Persepolis 2: 2nd blog entry

3. Why is adolescence an especially difficult time to move to a new country? Or even to a new city? What is universal about Marjane's high school experience? What is unusual about her situation? Compare/contrast her high school experience to your own.

Adolescence is a difficult time to move a new country/new city because its a totally different experience. There are a lot of things that come to the mind of adolescence. They wonder about the types of people they will meet, will they like it/hate it, get adapted to it, etc. When Marjane moved from Iran to Australia, it was a different experience for her. She was staying in a boarding house run by nuns and she had to share a small room with somebody who was always waking her up in the morning with her loud hairdryer. Then she made friends with some of her classmates, had a couple boyfriends, and started smoking and drinking. Her high school experience compared to mine are both similar and different. I have similar friends to Marjane's. Marjane had friends who drank and smoke and I have friends that do that. Marjane is very intelligent, she gets good grades and I get good grades. She had her rough times, there were periods where she was depressed and didn't care about anything or anyone. That is because she got hurt several times by her boyfriends and people in general. I think that is the part where I found myself connecting with her the most. I never had a boyfriend but I have gotten hurt by a boy who I was madly in love with and thought felt the same way about me. He ended up breaking my heart and for a long time I was dealing with pain and deep sadness. I have also been hurt by people and friends a lot too that there came a time where I didn't care. The only thing that's different between my high school experience and Marjane's is that I don't smoke or drink.

Persepolis 2: First Blog Entry

I think Marjane's high school experience would be similar or possibly different in the U.S and in my hometown. I think it depends on the type of friends she has. In Austria, she had friends who did a lot of partying, smoking, she experienced intercourse, relationships so I feel that she fell into that trap because that's what her friends did. I also feel that in my hometown she would be doing the same things if she had friends like the ones in Austria. However, her life could possibly be different in the U.S. Maybe she would meet a group of people who are not involved in those types of things. She could be involved in after school activities, join clubs and make friends there too. I would have befriended her because I admire her intelligence and confidence. And as her ex-boyfriend Marcus put it, "her rebellious side and natural nonchalance." I think her and I would get along very well. She could talk to me about her culture and I could introduce her to our culture in the U.S.