The Foreign Service Journal, December 2005

74 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 his Italian friends. “But when I showed it to my American friends, they looked at me like I was a biker or a prison inmate.” “Everyone around me spoke English!” exclaims Emily Frost. Here are some other comments that come up in discussions with For- eign Service college students. “Ameri- cans always seem to be in a rush.” “Everyone dresses the same way.” “People are obsessive about diet and weight.” The point of these disparate stories is this: you may not, right now, have any idea what will surprise or even shock you, but you can pretty much count on the fact that something will. 8. Accept that you may have several homes, and that each one may not be perfect. Some students report that coming home for the holi- days or for the summer feels just like old times, while others no longer feel as if they are the same person who left just a few months ago. Accept that you may feel like one person at home with your family, another person at school. In fact, you may have even more than two homes. “When I graduated from high school in Ottawa, Canada, I went off to the University of Virginia and my family moved to Ethiopia,” reflects Jimmy Galindo, a senior at U. Va. “The reality of being separated from my family by the width of an ocean and a continent struck hard at times.” If, like Jimmy’s family, your family moves while you are at college, you may return home for the holidays and realize that you don’t know anyone: all your friends from high school are back at your last post! Consider making special arrangements to visit your “old home” during part of your vacation if at all feasible. 9. Don’t forget who you are. “Follow up on and embrace your international background,” advises Jimmy Galindo. “Tutor a child from an immigrant family, take classes in international affairs, attend cultural events, study abroad, search out unique living experiences. (U. Va., for Continued from page 73