Foreign exchange students bring much to my teaching experience. I like to quiz them about the cultural similarities and differences of our countries. This year, I have a variety of visitors: a young man from Germany and one from Denmark, and a young lady from Italy.
Last year, Anne from Sweden was not a happy camper. She was homesick. She even began crying in my class one day and in broken English told me she missed her family. Luckily, she was able to go home after a few weeks instead of a semester, but I'm sure it seemed like the longest few weeks of her life. I wish I'd have noticed her droopy walk and sad eyes sooner. Maybe I could have directed some friendly, good-influence natives in her direction.
I have travelled abroad, three weeks being the longest, and I can't fathom going all alone as a teenager to a foreign country to live for several months in a strange family's home, let alone attend a school where I didn't have anybody familiar to hang with at lunch time. It would test one's social skills and inner stamina, that's for sure.
My Italian student has not been smiling very much. So, today I asked her, "How's it going?" She said she misses home. "Be assertive," I told her. "Just go up to people and start talking." "It's not that easy," she said. "People talk so fast that I can't keep up with the conversation. I get lost." I think she's telling me she feels like a duck out of Italy. "Tell them to talk slower," I told her. She smiled. It's a start, anyway.
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