Study abroad and TCKs- my experience (kinda long, but feel free to scan)
So, basically, after 2 years of rote learning among kids who think their crap-hole town is the center of the universe at Spanish uni (I’ll leave my rants about the crappy education system here for another post), I was ready for a change. So I went to the international relations office to see where I could run away, and they tell me that I can go anywhere in Europe (for free!) through the mythical Erasmus exchange program. Those of you who live in the EU probably know all about it.
I asked around and everyone who’d studied abroad coincided: the experience had changed their lives, it was unforgettable, they’d made the best friends of their lives…blah, blah, blah. So I filled out some forms and took a language exam. Soon, I had a spot in Paris confirmed. I was psyched: I had been in love with Paris since I was, like, 13 (still am). My expectations were high, man! Erasmus was going to change my life, just like it had changed everybody else’s.
So I pack my bags ready to make 1,000 friends from all around the world and finally, FINALLYreturn to an environment that ressembles those glorious years of international school where relating to people was something I took for granted. And when I get there, what do I find? Well, for starters, there were 10 other exchange students besides me at the school…I was certainly expecting more, but wait—that wasn’t the worst part. Out the the 10, 7 were Spaniards (all from Madrid)… so that left…uh, 3 Germans. That lived together. That always spoke German among themselves. Great. So much for my crave for cosmopolitanism.
The Spanish girls were, for the most part, well-off people who’d spent summer abroad and such…But my goodness they were still socially retarded. They had a habit of speaking bad about French people in Spanish about a foot away from them (it never crossed their minds that maybe people could understand—and they did, a couple times), talking extremely loud in the Métro (and then wondered why “stuck-up” French people always stared at them), walking around the city in huge groups of only Spaniards, not making the slightest effort to pick up the language, and always bitc***g about the French. They also conceived study abroad as a year where you get hammered every night of the week and then go cry to the teachers to get them to pass you. Although I thought the Spanish girls were funny, I thought their overall attitude was pretty pathetic, so I kinda stayed away from that group.
At the dorm where I stayed there were 3 main groups (more like ghettos): the Koreans (they made up about half of the residents and they did everything together), the Americans (who were supposedly going to become French teachers, but never spoke a word of French in the whole 6 months that they were there), and the French girls. Then there were the minor groups: Germans, Moroccans, Turkish…But outside of common courtesy, they all just stuck to their nationals. I finally found a little group of people who were the only ones from their country and felt sort of left out, and we got along pretty well, thank goodness.
So Erasmus did not live up to my expectations. I was disappointed by the fact that most students who go study abroad don’t make much of an effort to open themselves up to people from other places. They want to be somewhere away from home (because it is oh-so-fashionable to say you’ve lived somewhere else), but surrounded by their countrymen, and never stepping out of their comfort zone. I don’t have that comfort zone, thank goodness, so I’m sort of forced to fend off for myself.
So although I absolutely adored Paris, learned tons of French, and did find some worthwhile people to spend my year with, I can’t really say that this experience changed my life. However, all monocultural people I know seem to think that it did change theirs…So that got me thinking about how being a TCK affects the way we experience the whole study abroad trend…Hmmm…Ok, I will shut up now. I have too much time on my hands during summertime.
This foundation that gives a miserly scholarship to all students from Madrid who study abroad sent me an e-mail encouraging me to participate in a short-story competition where we are supposed to talk about our year abroad experience…The prize was 600 euros, so I was thinking of submitting a piece, but I think that if I tell the truth, not only will I not win, but they might ask me to return the scholarship money. So I’ll refrain :)
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6 Comments to “Study abroad and TCKs- my experience (kinda long, but feel free to scan)”
August 11th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Hi corymz! I just finished a semi-Erasmus year spent partly in Liege, Belgium, and loved it, so I was interested in reading about your experience. It’s a shame that you came across people who were very insular in a way and who stuck with people of their own nationality. Sadly that’s quite common, even amongst exchange students, as you found out. I agree with you in that TCKs don’t really get the same experience out of it as a ‘typical’ exchange student (I’ll explain a little more below).
I was lucky enough to live next to a Spaniard who knew a group of people (also from Madrid) also on exchange in Liege. He kind of stayed with Spanish people, but through him I got to know some other Spaniards who were the opposite - they were interested in meeting people from other places, speaking a mixture of Spanish, English and French (in the same sentence of course!) and visiting places in Belgium to get to know the country. At any one time there was usually a contingent of Spaniards, a British guy, a couple of Germans, some Italians, a Belgian or two and then me (British/Swiss/American), so it was a great mix. I did meet and know a lot of other students though you were like the ones you met - they stayed in their group and didn’t mix with others, but as I chose to spend time with others who did mix, I didn’t see much of them.
