Jan '05 - Jan '07
I have it! I can't believe it! I finally got the temporary student card and ran to the library with it. Anyone can guess what book I first took? Well, let's just say point number 3 is history.
Another good thing is that the sun is finally doing its duty and I'll be able to just sit around the city and read. Ole!
So I've been thinking... why are we actually doing this? Why are we willingly putting ourselves in these awkward positions, in which things can't really look too good for us? I'm talking about this whole Socrates Erasmus thing. It is a known fact that very many of the students in this programme don't know the language of the country they are visiting. If you are lucky and stay for one semester, ok. Let's say by then you learn really well the language. But still, the beginning is abrupt. Sometimes in class, when you have something to write, or the teacher asks you something and everybody is looking at you... It's impossible not to feel a bit... dumb. There is this old bad joke in Romania that says that an engineer is like a dog: he has a smart look but just can't express himself. I sometimes feel so. It's weird to understand what's going on, to have the answer, to have the reply but not to be able to say it. What are they thinking when they”˜re looking at you? On the other hand it is really funny sometimes, ”˜cause the only answer you can give after failing to explain something, is a smile.
I guess it is a delicate situation in which you can win something, or just continue to play the ingrate role of a clown. The language barrier is not an easy thing to pass. With the guys from the Spanish class we are mixing English, German, Italian (the Italians don't speak English) and a bit of Spanish (actually rather words like ´si´ and ´vale´). So I'm practicing the 2 languages that are familiar to me and ´learning´ two new ones. Of course, I end up confused.
In a way, this trip to Seville meant regaining the student spirit. Back home, after 5 years in the same place, things have gotten very uninteresting. Here I feel rather like a freshman: a new place, new way of life, new people, new habits.
I think a trip abroad and studying in a different culture is very important and students should be able to do it more often. Especially the ones that study architecture. Why aren't the schools collaborating in this direction? Or are they? I guess in a field like this, a school from Romania or Russia has more to offer, then a school of medicine, to students from the western countries. Since it's essential for an architect to see the world, shouldn't it be easier at least for students to travel around? Architects are just playing their role and showing a cold shoulder to each other. I guess I'm just one of the few for whom it's not that easy (bureaucratically) to travel around. Read my lips: trauma! Just kidding.
Now I finally have a book to read and the sun to join me.
4 Comments
oana,
you should just be thankful that you don't also have to deal with an unflattering american accent. it was bad enough that when i tried approaching four swedish girls with my limited knowledge of norwegian failed to make a positive impression...still, out of the four young women one of them did smile...it was the other three who were sporting looks of repulsion. this was at an architecture party too...so you're not the only who gets a cold shoulder. enjoy the sun.
oana,
you should just be thankful that you don't also have to deal with an unflattering american accent. it was bad enough that when i tried approaching four swedish girls with my limited knowledge of norwegian failed to make a positive impression...still, out of the four young women one of them did smile...it was the other three who were sporting looks of repulsion. this was at an architecture party too...so you're not the only who gets a cold shoulder. enjoy the sun.
sorry that second post was supposed to be translated into spanish so i could show my american accent, but i guess i screwed it up ;)
Your travel exploits constantly make me want to throw up from jealousy.
I squandered opportunities to study abroad in favor of what SCIArc had to offer domestically. Post-graduation has a travel binge in store for me.
I've been told my limited Hebrew is spoken with a German accent. This is still a mystery to me.
thank you for the engineering joke.
~marlin
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