This last weekend I was in a car of four countries heading for Niagara Falls, stuck in the back between my friends from England and Thailand, while two Germans had the front seats. While my Thai friend flipped through his iPhone of dance songs he thought best suited for the ride, my German friends argued over directions in the front seats and my English friend silently tapped his hand against his knee to the beat of the music. We crossed over a bridge in New York, blue water shining above the tan pavement of the road, and I realized how lucky I was to be going to Niagara Falls in a car full of people from around the world.
Why should you be friends with exchange students?
My friends in that car were exchange students, spending their fall semester at Pitt before heading back to their respective homes. While abroad in Germany, I became best friends with the exchange students there, but never before have I thought how important and invaluable it can be to become friends with exchange students in my own country; exchange students can teach one so much about oneself and one’s own culture.
Looking at the US in a new light
My German friend abruptly halted in the middle of the sidewalk in order to take a picture of a car in the street. “Wow, it’s so big!” He exclaimed, slightly disgusted. I haven’t really given much thought to how big American cars are—while Hummers can raise an eyebrow, most trucks drive by without much of my notice. In instances like this, my exchange friends have challenged me again and again to look at my country in a new light, questioning the normal because to them, it’s not normal. Other examples include my English friend insisting that it’s football, not soccer, which led to me researching why is American football called football and soccer, soccer, and why is our food so greasy, and why don’t we drink sparkling water as often as Europeans? The obvious things become questioned.
They are excited about the U.S.
My exchange friends have renewed my interest in my own country. As someone born and raised in the U.S., the idea of going to foreign lands is much more appealing to me than discovering my own country because… well… my country has always been here. I’ve become used to it, much like I have become used to the beauty of the Cathedral and do not gape as I did when I first visited Pittsburgh. But exchange students are different. Most of the ones I have met want to explore the U.S. and see what the different cultures are like and were surprised when I told them I had not been to California or Oregon or Las Vegas or the Grand Canyon. Their excitement and determination to explore the edges of the U.S. has awoken an interest in myself to do the same. Which is why, with one day’s notice, I quickly picked up the chance when they invited me to come along with them to Niagara Falls.
. . .
Driving back from my first trip to Niagara Falls, having explored the waterfalls and restaurants, we were all exhausted. The stars lit the night sky and a yellow moon hung low. My German friend was asleep, my other German friend was taking pictures of said-German asleep, my Thai friend kept accidently drifting into the middle of the road (because as he explained, in Thailand they own the road if no one is around), and my English friend was singing softly, line-by-line, to the Beatles. And I thought again, I am incredibly lucky to have these people in my life, in this car, on this road.
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