Lindsey CP#9

          I met with Karoline again the weekend before she left for home (Brazil). We met for dinner at a Greek restaurant near campus again (since she had figured out that she could use her FSU card there). She complained about being too emotional lately because of final exams (or since the Brazilians are leaving early, I don't know if they take exams...maybe she was talking about some other final work), and in expectation of going home. She was clearly very revealed to be going home. Even though she likes studying here a lot, she gets homesick easily and is glad to be going back to her family. She repeated some things she'd said earlier about how she wishes she wasn't so inclined to get homesick, so she could get a graduate degree in the United States. She showed my pictures of her cousin (a baby) and told me that she'd gotten her a stuffed animal at Disney World.
          Karoline was also very worried because she'd gotten news that her school back in Brazil had been rated badly. She said that it was almost definitely an issue with the administration (someone not getting a paper in on time), but she feels bad, because the rating is supposed to reflect partly on her teaching. Also, the school is being shut down due to some kind of redistricting, so she will have to find a new job when she gets home. It sounded like a really stressful situation. I didn't have any advice, but I reassured her that she shouldn't take the bad rating as an insult to her if she knows it wasn't her fault. I also wished her luck on finding a new job. She said that hopefully it won't be too difficult.