Strasbourg, France

Why I chose to go to France: As a fifth-grader, I participated in a student exchange program through my elementary school. Approximately twenty American students went to France and stayed with French host families for three weeks. For the first two weeks I cried every night and was extremely homesick. After this initial shock of being separated from my family and friends had passed, I realized what an exciting opportunity this was. Unfortunately, at that point I only had one week of my trip left. My greatest regret about that trip was not taking full advantage of the time I had there. While we did try to cram as much sightseeing as possible into those three weeks, I realized later that I might never have this type of opportunity again. So naturally, when I was presented with the option of spending six months in France, I jumped at the chance to experience some of the things I was too young or too distracted to appreciate during my first trip. This time around, I plan on paying much closer attention to the culture around me—I can’t wait to visit some of the castles and cathedrals that I saw when I was younger and most importantly, I will try very hard to improve my language skills.

Another intercultural experience I had: During my freshman year at Kalamazoo College, my roommate was an international student from Uzbekistan. Albina moved in with me several weeks into the fall quarter after we both had unpleasant experiences with our first roommates. I was somewhat hesitant to live with Albina before I met her. I had envisioned a woman in foreign dress, with a thick accent, with whom I would have nothing in common. I was surprised at our first meeting (she dressed “normally” and spoke perfect English) and I then began to assume that we were very similar. It was only much later in the year when we became close friends, that I really began to get a glimpse of how hard Albina worked to “fit into” American society. I had simply assumed that because she knew how to act like an American, she had grown up acting that way. It was only when Albina described customs in Uzbekistan that I realized how much research and work she was putting into fitting in to American society. Albina is one of the first people I have known who has successfully integrated into a foreign culture. She gave me the opportunity to see American culture as foreign and showed me a model of successful intercultural integration.

What I identified as the greatest challenges facing me as I began my study abroad program: I am sure that I will encounter numerous difficulties in adjusting to my life while on study abroad. I am naturally an introverted person so forming many new relationships during my trip will be extremely demanding. Also, being in Strasbourg, a city much larger than those I am accustomed to, and attending an international university will take a lot of adjustment after spending two years at Kalamazoo College, a very small college with closely connected social groups. This close community has been especially beneficial for me because I have had a rather complicated life. When I was fifteen, I was diagnosed with a form of leukemia which was only curable with a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. In 1998, I received a stem cell transplant from my older brother and since that time, I have been dealing with issues of rejection of the new bone marrow. The rejection disease has caused me to develop many scars on my face and neck and I often feel that I must explain to new acquaintances what the scars are and why I have them. Living in a close community like Kalamazoo has made it much easier for me to have both close and casual relationships with people because I do not have to explain my health situation constantly. Through my explanations or through mutual friends, most of the people I meet already have some idea about my situation. I think that meeting a large number of people who don't know about my past history will be challenging. I may often find myself feeling the need to explain some aspects of my appearance and health status. This will be tiring I if try to make the same explanation several times each day, especially as I will be doing it in French!

In order to forge some of the relationships that will be essential to immersing myself in French culture, I will need to step outside of my comfort area and employ the small part of my personality that is extroverted. I have been practicing meeting people by initiating conversations with people with whom I would generally not interact. I am trying to make myself more open to new personal relationships in order to prepare for all the new relationships I will be cultivating while I am on study abroad. In regards to explaining my health history, I am working on being a better judge of when it's appropriate to talk about it, and when I should try to ignore the impulse to explain certain aspects of my appearance.

What I'd like to learn while I'm abroad: By the end of my study abroad experience, I would like to be able to say that I have learned how to live in another culture—by learning the language and many of the customs—and I would like to say that I have enjoyed myself doing it. Being a student at Kalamazoo College has allowed me to meet several international students whom I admire greatly for their abilities to speak several different languages and interact successfully in foreign cultures. After studying French for several years in high school and college, I have still not achieved the level of fluency that I see in these peers. Consequently, one of my primary goals for my time in France is to become fluent not only in the language, but also in the ways of interacting successfully in the culture itself. I hope that six months abroad will be enough time for me to really make progress in French. By the end of my trip, I will be ecstatic if I am able to communicate my ideas and emotions to my French-speaking friends.

See contact page to arrange a speaking engagement.

Read excerpts from my letters home.