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Month: April 2017

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By erbeeler

Hi all - update here from the beautiful city of London, England.

I've finally gotten settled in and I'm absolutely loving the city so far. Last week, I turned in my first paper for my classes here (it was a really interesting piece critiquing Aristotle's writings on the naturalness of slavery). Although it got me crammed up for a few days in the library... I've luckily still had the ability to see so much around London for the last few weeks.

On the community service side, I've had an amazing time getting involved with my local community. I've actually been in talks recently with the King's College Career Center as well as some local LGBTQ+ organizations - for example, an amazing organization called MyGWork - about assisting with local events that promote professional networking opportunities for university-aged students who identify on the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

Two weeks ago, I was able to attend and make connections at an incredible networking event in downtown London. Students were in attendance from all over: Kings College, LSE, the University of London, Queen Mary, and even some taking the train all the way from Oxford/Cambridge. Moreover, senior representatives from companies like GSK, PwC, BP, Warner Bros, BNP Paribas, and many other incredible industry leaders were there to talk about their experiences being a LGBTQ+ professional in our modern workforce.

...continue reading "Diggin’ In to the Local Community"

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By jcapobia

 

I haven’t done a “day-in-the-life” post yet so for those wondering what I do between writing these scintillating blogs, this posts for you. I’ll break up my days into three different categories: Monday/Wednesday, Tuesday/Thursday, and weekend. They mostly vary based off my class schedule, but overall all are quite similar.

Monday/Wednesday:

  • 6:45: Wake Up and eat breakfast. 7:20 leave for train; a fifteen minute walk (at New Yorker speed) from my house.
  • 8:00-9:00: Arrive at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid gym.
  • 9:30-11: Class 1: Advanced Oral Communication: A class that examines stereotypes, linguistic, and cross-cultural differences between the U.S. and Spain, focusing on communication techniques and differences in expression
  • 11:30-1: Class 2: Camino de Santiago: A class that studies the Camino de Santiago and prepares us for our trip along the Camino in May.  
  • 1-3: Take the train back home and arrive at home for La Comida 2:15. I usually eat with my host mother and one or more of my host brothers. We discuss our days or talk about random topics. Great for practicing Spanish as I make sure I use a new word or phrase everyday. Practicing with native speakers everyday is an incredible support to my language learning.
  • 3-5: Siesta: I actually do take a siesta Monday and Wednesday. While the siesta doesn’t exist “officially” in Spain, as many stereotypes hold, there's definitely a noticeable drop in activity both at school and in my house during the late afternoon.
  • 5-8: I grab the train (45min ride) to the center of the city where my Flamenco class is held. During class we prepare for our May performance by rehearsing the Flamenco style dance Las Sevillanas. Take train back
  • 8- End of day: Either I will go back home and eat with the family for La Cena or if it's Wednesday, usually the GW Madrid program sponsors some type of cultural activity for us, whether it be a play or a Flamenco show.

...continue reading "Un dia en la vida"

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By amberherrle

Differences between the UAE and Jordan

Food

From my experience there, Emirati food is vastly different than the food that you'll find in the Levant and Jordan. For example, I ate about 10 different types of breads while at the Prince's house that were all "traditional Emirati". In Jordan, you're hard pressed to find something outside of pita and pita with thyme on it.

Dress

As I mentioned in my last post, the dress varies from emirate to emirate but notable one of the biggest differences in Gulf attire is that men wear Kandoras which are long white robes that tend to have a tassel towards the collar. This tassel has interesting cultural roots - it was originally used be nomadic peoples to swish away the bad smells that came from camels when they were riding from place to place. The men would dip the tassle in perfume and then when they needed to get camel-smell away, they would simply wave the tassel in front of their face.

From what I saw, abayas and hijab were more common among women in the UAE than in Jordan. While Dubai is clearly the outlier, in the other emirates most women were hijab and many women wore abayas with hijab. Abayas are beautiful black shear robes that you wear over other clothing. Typically, abayas will have intricate designs and patterns on them.

...continue reading "More of the UAE"

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By riakkim

Something that's been on my mind a lot nowadays is definitely the fact that I appear Korean, can speak a bit of Korean, and fit right in both looks-wise and first-impression wise. After some time speaking of course locals realize my Korean isn't perfect and will often ask where I'm from and if I'm a 4-year or exchange student, but it's strange not really being able to fit in entirely but definitely being treated on the streets as a local, in small interactions as one, and just in general occupying this space of limbo. I luckily have met other Korean-Americans who identify the same way and sharing that experience with others in really indulging into our heritage and the realities of being a Korean-American in Korea, and the prejudices and struggles that only we face.

