Before coming to Pamplona, Spain, I didn’t know what it felt like to be a foreigner. All my friends in Los Angeles were born in the U.S. I didn’t have a lot of interaction with international students other than in class and work. I knew two things about international students: their English wasn’t that great and they usually hung out with other international students. There was also the incorrect stereotype (meaning an over-generalized belief about a particular category of people) that international students weren’t as smart or as capable because they don’t speak English well.
Now that I’m here, I have more empathy for international students from my home university. I’ve experienced first-hand what it feels like to look different and to be unable to speak the language of the country that you’re in. When I walk down the streets in Pamplona, it’s normal to get a couple of looks because I’m the only Asian girl walking around. When it comes to speaking Spanish, I get nervous and talk a lot less because I don’t know how to say what I want to communicate. I can’t understand everything that Spanish speakers say. Then, when I speak English in class, people turn to look at me because of my American accent, and I can feel them making assumptions about me based on American stereotypes.
