Chris's web page

internethistory:

A girl spends a semester abroad in Paris and is forever changed.  She describes situations with French adjectives; appreciates fine food.  She gets drunk on wine.  Things seem smaller to her.  The girl has taken up smoking.  We just have to live there, at least for a little while.

“Je t’aime, Paris!” she exclaims.

Sometimes things can seem so American, you know?

I don’t know anyone who does this.  No one wants to be the bourgeois person who studies abroad and “has their life changed” in scare quotes.  So they come back and only talk about it amongst other people who spent time abroad.

There’s nothing wrong with studying abroad.  You’ll certainly get more perspective and experience by doing that than by spending time at American college.