Every student at the University of Idaho, and inevitably at nearly every campus world-wide, is inundated each and every year with the concept of studying abroad. Studying abroad is played up to be the key to adventure — heading out into the exotic world to discover the key to enlightenment and perspective.
The problem is, it is not here. At least it is not here in France, and if the country that perfected sex and cheese does not have it, where in the world is it?
Now, I drank the Kool-Aid and I can say there is definitely something here. Typing from my Strasbourg, France, apartment, I would say, even in just the first two weeks, the experience is unparalleled. The subtle, romantic differences of cuisine and custom, the frustratingly large language difference, even the disgusting elements of French culture–I miss how, in the U.S., poop-scoop ordinances in streets and parks are actually enforced. The streets here are minefields. All of them violate everything they told you at the study abroad fair.
It is like in all the tales you hear when you peruse for free food at a study abroad bazaar and read about in far too many Argonaut columns — tales told by world-awed returnees.
The cold-fish to the face of seeing poverty and hunger in an African village, the clairvoyant perspective of a South American farm worker without any formal education or the flooring spectacle of the Sistine Chapel. The world offers itself up to those taking the time to look.
Every student has a story, and we all love our own tales of life affirming discoveries that help define our lives.
The problem is no one else wants to hear about it.
Life goes on here just like it does in Tibet. So, if life is so wonderful and fulfilling over there, why not stay there? Let the people in your crummy hometown “fail to experience life” in peace.
My fellow travelers may harrumph at this while they reminisce over their slideshows alone, but the truth is it is just their international ignorance.
The poverty and hunger next door are harder to see but no less real, the insightfulness of local immigrant farm workers no less poignant.
The fact is the dirt in other countries is essentially the same dirt on the ground in Moscow. The world is full of all different kinds of wondrous dirt that truly are spectacles to be seen, and if you are fortunate enough to get the opportunity to travel, volunteer, etc. outside the States, take it. It is well worth it.
However, for the less fortunate, the key to some deeper understanding of the world that students go off in search can just as easily be found in Moscow, because the key is not hidden in some foreign paradise.
The key has to be given to you by another person. Like the observation in the overwrought “Into the Wild,” “Happiness is only real when shared (sic).”
So, I will see the sights, but, more importantly, I will seek out the good people, and I will not forget the good people back in Moscow, some who live there permanently.
And they are tired of students like me returning from overseas to tell them where they live sucks.
Dylan Brown can be reached at [email protected]