You know you’re an exchange student if…
1. Before waiting to see if anyone understood what you meant, you start acting it out.
2. You think 100 pounds to pack up your entire life is plenty of space.
3. You spend a lot of time smiling, nodding, and pretending you understand what’s
going on.
4. You classify ”doing your homework” as translating half of it. And that alone took three hours.
5. You sometimes use the excuse ”Sorry, I don’t understand” to avoid answering a question… even if you do understand.
6. You want to hug the people who attempt to speak your native language to you.
7. You’ve called every person who says ”hi” to you your friend… because you don’t really have any yet.
8. You’ll read anything in your native language just to have something to read… even packaging labels.
9. You sometimes walk around the school during breaks to act like you’re doing
something, because you don’t see anyone you recognize and don’t want to stand there
awkwardly.
10. You’re better than your teacher in your foreign language class.
11. You’ve ever mispronounced something in your native language (for example,
names of products, TV shows, companies) because you know the others will
understand it better if you say it with an accent.
12. You’ve tried so many different foods due entirely to the fact that you cannot
understand the person asking you what you want so you just nod your head, say ”yes”,
and hope to god it tastes half-decent.
13. After you come back everybody tells you that you have a weird accent.
14. Your dreams are bilingual.
15. Sometimes it takes you about 5 minutes to remember a word in your native
language that you were going to use.
16. You begin to enjoy foods that you had previously despised at home.
17. It becomes a habit to introduce yourself by saying: ” I am from (country) and my
name is (name).”
18. You have been put in one or more classes with lower classmen, because you’re
supposed to understand more there.
19. You are always counting the time difference between where you are and home.
20. You do something wrong and people look at you weird, your excuse is ”That’s how
we do it in my country” even if it isn’t.
21. You have gone in to greet someone with a shake of hands and find yourself being
pulled into an awkward hug.
22. You carry a dictionary or translator as well as a camera in your bag.
23. You try to speak in the native language and everyone immediately knows ”You’re
not from around here”.
24. Peoples stares don’t bother you anymore.
