I was home again for the summer after attending a second year at my small expensive college, which small expensive college in particular doesn't matter, and was set up for a semester abroad program in another place that doesn't matter, except to say that the college and the semester abroad program were one and the same in terms of people and anticipation. Namely, we were generally well-off and generally bright and generally interested in the things worth being interested in like sustainability and creativity and equality and justice, but also generally keen on hooking up and cool beaches and cheap authentic-enough ethnic restaurants and making connections with people who might offer opportunities for cultural and professional experiences that were life-changing but hopefully not too much.
Reprinted from "My Year Abroad," ©2021 Chang-rae Lee, published by Riverhead Books