The most obvious, and huge, advantage that I've had here is the ability to comprehend quite a bit of Korean and to speak it- from simple things like ordering delivery over the phone (everywhere delivers here, including McDonald's) to buying street food, haggling down the prices of clothes, organizing group gatherings, and most especially during classes. Despite the reassurances of the upperclassmen who said everybody speaks English here, coming in without being able to read the language (at the very least, it only takes about two hours to learn) I think is both foolish and culturally insensitive. While a large population of Korea can understand English and speak very basic English (especially compared to countries such as Japan), it still can be difficult to do some basic interactions, such as checking out the convenience store.

And while most of these things come with relative ease to me, the biggest struggle I've had has been one of my classes, Electromagnetic Fields and Waves, where the professor speaks about 80% in Korean despite it being a course taught in English (English courses are still filled with majority Korean students, since seats are limited and course registration is quite hectic). Despite the fact that I understand about 70% of the Korean, I'm constantly looking up technical words and added to the fact that I'm not very familiar with the subject and the many variables used, I find it quite stressful and cannot even imagine how much work it would be for my peers who don't understand Korean whatsoever. Korea has really been a place where the rules are flexible and nothing is set in stone; quite different in comparison to America.

...continue reading "Camouflaged"

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By vgosalvez11

I wish there was some sort of invention or way for me to track and catalog how I have grown since arriving here in Santiago. Its amazing how things that felt so foreign when I first arrived feel so natural now. Plus, I can't even quantify the amount of Spanish and Chilean I have learned in the last few weeks. It's insane to think there was a time where I hadn't heard of piropos and gringos and so many of the other things I have learned about already.

Class is definitely in full swing (in fact, I should probably be doing readings right now). After trying out about 8 different classes, I think I have finally settled my schedule. I am taking two classes offered by GW, a Chilean culture/Spanish class, and a Historical Memory and Human Rights class, which focuses on the history of the recent Chilean dictatorship and the many human rights abuses suffered during that time period. In addition, I am taking two business classes through the best business school in Santiago. Unfortunately, these two classes are in English, but my classmates are from all over the world and the subject matter focuses on business challenges in Chile and Latin America.

The business school has been a wonderful asset to me so far, and I have met some wonderful and incredibly helpful Chilean friends! Finally, I am enrolled in two classes directly in our other host university. In these classes I am pretty much the only gringa (Chilean word for anyone from North America—its not offensive, I promise). One class is Chilean and Latin American film and literature, and the second is a theatre class! It is absolutely wonderful to be able to take these cool elective classes that I never get to take at GW! The Chilean classes have been a really interesting challenge so far, getting to be in class with only Chileans is really important for immersion. So far I am enjoying all of them, even if the three hour class blocks can be very very draining.

...continue reading "Putting the "study" back in "study abroad""

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By juliareinholdgw

This past week, two of my friends came to Shanghai for GW’s spring break, and I had an absolutely marvelous time introducing them to my new home.

We went to a number of cool places, some of them typical touristy destinations, and some pretty atypical places. One interesting pace that we ended up at was SongJiang mosque, a Sunni Muslim mosque 20 miles outside downtown Shanghai. The mosque was one of the most beautiful places I have been in Shanghai, it was secluded and full of beautiful gardens. The mosque itself included all characteristics of a Muslim mosque, however its architecture reflects the Ming Dynasty, the period when it was built, around 1391. A mix of Chinese and Arabic writing decorated the prayer halls, graves, and signs, which to me was an interesting combination to see as the Middle East does not have a big cultural influence in Shanghai. Islam in China is a really interesting topic.

It is not a very common religion for Chinese on the East Coast to practice and is more popular in the Northwestern provinces, especially Xinjiang. The existence of 2 of China’s minority Muslim groups, the Hui and the Uyghurs, are sometimes seen as a threat to the government in Beijing because of their inclinations for independence. Although clashes between these groups and the government are not publicized, they can get violent and lead to the shutdown and blackout of certain areas. Seeing this rather secluded mosque in a very secular area of Shanghai was fascinating, and made me wonder about all the challenges the Muslims living in Songjiang have faced over the years.

...continue reading "Friends in Shanghai"

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Recently, my program coordinated a program to the Mekong Delta. The region is to the southeast of Saigon and, as expected, is a much more rural area. It was the first time I’d been exposed to what might be considered “real Vietnam.”

It was only 3 hours to our home stay—including a boat and bus ride. Our homestay was absolutely stunning. Each room had their own outdoor shower and a beautiful view of the Vietnamese wildlife. Best part, there were three puppies that loved hanging out with us!

