Hello readers!
The goal of today’s post is to summarize and reflect on our blogging experience, as well as previous posts. I can say in the few weeks that I have had this blog I have learned a tremendous amount about different cultures and exchange students. From America to Germany, and a few more stops in between, I have gotten to see the beauty that comes from watching a person light up talking about their home country.
We started in Germany with Lorenz Aigner. An enthusiastic junior with a love for American football (go figure)! Lorenz told us about a German dish called “weisswurst”, and I am happy to say that I will be trying it when I travel to Berlin for fall break. I learned that Germans have a tendency to be punctual and efficient, which are great qualities to have. It was surprising to learn that Germany has a lot of similarities to my home country of America.
The next stop on our journey was to a place I’m very familiar with, Tennessee in the U.S. While this is my home state and country, I felt like it was important for those reading who may not be from the U.S. to gain a little insight on America. I talked with exchange student Minka Dorer. Dorer was born in Bulgaria and adopted at the age of six, she then moved to Tennessee. Living in both Tennessee and New York, Dorer has experienced two very different parts of American culture, the northern life and the southern life. She said that it was interesting to see the cultural difference of poverty in Bulgaria vs. America. She said the following:
“Well, in Bulgaria it’s very different because there are a lot of poor people and they’re mostly Roma people, so-called Gypsies… It’s a very poor country. In American, it’s expensive, very different. It’s a rich country. You don’t see as many poor people.”
Then we “traveled” to Ireland where I talked to Ruth Moroney. I learned of Irish pride. A pride that is so vibrant and alive in each Irish man or woman. Moroney said this:
“I have yet to me an Irish person who has not proudly said where they are from.”
Moroney told me that you can see this pride at the Gaelic Games, which is a huge sporting event in Ireland. The games consist of football and hurling, as well as other strenuous activities. Moroney taught me that while drinking is a huge part of Irish culture, it doesn’t mean all Irish are drunks.
Roberto Herranz was next to teach me about a new culture, that of Spain! I loved hearing him talk about his beloved country. You could see and feel his excitement. The biggest thing that stuck out to me during my interview was what Herranz said about the Spanish language.
“We have a very rich language, and with a very good and musical sound. We have also a lot of words for similar meanings that only differ among them in one little thing. We also have a lot of rich expressions, proverbs, and of course literature. One of the things I really miss a lot is speaking Spanish but not because I cannot speak English or it has hard for me, but of enjoying Spanish words, enjoying Spanish sentences and Spanish sounds. I really like my language and I feel very proud of being able to speak, write and think in Spanish because I think is one of the most beautiful languages in world!”
After Spain we heard from Fiona Rappin of France. Rappin mostly misses French cuisine and the luxury of being able to really enjoy a meal. For her being here feels like she’s living in a past world.
“Life style in general. Everything feels like France in the 1970s… Even if everything is cheap here, it doesn’t mean that life is better for Western Europeans. People don’t act the same way.”
The biggest theme I saw in every interview was that of cultural difference of the poverty in the student’s home countries vs. poverty of Bulgaria. Each one talked about this subject and said that it was interesting to see such poverty so blatantly. Listening to each one talk about this, it reinforced the same feelings I had been having. While I have traveled much and experience poverty before, it is still eye opening to see and experience it every day.
I think all exchange students would agree that this journey is a life changing adventure. I asked several students to give me one word to describe the experience. Check out the video below to see their responses 🙂
Ciao, Ciao!
Exchanging Cultures 