Story of an exchange student

First, to make something clear; yes. We do have roads in our countries, too. And cars, and schools, and houses. We do shave, we do have electricity and we do have dogs and cats. No, some of us have never seen snow before and some of us spend 6 months of the year with a white covered ground. Europe is not a country. We do speak our native language in our home country, not English. Except for in Great Britain, of course. Our music on the radio is 75% the same as yours, not translated. Drinking age is lower and driving is higher, we usually speak a minimum of three languages and there is a big chance that we never have had Taco Bell or Chick-Fil-A before. Yes, we’re still alive.

Teachers and classmates, the foreign card is named for a reason. We will use our accents to talk our way out of sticky situations, especially if our grades may be in danger. Either we will speak in a way where our teacher won’t understand us at all, which will make them pull the nod-and-smile act and give up, or we will  have a really confused look on our faces and repeat “I just don’t understand this” which will make them feel sorry for us. We have the foreign card and we will pull it. The excuse of being the lost-and-misplaced-foreign can get you out of the worst situations.

Jokes aside though, carrying the foreign-card does not only give you perks. We love being asked questions, we love joking around with our accents and we love the food. But as a reminder, we are living on the other side of the earth from our families, our friends and our regular lives. Everything we were used to is now many miles and probably a heavy time difference away. There will be some days we miss home a little bit more than others, which does not mean that we don’t want to be here. Being an exchange student will make you gain not only weight, but also a mental strength from having to deal with tough situations – not everything can be dealt with by pulling the foreign card. Because our life here is not only about being “the foreign”, it can also be about figuring out who we are or who we want to be. However, the greatest thing with an exchange year might be just that, with every “foreign-prob” we face, we will learn something which will only be positive in the end. The easy problems we share will make us smile, and the ones that might be a little bit deeper will only make us stronger. Together, it will build who we are.