Some, for example, cannot understand that when they visit the lounge or any common rooms which are shared for TV, piano, reading, meeting friends, or cooking, they should not be dressed in their pajamas. Another unwelcome discovery is that classroom and housing are not in close proximity, although ours are at most only 20 minutes apart. This is not so great compared to a city such as Tokyo, where the average commute is 50 minutes. Last fall, when the three-week transportation strike required us all to walk everywhere, one American student was bold enough to ask the university to rent a school bus. Having no campus life, the American student feels a little lost at first.
French students are more individualistic and hard to meet.
American students also tend to congregate together, eating in American restaurants such as Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and the Hard Rock Cafe, which, of course, is a handicap if they want to meet the natives. During the length of the program, we organize many group activities such as visits to the theater, opera, ballet, and excursions. Students have different tastes. Certainly our aim is to persuade them to participate in activities, explaining that these are opportunities which may never come again. Indeed most students participate.