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Monday, July 15, 2013
The University Daily Kansan
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GLOBETROTTERS
Students experience culture shock after returning to U.S. from study abroad trips
EMMA LEGUALT
elegualt@kansan.com
Naturally, when Margo Bogossian returned home to El Paso, Texas from studying abroad in Argentina, her family wanted to see pictures of her trip. However, it was this small gesture that made her realize that the word "normal" had lost it's meaning.
"It was kind of like, 'life's supposed to be normal again, and for me it's not,'" she said. "I feel like I've changed and learned new things and seen all these new things and going back to normal life, it doesn't fit the same again."
Hannah Lujano had a similar encounter when she tried to describe an experience she had in the country and her family laughed at her.
Bogossian and Lujano, both seniors, spent six weeks studying advanced Spanish in Buenos Aires as part of the University's Language and Culture Study Abroad Program. However, after stepping back on U.S. soil, they've found the transition
back to small town American culture is a little more complicated than they thought.
They miss the convenience and buzz of city life. Lujano, who is from McPherson, said she's still adjusting to rural life.
"The lack of constant activity is deadly," she said.
"We benefitted immensely from the cultural immersion. The reality of South America is terrifying, intoxicating and stunning."
HANNAH LUJANO senior from McPherson
Bogossian has moved around the U.S. but never to a big city. Seeing buses and subways everywhere and waking up to blaring car horns at 6 a.m. were new experiences.
"it's a little bit like how I would imagine New York, where the people
are busy all the time and a little bit more blunt," she said. "It's a little different compared to Midwesterners."
Having traveled abroad prior to Buenos Aires, Bossogian expected to have a similar relationship to that of her warm, friendly Costa Rican host mom. She found her Argentine host mom had a more up-front, abrasive personality.
"Their look on life is a little bit different and their way of approaching people is a little bit different," she said. "It took me a week or so to realize she's not mad at me, that's just how she was."
Her host mom would often accuse Bogossian's roommate of opening and closing the blinds, even though the roommate never touched them.
"It was just little things like that and you had to get used to it. It's like, you can't argue with the woman; she's just going to keep saying the same thing," she said.
SEE CULTURE PAGE 7
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Hannah Lujano, a senior from McPherson, studied abroad in Argentina earlier this summer. She said the adjustment to life in Kansas after returning from Buenos Aires has been difficult.