Day 3

Today I met Carmen.  All of the international students went to a pub and a nightclub for the evening to get to know each other.  There were people from all over the world. Switzerland, Germany, France, and Norway to name a few.  However, Carmen was one of the people that impressed me even after a quick conversation in the pub booming with music.  Carmen is a beautiful, soft-spoken girl from Barcelona whose eyes were eager to meet a new face, like me.  She speaks English very well and assured me not to feel bad about not knowing another language.  She said, "That is why we are here.  We need to know English and improve."  Another girl from Switzerland began to ask all the questions I hate: What do you think of Obama?  Do you like politics?...etc.  People want to know so much over here because Carmen explained that international news for Europe is basically American news.  As if I don't feel bad enough not knowing French, German, or Spanish well, now I've come to realize that I know less about my own country than Europeans do.  After talking to Carmen, although she was overwhelmingly sweet, I couldn't help but wonder if our lack of knowledge is due to how news is reported or if Americans really do have the "lazy" way about them like other countries like to believe.  Either way, I did my best to represent our country as best I could and Carmen seemed to understand.