The trip was a much needed reprieve from the city. While there, most of our travel was by boat across same channels. On the first day, we went to a coconut candy factory, a brick kiln, and a fruit market. At the fruit market, I had a taste of “Jackfruit” and it was delicious. It has almost a taffy like appearance and a pretty mild, sweet flavor. That evening we had a small cooking class where we made bánh xèo. Bánh xèo is like a Vietnamese crepe filled with radish, carrots, pork, and shrimp. It was delicious.

...continue reading "To Mekong, With Love."

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By rmattiola

I am almost bothered by how constantly I am noting cultural variations. I need to actively tell myself to turn off—stop thinking—just enjoy. Here are some of those never ending cultural observations:

  • Besos (kisses): Here in Chile, and in most of Latin/ Central America, the greetings are more intimate. Handshakes are reserved for men. I made this mistake early on based on instinct, and felt the discomfort from the other person and those watching. Friends of friends and family of friends are automatically qualified for cheek kisses. I’ve even seen doctors give besos to their patients after the appointment. I was nervous about this new greeting style since my family and friends at home are much more casual with greetings, and I had little to no practice with cheek kisses. But I’ve found it’s much less stressful than I thought--the kiss is merely putting your right cheeks together and making a kissing noise while you half hug or place your hand on the other’s shoulder. The Chileans are smoother than I am, and I sometimes feel like I’m crashing into the other’s cheek rather than gently meeting them. The angle of the kiss changes on the intimacy between the couple. For example, family members and close friends will often turn to actually plant a kiss on the other’s cheek. We were warned to be cautious of how close our “kiss” lands to the other person’s mouth, because if you even remotely get close to a kiss on the lips, you are understood to be making an advance towards the other person.
  • Dogs: dogs are everywhere! Most people have one or more dogs, and there is a surplus of street dogs. I hear dog “fights” frequently. Usually these “fights” are more or less playful, and people are unconcerned, but they are very noisy, and last all night.
  • Doorbells: When the doorbell rings, it’s not commonplace to get up and answer it right away. They wait, almost ignore it, talk about who it might be, and after a few minutes will get it.
  • Time: many of the girls in the group are having a hard time adjusting to Chilean time. I however, am thriving in it. It’s normal--and expected--for locals to arrive 30 minutes to 1 hour late to any event that is not class. I believe that this lateness is actually respectful, because if you arrive on time or early to a party, the host might not be fully prepared.

...continue reading "Field Notes"

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By bmlee18

This past week has been a whirlwind, but it may have very well been one of the most memorable (and hectic) weeks I've had thus far this semester. It was my last week before the term ended, which meant that I had to finally submit the dissertation that I had been working on since the beginning of my studies here. At the same time, I was blessed with the company of my two friends who flew all the way from DC to visit me during their spring break. I was able to share with them some of my favorite aspects of life at Cambridge, as well as attempt new activities together that I had yet to experience.

Punting was one of these new experiences. Now, normally, when you row a boat down a river or some body of water, you have oars to do the task. Not with punting, however. To make life unnecessary challenging, punting requires you to move your boat with one very long steel pole. Basically, you have to use the steel pole to push off the base of the river to move and turn your pole left or right to steer the boat to your desired direction. Punting is perhaps one of the most quintessential (and not to mention quirky) elements of Cambridge that almost all visitors do before they are able to proudly and rightfully declare that they've been to the city.

Ironically, despite having lived here for the past two months, I had actually never been punting before my GW friends came to visit. I had the acceptable excuse of blaming this on the cold winter weather, but I had no reason not to go out on the river the past week, given the absolutely beautiful weather that finally announced the coming of spring. I thought that I was being smart and thrifty by choosing the self-hire option, rather than the guided tour option, which required the three of us to punt our own way down the college "backs." The folks who punted the guided boats made the task look so painless and easy that I thought to myself, "Well, how difficult can this actually be?"

...continue reading "Punting down the "backs""

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By ZoNaseef

 

In my last post I talked about the most important rule of improv- saying “yes, and…” The second rule for improv is to always support your teammates. When someone on stage makes a choice, you have to follow their lead and support the decision even if it is not where you intended the scene to go. These philosophies extend outside of just performances and have become deeply engrained in the working environment of the theater.

Although many people work at the theater and we have different tasks and specialties, the teamwork is very high and we often collaborate to get things done efficiently. For example, when I volunteer to take photos or video of a show, I will also help with setting up the chairs and checking people in. I have also been sent on errands and asked to do other tasks that extend beyond my basic roles. It is a very group minded place and we all work together to have the shows and cafe run smoothly. This is a strong element in Danish culture. The social democracy is very focused on group mentality and building everyone up, rather than an individualistic approach to getting work done.

...continue reading "Supporting Your Teammates"

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