Attending an International School

One of the things that attracted me to Hult was its international nature. This type of diversity is hard to find elsewhere. And yet, it's hard sometimes to remember that - are differences and issues a result of different cultures or just different personality types? But maybe that's just a result of living among habasha for 27 months.

Anyway, there are issues with a international schools - and being an American in an international school's American campus - that I hadn't considered. So I bring you the pros and cons of that. And be very aware that readjusting to America plays a part.

Pros

• English, English, English. I always knew it was the international language, but I've never really seen the advantage of it like this before. In Ethiopia, it was a skill that people wanted me to teach them. Here, it's a skill that helps me read and understand course chapters faster than classmates. It means I spend less time on essays and don't get points off for grammar - a huge benefit when classes are graded on a curve. It means in English taught classes I don't have a think delay.
• I'm suddenly super active in class, because of the English advantage, and that helps me stick out in the minds of both my professors and fellow students. I don't speak up more than I did during under grad, but it's just harder for my classmates to do it.
• Meeting new, interesting people. I'm learning about different cultures and building a bigger, international network that will only help me in the long run.

  

  My Toolbox and Mod A team.

  
  

• Teamwork. Complicated teamwork because we have such different experiences and different outlooks on life and situations. I doubt I'll ever work on such diverse teams again once I have my degree. I mean, right now each of us if from a different country and while I'm positive I'll work on international teams in the future I'm pretty sure there'll be at least another American.

Cons

• As the sudden smart kid, I'm getting requests to help understand assignments and to proof read work. A little bit, I don't mind. But if I've never had a conversation with a person that's an issue. And sending me things late at night for an essay due the next morning? Also an issue. 11pm is my bed time. 
• Being American, I'm supposed to be the expert on American culture, slang, definitions, tech and a bunch of other stuff. Most people know I spent the last two years under a rock, but they don't understand the readjustment I have to go through. Classmates expect me to know things, like up and coming startups or news events. But I only rejoined this world two months ago. I don't know these things. Heck, I walked by an IHOP the other day and thought I forgot those existed. Being asked if something is an American standard half then time throws me for a loop, cuz I honestly don't know. But people expect me to.
• Like attracts like. I saw this very often in Ethiopia when all the ferengis hung out together. You are naturally drawn to those who have similar backgrounds and struggles. Here at Hult, you'll see people bond over similar cultures and noting aspects of theses reflected here. A bar has a German beer that reminds you of home, or a tapas bar does things right. People bond over similar languages and cultural activities. (Not to mention visa issues) Latin people hang together. Scandinavian people hang together. Americans? I've meet two other ones. And neither of them have a shared issue of readjusting to America. After all, I might have been away for a while but I'm still American and am not visually having an issue. Finding my tribe is really, really hard.
• Clashes between cultures. I thought it was interesting we have students from Ukraine and Russia, as well as Palestine and Israel, but that's not where clashes really happen. It's between cultures that view time differently, or different work ethics, or view actions as having different motivations. From my perspective, such things are odd more than a real issue (so far anyway), like how my Chinese roommate is very particular about arranging beds. They can't face the doorway or a mirror, a bit hard when one wall is a mirrored door closet. But having experience with other cultures is a huge help here.

That being said, I'm super happy I'm here right now. Classes are interesting and practical, and of course a bit intimidating but I think that will all make me comfortable in my future job. If I had to do this over again, I'd still choose Hult, but I might have not gone so quickly from Peace Corps to grad school. Maybe travel a bit before heading back to the states, work at Target for a few months, and start at school a year after returning to America. I think I needed a bit more time to settle.

This adventure brough to you by the US Post office

I figured I wouldn't be sending a whole lot of letters anymore, and certainly none for banking, but life apparently has a way of ripping plans to shreds.  So today I found myself in the public library with recently printed documents to mail out and Google telling me the closest branch was two blocks away.

Awesome.

Except I walked in and saw a sign that said 'no stamps'. There was pretty much only po boxes and a customer service desk. But the lady behind the counter pointed me to an address down the street a block so off I went.

And found myself in front of the Philip Burton Federal Building.

