. They replied, "how people burp in public!" Apparently in their home countries, it's very impolite to burp. One boy recounted how there was a cute girl at his host school, but then she burped loudly on the bus and it really grossed him out.
At a departure debriefing for our students, I overheard several of them discussing if Christians believe that Jesus is God or not. (Note for anyone who is not sure: yes, this is kind of the main point of Christianity, as in Jesus Christ.) I'm sure their host churches would be disappointed to know they didn't communicate this main theological point very clearly!
A student refused to eat the oatmeal his host mom made for breakfast, claiming that he knew she was hiding broccoli in there. Host mom told me it was blueberries. I'm inclined to believe her.
A natural mom (student's mom in the home country) was shocked and appalled to find out that the chore of "washing the dishes" included not only plates and silverware, but pots and pans as well! She wrote to ask that her child be exempt from the more onerous latter half of the chore, but that didn't really fly with the host family...
A student insisted on changing host families because her American family wore their shoes indoors, something that she never did in her home country. She asked them to take off their shoes, but they said they preferred to keep them on. Culture shock, anyone?
I showed up at a host school to visit a student who I'd heard was having a rough time adjusting to his small-town, rural Western U.S. placement. As I waited for him in front of the school, I saw the other students walking around in jeans, t-shirts, tennis shoes, and sporting a fair bit of camo. Then the student came strolling out wearing a button-up patterned shirt, fitted red corduroy slacks, snakeskin shoes, and knock-off Gucci glasses. Uh huh, yes, I imagine you are having hard time fitting in!
I was driving a student home from an event when we passed through a cloud of skunk spray. When I told her what it was, she was super excited because she'd never smelled a skunk before.
When I asked an 18 year old boy what was his favorite memory so far, he said he loved riding the big yellow school bus, just like they do in the movies! I don't know many 18-year-old American boys who would say that :)
File under: NaBloPoMo Day 20
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