As I flew south over the Appalachian mountains toward Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport this past July, I looked upon a familiar sight. I have visited this nation more times than I can count; I have been to 22 of the 50 states and I have lived in two. I have travelled across half the country by Amtrak and I have taken road trips through the arid southwest.
Despite my close relationship with these united states, despite the many weeks, months and years I have spent and lived here, like most international students there are some things that I will probably never get used to.
For some of you, partisan politics, conservatism and obesity are probably three terms that spring to mind when thinking of what other countries, especially European ones, don't have. As a matter of fact, these terms do apply to "life back home."
For example, partisan politics now dominate a fellow federal state, Switzerland, where an increasing number of initiatives and referenda are based not upon the best interests of the nation, but rather are designed to pander to voters. Notable examples include the vote two years ago that banned the construction of minarets and a referendum on the automatic expulsion of foreigners found to have committed crimes, both of which passed.
In neighboring France, we can see the effects of conservatism, in the rise of Marine le Pen's Front National, a xenophobic and ultra-nationalistic party, which, at present, seems to be a serious contender for the 2012 elections.
Finally, obesity, a problem that has reached "epidemic proportions" across the globe, according to a 2003 World Health Organization report, affects every single developed nation in addition to several tiger economies and some less developed ones. In China, the report says, obesity rates "are almost [at] 20 percent in some cities."
However, it is not by such vast terms that most international students characterize the differences between life at home and life here.
Instead, it is the more mundane aspects of life that fascinate the international student.
To give an example, I was quite taken aback the other day when I was told that my haircut would only cost $27. When I told this with some glee to my American floormates, they were shocked. To them, this is an exorbitant price, but coming from a country where haircuts for men can sometimes cost twice as much, paying what I saw as half-price was a reasonable deal indeed! After all, isn't everything in life relative?
However, even something like leaving a tip every time you go to a restaurant is, to many of us, a very strange thing indeed. Tristan Bayard-Massot, a teaching fellow in the French department from Clermont-Ferrand in central France, remarks: "Tipping is unusual for us. In France we only tip if the service provided was exceptional, the waiter was friendly or, simply, to get rid of small change."
From a pedagogical standpoint, there are also things that seem unusual to the foreign student. In one of my classes, a professor told his students to correct him or offer suggestions on how he could change his methods, if they felt the need.
A fellow international student commented, "It's strange that you say that. Never before have I been told that it was OK to criticize my professors." Of course, the entire higher education experience in the United States is very different than that of our peers in the United Kingdom, France and elsewhere.
Though it has it origins in the European Renaissance and the humanistic thinking of the time, the liberal arts system is, by and large, forgotten in its continent of origin.
Most of the people in my graduating class in Geneva are going on to study very specific areas, from Aeronautical Engineering (for the next four years) to Medicine (over the next nine years).
Ultimately, though, many of us are strangers in this land, we have come to a community and an environment that is welcoming to people of all origins.
At first, it would seem that this community has taken a leaf out of the exhortation enshrined in the preamble to the Swiss constitution: the students, faculty, staff and alumni of Bowdoin are determined to live together with mutual consideration and respect for their diversity, conscious of their common achievements and their responsibility toward future generations.
It doesn't matter if you come from Minnesota or Mongolia, from South Carolina or South Korea.
You are benvenuti, bienvenus, vannakam, välkommen, Ahlan Wa Sahlan, Yokoso, Multumesc, ékab“ —you are welcome at Bowdoin.
Jean-Paul Honegger is a member of the Class of 2015.