I remembered the little Chinese lady saying something like the post office being on a lower floor, and it was 20 min to five, so I took a chance and walked to the front door. I don't know what the doorman thought, dressed in his business suit and standing at parade rest, while I huffed in with two bags of textbooks I had just checked out.

I wish I took pictures of this place, but I didn't know if that was allowed.  I had to have my bags scanned, and then got chastised because unlike the airport where you just have to take you laptop out of your bag, here you have to take your cords out too. And your phone. And wallet. But he totally knew what he was viewing through the screen so why take it out? And I had to walk through a metal detector too. To go to the post office!

I got directions (take the elevator down a level and follow the signs) and it was a little surreal walking into the elevator alcove and seeing a wall full of 'most wanted' profiles.  And more so when the elevator doors opened and I was reminded of the basement levels of hospitals. I was staring at a vending machine and a sign for a freight elevator. The post office was down here? And a customs office?

Honestly, I thought I was following directions for a store room and not a mail counter. But there it was, tucked past all these 'for authorized use' only swinging doors (that really might need more security for a federal building). Talk about the most depressive post office ever. Only one counter, and one worker, to sell stamps and sort incoming mail for the po boxes. No windows. And no pretty bubble wrap envelops for a bit of color. I'd go crazy in that environment. Or read a lot of books. I can't imagine many people actually step foot there a day.

Leaving that place was just as weird, going from this gloomy environment to the nice open lobby above and then bright sunshine. And wa~ay to much effort for a two minute errand. I need to find a closer post office.

Interesting People

Last night, walking into the dining room of my boarding house, an old man called out to me due to my UofM sweatshirt. His name was Chuck, and apparently he had been deputy police commissioner in Detroit during the riots.

He reminded of this guy I met named Ed.

I meet him the summer of 2008 on Mackinac Island. At first he was just this old guy who taught me how to drive a horse drawn carriage and drilled the history of the island into my head.

This is what I learned in.

Ed was interesting because he had a glass eye, he had lost the original during the Korean war. (Or was it Vietnam? Phaw, doesn't really matter.) But then my fellow new carriage tour drivers and I kept learning more and more.  Ed's teaching of us was a break from his normal job - bounty hunting. And not just petty people, mobsters who had skipped out on court dates because the pay was better. Ed mentioned how for most jobs he and his partner never went after the criminal, instead they went after the family for either information or to smoke out the crooks. Before he was a bounty hunter though, Ed had been a bodyguard. For Elvis.

Ed's story fascinated me. At 19 I had never met some who had done such a number of cool things. And then I realized, I want that. I want the adventures and trips, the stories to tell people. I want someone down the road to believe something similar of me - that I'm an interesting person. It's enabled me to do a couple of things I might not have, such as whitewater rafting, climbing Mt. Chilalo, or paying a shepherd to get close to his camels for the following photo.

Should have tried to pet it too.

Within the past 18 months, I've been told by two people that I've had an interesting life. And I guess I have - I've technically lived abroad twice, started and finished large scale projects, and have seen and done some amazing things. I have lots of stories to tell.

But just having been in San Francisco for less than two weeks I already have more. The weird people I've seen on the street, the crazy amount of running through the city while we illegally park to complete a scavenger hunt, and running into people like Chuck.

I started this blog to share my stories of Ethiopia. That part of my life, it's over. It's still a big part, a huge part considering how often it slips into conversations, but life moves on and I have new stories to live.  I still want to share them, writing helps me think and it helps me connect with people. So look forward to those! But these adventures will be homegrown from the streets of San Francisco, not the dirt roads of Ethiopia, and probably less frequent (though I do now have more consistent Internet...). Still, I hope to see you all around.

I flap when cold apparently

One of the things I was good at before leaving was knowing what was going on. Local events, memes, new technology, emerging bands. I was on that. Coming back, sometimes it's odd because I expect to still be at the edge of that knowledge, and some other people expect me to be there. But instead, I staring at the google search page thinking, where should I go?

Regardless, I'm trying to hop on the band wagon as soon as possible which is why I had to do the ASL challenge.

 

Haha! I don't handle cold well.

I'll be back into the swing of knowing things soon, hopefully. Until then, I'm a little overwhelmed but having fun catching up.