I lived in an international house for a year of college; I was one of four U.S. Americans in a shared home of 26 people from around the world. No magic to it, it was primarily lived in by graduate students from a long ways away- too far to travel home to on short or medium vacations. I was in a similar situation within my own country. We also did not eat on the University dining system: We cooked and cleaned and ate on a cooperative basis, but were allowed to purchase basic food supplies throught the commisary. We could save a lot of money because we were our own cooks and servers. Some of us also learned to cook well and interestingly (Some of us, of course, not). This led to a very interesting working experiment, an 'experiment' without a control group. There were Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Western Bloc, Eastern Bloc, Indian, Pakistani, White South African, Black African, and weirdest of all, Californians in residence.
We had some interesting experiments within the experiment. Someone wanted to collect information on how many of the residents were virgins. Someone bought a huge world map from the American government (USGS) which came in three large sections with the United States at the center. We were all going to insert push pins to show our points of origin. This person mounted the map up with the sections out of intended order- they still showed the world, but with the United States off to the sides.
This was the high point of college life for me. When the TV show "The West Wing" came along a generation later, the episode wherein a different map projection than the one most Americans are used to rang a bell for me. It still has something to say today.