1 VOL. 21 No 30. September 2010
THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE MAGAZINE LE MAGAZINE DE LANGUES ÉTRANGÈRES
By Rasmus Sobel
To start all over again, to leave everything behind isn‟t easy. I did just that for about one month ago. At 9:15 my airplane took off from Swedish ground and 22 hours later I found myself in a country I knew very little about, with a family I had never met before. This unknown country was going to be my new home for the coming next eleven months. Here in Mexico, everything is different from Sweden: the people, the language, the culture, the school, the weather, the buildings, the food; yes everything is totally different. Of course it has both pros and cons with coming to experience something different. If it were very similar as Sweden, it wouldn‟t be much of an experience, but its being too different, makes you feel very lost and insecure. For example I am a quiet calm person (even though I sometimes can be really wild) and I need some time for myself. Unfortunately, here in Mexico it‟s quite hard to get that time here since you‟re expected to go to parties every weekend, and that is a very big change for me because you don‟t party that much in Sweden. Of course we have parties, but not as frequently. Another thing different from Sweden is people and how these people act with people they don‟t know. Swedes tend to be shy and avoid talking to strangers, but here, everyone wants to talk to you. Because of this, I sometimes feel very uncomfortable when someone i don‟t know just starts talking to me. But that is a thing I have got used to now and it is not such a big problem anymore. I am learning the culture. I have been here for a month and I must admit it has been the most difficult month in my whole life. I don‟t understand a word the teachers say in school, I feel very tired all the time, I miss my friends at home and most of all I miss my girlfriend.