1998 - About to become an exchange student in America

As I was preparing for my first study abroad in the U.S., I felt nervous and happy. I always wanted to become an exchange student. The idea of learning another language in the country in which it was spoken fascinated me. Often, high school teenagers participate in exchange student programs in order to not only acquire the language, but also to learn how to survive in another country. Study abroad also helps people to broaden their horizon about the world, respect other cultures and traditions, and learn how to co-exist with people from other nationalities. Going on study abroad to live with a host family can be described in two words: frighten and delight. Although I was terrified by the idea of attending American high school classes without knowing how to communicate in English, I felt thrilled with the opportunity to broaden my horizon.

My first day of class at Rogers High School in the little town of Puyallup, WA was quite remarkable. First, I rode on a yellow bus which I had only seen in Hollywood movies. To me, the yellow bus really symbolized American high school. During the short trip to the school, I reflected upon my country’s public transportation in which students have to be squeezed in crowded city buses in order to get to school. As the bus was approaching the school, I saw many students outside talking and became nervous about speaking my broken English. After arriving at school, I went to Mrs. Scioli’s English class. No matter how hard I tried to understand her, I was not able to recognize a word that she spoke in class. She spoke so fast and I felt I was bombarded with empty words. When I was about to raise my hand, I remembered what my program coordinator said to me during orientation week: “Don’t ask questions during the class. Please wait until your teachers finish the class to approach them. Otherwise, you will have to interrupt the class many times and the other students won’t like it.” Once the class finished, she talked slowly and made sure that I was not discouraged by my first English class experience. I kept smiling and laughing with her, although I still did not understand what she was saying. But I figured out that whenever I did not understand a conversation in English I just had to nod my head, keep smiling, and pretend that I understood the subject. Even though I thought this would enable me to avoid embarrassing situations, my strategy was not effective enough. At the end of the day, I went to my last class and some American students began talking to me. As they realized I kept smiling, they tried to teach me some kind of expression in English. Mrs. Doyle became mad at them when she noticed that these students were teaching me how to curse in English. I stopped smiling and felt embarrassed.

At the end of day, I realized that study abroad was not going to be an easy experience. But I felt hopeful regarding my future at Roger High School. Regardless of my lack of ability to communicate in English, I was able to survive the first day and I began to realize that my English skill would improve as I put effort and eagerness into learning. As Mark Jenkins said, “To travel is to expect much of the places you visit; to move to one of these places is to expect much of yourself.” Being an exchange student taught me that I can survive in a different world far away from my home zip code.