ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH-ientation (this has nothing to do with pirates)

OK, so, I was not completely honest about all of my experience during Orientation week. What can I say?

There are a lot of things I could say. There are a lot of things I shouldn't say. There are things that I want to say that will be perceived as mean and/or bitchy, so (seeing as this is a blog and basically everyone in the world with internet access can see anything I write) I will refrain from being utterly candid, a trap I can so easily fall into. Anyone who knows me well enough knows how frighteningly honest I am when I get on a roll.

But that is neither here nor there. First, I will not bitch about people, because, as Mom always says, it's not nice, and you can get bad karma from being mean to people. Plus, no one reading this blog knows any of the people I met at my orientation, so none of you will care anyway. Suffice it to say that I had a hell of a time relating to people who wanted to compare regional accents, and insisted on laughing at me whenever I said any word with a vowel in it, because, naturally, being from Wisconsin, I said things funny. Like "Wisconsin" and "bag" and "vacation." Go figure.

Also, it was not just Americans, but also lots of teaching assistants from the UK who (sometimes) automatically think their way of pronouncing things is "better" or  - at the very least - correct. Who cares? I am not going to alter my speech patterns for you, so shove it. Plus, there are better thing to talk about than long a's and schwa sounds...for God's sake, hasn't anyone ever heard of a thing called an idea? A philosophy? Which may or may not be part of a discussion? One I would much rather be a part of than this stupid regional accent thing. Also, no one cares what part of the island you're from. It's all the same damned thing - Northampton, Southampton, Leisthechire, Otherchire...I did not grow up there, and the subtlety of what you're trying to tell me about your regionalisms is lost on an ignoramus like me (American regionalisms, by the way, pale in comparison to the difference between Leeds and Manchester, apparently). And, dear God, Wales is not England and never has been. So there. Oh, one last thing: no one knows (or cares) where Green Bay is on the map, and no one has ever heard of the Packers, or Brett Favre - says the guy from New Jersey, who is probably just looking to get laid.

Can you tell I get a bit nervous around British people? I have a hard time relating.

So then. Now that I have that off my chest, it was actually a very nice week and I met many nice and interesting people, and plenty of them were from England. But there were basically two levels of culture shock going on: American relating to Austria, and American relating to the English (in Austria) and when I was on my own, I felt slightly better. Because no matter where they come from, people are weird. And if you are not used to different ways of behaving, it is doubly difficult. Also, might I add, some of the English students are doing their study abroad term in Austria with the Ministry of Education (AND getting paid the same as I am, might I add!!!!!) which means they are slightly younger, and probably have no idea how good they have it.

So, anyway. I will take more of Mom's advice and think positive thoughts. Good thoughts. Only decent thoughts. Be nice to people. Even if it kills me.