The Washington times., 1901-08-18
THE GIRL STUDENT ABROAD
She Finds 1t Difficult to Conform
to Foreign Customs.
Secure in Her Ability to Take Care
of Herself She Goes GEiIy Forth
to French. Italian. or German
Cities to Cultivate Her Talents.

|
! The American student abroad is always
| an interesting topic to discuss. especially
| If the sex be of the feminine gender.
Girls are always captivating problems,
| and no matter how old she may be, the
woman whose ambition leads her to study
in foreign lands with money generally.
| that she has earned herself. is always a
girl to herself and use who consider
her in print.
Probably the first thing the American
girl student in a foreign city does is to
outrage the conventions says the Chi
cago Chronicle" Indeed Viewed from the
| foreign standpoint, her very presence
there is a breach Of les convenances-
that is, unless she is accompanied by a
| well-authenticated chaperon.
1t may be remarked, in passing. that the
ideal chaperon under such circumstances
is hard to find. 1t is not enough that
she should be of suitable age and war
ranted sound and kind. She must possess
boundiess tact, endless, patience. trained
| muscles, and n keen sense of humor Her
| sympathy with the vagaries of her charge
| must be unfailing, but she must have also
| a sixth sense that will tell her when she
| may let them have their fling and when
| she must check them.
| So difficult is it to find such chaperon
that many girls, with the fearlessness pc
| culiar to the American young woman.
cut the Gordian knot by dispensing with
| the matron altogether.
| Secure in their ability to take care of
| themselves, they go gayly forth to the
| French or the Italian or the German city
where they have decided they can cult
vate to the best advantage their talents
1 fgN g r-rIf
defence is a trifie unusual to the natives,
| so much the worse for these.
| There is, for example. the case of a girl
| student who was obliged to go unattend
| ed to and from the studio where she
| worked. Nothing occurred to alarm her
| until one day when she was on her way
| to her home in the Latin Quarter. a
young Frenchman walked up to her and
| followed a compliment to her personal
appearance with the request that he
| might be permitted to escort her home.
| The girl walked on unheeding. The young
boulevardier pressed his entreaties. The
girl turned upon him, umbrella in hand.
and opened it in his face in the method
recommended for frightening off attack
ing cows. 1t had a no less salutary effect
upon the man creature. He backed off
precipitately. caught his foot on the curb.
and just escaped a fall in the gutter.
There he stood looking reproachfully at
the girl, who had calmly furied her UNI
brella and was walking on.
But mademoiseIle," he said, in a voice
full of deeply wounded feeling, but,
mademoiselle, that is not nice; believe
me. that is not polite at all!'
Such an experience as this. barring the
umbrella part of it, is not at all unusual
in foreign cities The American girl must
bear in mind that she is in false posi-
ton so far as her surroundings are con-
cerned. She cannot comport herself in
Paris or Florence or Heidelberg as she
would in Chicago or New York or Boston
without laying herself open to the Sc
verest criticism. Before she undertakes
her enterprise she should weigh well the
advantages and disadvantages thereof.
AS matter of course. the girl student
should have her plan of campaign care
fully outlined before she starts. She
makes a terrible mistake If she leaves
home without clear idea OF where she
is to go and what she is to do when she
reaches the continental city she has
chosen as the scene of her, labors. She
should have friends or acquaintance
there who will aid her to locate herself.
or. failing these, should be provided with
letters of Introduction to- those who can
advise her where to establish herself
The teacher with whom she is to work
should have been communicated with and
her place should be awaiting her. Even
with all these helps. she will find much
that is trying. and the task of becoming
accustomed to the strange environment
will be forlorn enough for while.
The girl who makes up her mind that
same way on both sides lof the Atlantic
will have a much harder time to get along
than the one who cultivates her sense of
expediency. The most innocent actions
are often misunderstood by foreigners,
who judge solely from their own point of
view. For instance. a certain young wo-
man who went to study philosophy in a
German university town became the sub
ject of bitter comment because she al
lowed young man whom she had known
in the United States TO walk home with
her from the lecture two or three times a
week.
She had no chaperon, and the kindly
hausfrau with whom she boarded finally
came to the unconscious sinner, and with
tears in her Eyes begged the girl TO dis
continue a course Of conduct that was lay
ing her open to the most damaging sus
picons. Worse still, her evil reputation
lived after her. and she has several times,
since her return TO a less censorious at
mosphere, heard through friends who Wis
tied the scene of her misdemeanor that
she was still remembered as the reckless
American girl whose imprudence had hor-
rified the respectable German families.
AS a rule the American girl student
goes lightheartedly on her way and dis
regards these trifies. rather TO the dis
may of her compatriots, who have lived
long enough on the Continent to have
adopted foreign fashions. In Paris, Rome,
or almost any other continental city. the
Americans who have lived there for years
are more royalist than the King in their
strict chaperonage of their daughters.
These are never allowed on the streets
unattended. and are escorted to and from
church. or school. or calling, or shopping
with an assiduity that must be as much
of "A bore to the guardian as II is to the
ward. The fact that a well brought up
girl is always so protected naturally leads
to the inference that the unprotected girl
is not well brought up.
The many girls who have studied abroad
during the last twenty or twenty-five
years have to n certain extent l"ssened
the restrictions of their class. However
the American girl student should be
Watchful to conform, when she can, to
the customs of the country she is in.
Such larsts from conVentionality as she |
might permit herself at home she should
avoid abroad. She is wiser not to accept |
invitations from men-eNen her country
men-to go alone with them to any place |
of public entertainment. TWO girls can |
go with n man. but n Jcte-a-tete is better |
Stunned, and II is unwise to receive Il |
man caller unchaperoned. So much CON
CO Ssion should be made to the prejudices |
of the stranger within whose gates she |
SojOurnS.
The theory that a girl can secure as |
good tuition In any branch OF art in this |
country as she can aboard is, to a certain |
extent, founded ON fact. Good teachers |
of vocal and instrumental music. OF paint |
ing sculpture. and architecture are To be |
nod F-.l # - cir -