This was different

Despite the heap of work I had Thursday night and the knowlegde that I would not finish it, I actually perked up a little and felt pretty good. I had calculus class that night @ UAH and was actually staying awake! During our ten minute break after the first hour, I was able to talk to a girl that sits in front of me. I learned that she is from Greece which I found fascinating. She told me about living by the sea and being able to go to Olympic games and how Greek culture in Greece is very different from American Greek culture (e.g. My Big Fat Greek Wedding). Apparently, Greek people who immigrated here about 50 years ago became really strict in order to maintain their culture - to prevent assimilation, but people in Greece today are little more laid back in that regard.
This was really interesting: she said, "Everyone in Greece is trilingual; bilingual is for you know common (down there) people." She said that in school, learning two other languages is a requirement. Most Americans are only monolingual. It's quite pathetic I think.
She said that she was actually an English teacher in Greece for a while and moved here because of the educational opportunities. She wants to become a computer engineer.
Anyway, the cultural experience added some color to the evening and kept me from getting depressed about my workload (I saved that for Friday).