The Foreign Service Journal, December 2005

68 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 5 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT astonished, even embarrassed, at how much food is offered at the college cafeteria — and how much is wasted. Conversely, a student coming from a country where cuisine is renowned may hate the repetitive daily fare in the dining hall. “Getting used to the processed food at school was a huge adjustment,” says Leah Speckhard, who attended James Madison Univer- sity for two years before transferring. “It was funny to have all of the food that I only used to get on vacations, such as Tater Tots and Doritos, avail- able to me all the time,” says Emily Frost. • You may be stupefied by things most Americans take for granted. “It’s really weird to see my classmates driving!” my daughter, Annalisa Kelly, a sophomore at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, exclaimed on her first phone call home from school. Like many TCKs, she was used to urban public transport, and had never learned to drive. Other things international students have mentioned as surreal are seemingly endless strings of shopping malls, gigantic meal portions and polite, orderly lines at checkout counters. • You may be frustrated by the legal drinking age — and by the college drinking culture. Many students who have lived overseas as teens are used to a lower drinking age and have learned how to use alcohol moderately. “It’s difficult to be allowed to do something and then have that right taken away from you,” admits Sarah Pettit. Ian Haight adds, “American [stu- dents] look at drinking very different- ly. I don’t think they even see it as pleasurable, just ‘cool’ only because it’s illegal and everyone else is doing it.” However, most students inter- viewed have found friends who do not abuse alcohol or drugs. “There are even substance-free floors in some dorms,” reports one student. • “Diversity” might not mean “tolerance” or “integration.” Sarah Continued from page 67 Continued on page 70