I don't feel like an exchange student any more. I'm not sure that I ever really did. I think I have this tendency to forget that time moves in other places besides the one that I'm in. For example, the idea that it is snowing in Pittsburgh boggles me. Sometimes I think the human brain is capable of so much, but then I try to fathom how far I am away from my family and I can't do.
Part of it might be the fact that I can Skype with them for free whenever we can find a time (which usually means me waking up at dawn while they try to stay awake at night). If you are interested in a face-to-face chat, or even just an instant message session, add me as cmwalter.
The language barrier is also something that I don't have to deal with. Yes, every so often, my Islamic Feminism class starts arguing in Arabic; yes, I can't listen in on every conversation happening in the library; yes, ordering at restaurants often consists of pointing. But I must say the Pittsburgh campus probably has more languages regularly spoken than here!
Now, what I actually did today (beside philosophize) was my normal mix of (a) regular, (b) enriching, and (c) off-beat. Classes this morning and afternoon: you know which category those fall into. Office hours: easy. Discussing "The Giver" at a book club: fairly obviously in the second. Watching "Baran": probably falls into more the "off-beat" category. But nothing beats making up a pretty-good-but-not-great cookie recipe (and possibly stealing my roommate's jam) for the off-beat things that I end up doing when nothing immediate is on my plate. (On my plate! Ha! Get it?)
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