A fictionalised account of an English exchange student's adventures in California.
In 2004 John left the wet and windy North-East of England to study in San Jose, CA. He moved in to the International House at San Jose State, where 70 students from around the world live together, and found it to be the boarding school he'd never been to. Reacting to authority by devolving into an immature joker, he finds his every action misunderstood, but puts it down to the, ever-popular, 'culture-shock'. When he finds himself on the brink of being thrown out of the I-House, and the university, for a series of misinterpreted and unconnected incidents he recounts the darkly comic paint-job that left him in this corner.
This episodic comedy is not only about the cultural differences between the US and the UK; it looks at international culture with a sceptical eye. Society might just be pathetic, and John is aware that he is no exception - but at least he can see through the veil of convention and bureaucracy, and that might be his saving grace. He's going to need one.