Two Broads Abroad | Part 1: Let the cross-Atlantic adventures begin...

Where did all the juniors go? You may find yourself asking this question in the coming weeks, as you begin to miss some of the familiar Class of 2008 faces (and wonder who all those weirdos with fake accents, cute Euro-style, and newfound appreciation of tap water are). We—Acacia O’Connor and Molly Finkelstein—are just two of those “missing” familiar faces, and the following column is our account of the study abroad experience.

Over the course of the semester, we will alternately be contributing to The Miscellany News from afar and providing insight into the experiences of Junior Year Abroad (JYA) students in two of the most popular program options among Vassar students.

I, Acacia, am an English and Italian double major spending the semester in Bologna, Italy on the Vassar-Wellesley-Wesleyan Eastern College Consortium (ECCo) Program. There are about 30 students in the program this semester, and about 28 of them are girls. Bologna is home to one of the largest and oldest universities, the Università di Bologna, which boasts 100,000 matriculating students (roughly 50 times the number of Vassar students).

One challenging aspect of being abroad is navigating a university system substantially different from one’s own. It is important to understand these differences, since the registrar probably won’t like it if you return after six months sans academic credits.

Hi! I’m Molly. You may remember me from such Miscellany News hits as the Backpage and an Ashlee Simpson album review from two years ago. Did You Know: I am in London for the semester. That’s why there’s a freshman doing the Backpage. I went to England because I am an English major. This apparently suffices as an acceptable reason to the JYA office. I am “studying” at Queen Mary, part of the gigantic (and ill-organized) University of London system. Queen Mary is famous for being located near the site of the Jack the Ripper murders, and for notable drop-outs such as Kate Moss’s boyfriend Pete Doherty (an English major who made it through only two-thirds of his first term). Bill O’Reilly also went JYA from Marist for a semester at Queen Mary. Neat, right? All of the other American kids (most of whom seem to be from Minnesota) and I take regular university classes and live with the British kids.

Frequentati e non-frequentati?
Italian college courses are different than American college courses in a variety of ways: class schedules, teaching methods, assignments, exams—okay, they are different in almost every important way, except in their objective to teach you something.

Though there are two semesters, there are four class “cycles.” Classes in each cycle consist of between four and six hours of class time per week for eight weeks. During this time students have little actual work aside from reading and attending class. And even attendance is optional here—there are some students, called “non-frequentati,” who never go to class at all.

At the end of your class time, you have one oral, final exam. Italian students study for a month in preparation for this one exam, upon which their entire grade depends. If you only score a 15 (grades are out of a possible 30), non è un problema—you can refuse the grade and retake the exam after a few weeks time.

Learning to dress like a posh wanker
The main difference between British students and American students (or Vassar students, at least) is that the Brits put together really trendy outfits for class. I don’t suppose I can get a course credit for going to TopShop, but maybe it could be a half-credit fieldwork?

Adding to the confusion of this fashion show they call a university system, no one had the foresight to include locations of where the classes are going to be held. Students and professors alike don’t know which room or even which building the classes are in until they stop by the department office an hour or two before the class starts.

Also, since class participation doesn’t count for anything, no one participates. Everyone just sits there in silence while the two American kids take turns being known as “that annoying kid who participates.” I’ll admit it: I’ve been that kid. I am that kid. It’s so awkward, I have to say something.

Since participation doesn’t count, pretty much the only things that do count are attendance (sort of—out of 12 sessions you can miss three, so basically a quarter of the class), and for my classes, at least, a six to eight page paper. So I’d say it’s about one-fifth as many papers, one-third as much class time, and my grades don’t transfer. So, what’s a girl to do? For $30 (15 pounds, sadly enough), I’m going to go visit Acacia this weekend. And by weekend, I mean Wednesday afternoon.