Most colleges in the United States and even around the world have a high number of international students from around the world. Because of this, students must find a way to adapt themselves to their new situation and temporary home. The new environment makes us all face daily challenges that follows us virtually everywhere we go. Below are some awkward moments that foreigners frequently experience:
1. When people ask you where you are from and you proudly name your country only to be gifted with a clueless face. They probably think you live in either Latin America, Europe, Africa or maybe even all three.
2. When people go on and on about the only thing they know about your country as if it’s the only thing it has to offer.
3. When you’re with a bunch of locals and you sit there awkwardly as they talk about all their life experiences and inside jokes.
4. When people give a good opinion about your government. You immediately jump in to defend your view point and tell them that if they don’t live there, they can’t have an opinion.
5. But when someone has something bad to say about your home country you will defend its honor.
6. When you FINALLY find a restaurant that sells your typical food, only to be greeted with a pricey menu, tacky decorations and the taste is nothing like home.
7. After a while you will start mixing languages, accents and even gestures. Making it harder for even you to understand yourself.
8. When everyone gets to see their families over long weekends and you’re left all alone because you live hours and plane rides away.
9. When you eventually go back home, you find out there are a bunch of new inside jokes and slang works you’re not up to date with. Not to mention, your playlist is more than a year old.
10. The constant struggle between missing your old country, going back, and then missing your current living location.
11. When something bad happens in your country and no one understands what you’re feeling inside.
12. Nothing is more stressful than being told you look from anywhere BUT where you are from.
13. In the end no matter how much you deny it, and how much you tell yourself you are better off where you are, there is no place like home.