One thing that was obvious though was something that you hinted at - as a TCK, even though I’d never visited Belgium before, I already was quite comfortable. Watching the others it was clear that they were living in a foreign country for the first time in their lives, although as a spectator that wasn’t always a bad thing (I have a post on my blog at http://thatplacecalledhome.wordpress.com/2008/01/05/blase-attitude/ where I briefly mention this, plus there are a few other posts around that date about my time in Belgium), since they sometimes noticed and commented on things I wouldn’t have necessarily consciously noticed otherwise.
At the time I was actually doing a placement/internship for an engineering company, so it wasn’t a typical exchange (I wasn’t technically part of the Erasmus program, although most of the people I knew were Erasmus people plus I was funded by the program, god knows why but I’m not complaining). My only complaint about the program therefore is that it wasn’t long enough! I only had 4 months in Liege, then 6 months in Annecy, France, again on placement funded by Erasmus but there are very few exchange students there.
Apparently it’s very common to find a large population of Erasmus students on exchange - it’s something that’s very popular in Spain (but not all in, for example, England). If anyone’s interested in the program, you might also want to watch l’Auberge Espagnole which is about a French guy on exchange in Barcelona. But the key to a good exchange is quite clearly the people, and sadly that’s something that is out of our control.
Anyway, this reply is now more than long enough so I’ll stop typing now…
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August 11th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Ooooh, were you funded under the Leonardo da Vinci/Vulcanus project? I did one of those interships, too in Périgueux, near Bordeaux. I will definitely take a look at your blog.
It’s true that Brits are less inclined to participate, but I think I see where they coming from…Their high education system is probably the best in Europe and they pay higher fees for it, so they probably don’t think it’s worth going abroad
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August 11th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Oh, and you were incredibly lucky to spend 6 months at Annecy…I stopped by a couple summer ago and it’s really a gorgeous town. I loved the canals and the Swiss-style village.
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August 11th, 2008 at 11:35 am
I’m sorry it wasn’t all you’d hoped for Corymz–I wish it could’ve been better.
I’ve done a summer abroad in Benares, India, and in a month, I’m starting on in Canterbury, UK. Apparently a lot of Erasmus kids go there…Hmm.
Unfortunately it seems to be a common trend for tourists–no matter why they’re there–to simply define themselves and their company by their nationality. I can understand why, it’s easier to move within another culture if you’re surrounded by you’re own, but it is a little heartbreaking. Or at least, to me it is. I’ve had best friends who didn’t even speak the same language as me…
But depending on the person, I don’t try to force it. I’ve seen families crumple from being forced into that kind of situation. One girl on my study abroad left after three weeks of the four-week programme–she really just couldn’t take it.
Some people just aren’t ready for it, and they take it out on what’s around them, like those girls who complained so much. For some reason, it’s easier to resist than let go…
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August 11th, 2008 at 11:41 am
I’m pretty sure it was Erasmus that funded me, but to be honest since it was all done via my University (in the UK) it’s perfectly possible that it was actually the other program that you mentioned. I hope that your internship was a better experience than your exchange one! I was lucky as you say to be in Annecy for my second internship, although I still wonder if I shouldn’t have stayed in Belgium, since I missed out on another 6 months of Erasmus (which for me was great). Ah well, we can’t live life looking at the past can we? On the plus side, the company I worked for gave us super cheap ski rental (21 euros for the season) plus cheap transport to ski resorts every weekend. On top of that the scenery is great, with the lake, and the city is beautiful as well (you might recognize the ‘title’ shot on my blog
As for the Brits, I don’t know about their university education system (although I do know that GCSEs and A-levels are more and more of a joke), but I think it’s more their disinterest in other cultures (apart from going places where beer is cheaper) and the fact that they think they can get by anywhere with just English (not true, not yet anyway) that means they stay away from the Erasmus program.
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August 17th, 2008 at 4:51 am
For me everything is “study abroad” even in my passport country. I did two years of university in Europe (one in Belgium and one in the Netherlands) and it is true that Erasmus people usually don’t take the “study” part seriously. Unfortunately I didn’t get to do too much partying. Erasmus usually consists of monocultural people for whom it is their first experience abroad, so not much in common to connect with them. However what I found also bad is that the “home” people in the different countries don’t try to meet up more with international students. (except for the few coordinators who arrange stuff for the international students) For me it would be a great opportunity to meet different people from different countries, but I guess most people don’t care…
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