Culture Shock

As you know, the students returned this week.  In our residence, we have 17 2nd year students and 33 first years.  The first years are 15, 16, or 17.

When I was 15, I went to Germany for 6 months to study and live with a host family.  My most vivid memory of culture shock when my host father opened a bottle of champagne the night I arrived and insisted I share a glass with them.  I said "I don't drink," (being the rule-following kid I was) and, although my German was terrible and he didn't speak English, he said something that made me believe I would insult them horribly if I didn't partake.  My moral dilemma (don't drink and insult host parents or drink and insult my real parents) ended with me sharing a small glass of champagne, and going on to enjoy six months with a loving, caring, host family.  And my real parents let me back into the house despite having sampled some alcohol in Germany.
So I thought I had some idea of culture shock.

Starting year 2 here, I'm pretty sure that is nothing compared to what these kids are going through.

Yesterday, I showed a student how the sheets are supposed to go on his bed.  He had been sleeping on the bare mattress for four nights.
"Do you do this at home?" I asked as I explained the difference between the sheet, pillow case, and duvet cover.
"No, it's hot at home.  We don't have these,"  he replied.
I didn't ask if "these" were sheets, pillows, or even mattresses.  It is entirely possible he meant all three.

I took a walk with two girls to help them buy phone cards and show them how they worked.  One was from the Middle East, another from Africa.  When I asked if they liked Italy so far, both said they loved it.
"What surprises you the most?" I asked.
"I'm from the Middle East.  Everything." replied one of them with a laugh.
After almost getting run over by a car who didn't stop at a stop sign, I said "That's one of the things you have to watch out for here."
"But in my country, no one follows the signs or arrows.  Here they do.  I'm used to this!" the same girl replied.
Then it was my turn to laugh, because compared to the US, the drivers here are kind of awful.

Then there was the girl who couldn't figure out the washing machine.  She washed everything (jeans, colors, and whites) together in hot water and panicked when her red shirts had blue spots and her white shirts were a mix of red and blue.  A quick lesson on how to change the temperature on the machine and a re-washing of some of the lighter clothes resulted in only one ruined shirt.  I assured her that EVERYONE messes up their laundry once in a while, and eventually her tears stopped and she agreed that it wasn't the end of the world.

Once classes start, everyone will quickly get into a regular routine and most of the students will forget how much they had to learn in these first few weeks.  I, too, will forget.  I will have to remind myself that they are just kids, thousands of miles from home, trying to figure out how to survive in a new and very different culture.

A list for today. . .

We know, it has been FAR too long since we've updated this.  We were too busy living all summer to stop and write about it!  Maybe, one day, we'll write a post about our trip to Sardegna (absolutely amazing) or the trip with 25 students to Ecuador and the Galapagos (not so amazing for many reasons), or the quiet two weeks we had back in Duino before the students came back.

But right now we are too busy enjoying the last warm-ish evenings and swimming in the sea to do any of that.

I did think some of you would like to see a list of the countries that are represented this year in our residence hall.  We have 50 students "sharing" our home with us again this year.  Here is where they come from, in no particular order:

Singapore, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Poland, Russia, Guatemala, Bulgaria, Spain, Ukraine, Serbia, India, Denmark, Palestine, Italy, Honduras, Ecuador, Canada, Libya, Macedonia, Israel, Cambodia, USA, Russia, United Kingdom, Barbados, Nepal, Somalia, Albania, Malawi, Turkey, Yemen, Montenegro, Belarus, Slovenia, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Venzuela, Zambia, Belarus, China, France

And if that doesn't make us a truly international community, I don't know what would!