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Category: Global Identities

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By Adaeze

It's been a few weeks here and I've gotten more accustomed to the various parts of my stay in Paris. Today, I've decided to show you all little pieces of my community abroad.

Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower: This is definitely something that makes up my community abroad because I see it every single day on my way to school and on my way back. It’s meaningful to me because it’s so beautiful and somewhat comforting to know that if I’m ever lost, I really just have to follow the sight of the Eiffel and I know from there I can find my way back to my apartment. ...continue reading "Mon Communaute: A glimpse at various communities"

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By jesse allan gurney

At GWU, life feels very career orientated. Most students have one or two internships on top of a full course work load. Many, including myself, seem to be finding satisfaction and worth through advancing their career. However at Bond Uni, life feels more life orientated. While many Aussie students have had internships, they have them when school’s not in session. This  allows them more free time and appears to help them enjoy the moment and life as it passes. If the cultural difference was Will Ferrel’s bedroom in Stepbrothers, American rooms have two separate beds to better rest up for their interviews whereas Aussie’s make bunk beds to have more room for activities. I hope to find a balance of the two, but I have no idea how the beds are going to stack up.

On par with Australia's sporting culture, Bond University organizes weekly sports events for its students in which the different campus dorms compete against each other. This week was volleyball (the courts are on campus), and my dorm happened to win.
On par with Australia’s sporting culture, Bond University organizes weekly sports events for its students in which the different campus dorms compete against each other. This week was volleyball (the courts are on campus), and my dorm happened to win.

...continue reading "Life Oriented"

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By mluevano17

I identify myself as having a Mexican ethnicity and an American nationality. My background is mostly a source of pride for myself but it can be quite confusing. One of the main issues for me is the fact that I do not look or act according to many people’s expectations of a person with Mexican ethnicity. I find discomfort in the fact that for many people in the United States, especially in my home state of California; “Mexican” also brings up subjects such as “illegal immigration” or a certain kind of job such as “housekeeper” or “gardener”. ...continue reading "My Identity"

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How do you identify yourself and why?

As a straight, white male, I have never had to identify before. It feels to weird for me to discuss my identify at all. I have never had to, because others see me and accurately assume my identity. I have never had a need to correct someone on my sexuality or race. My identity can be better understood from my counterbalancing rural upbringing and urban college experience, which have impacted my life far more than my race, sexuality, or gender. My rural upbringing has embedded me with a moral compass: treating everyone respectfully, valueing happiness over money, and appreciating the importance of self-expression through art. These three rural-Vermont values will lead me until my death. Then I moved to DC for college, and it taught me something I failed to learn from Vermont: how to be successful. While I value happiness over money, I still hope for a flourishing career. In DC, I learned how move my career forward the practicality rather than ideals. As a result, my Vermont-ideals are my road, and my DC-realism is my car. With both together, I am sure that I will get to where I hope to go.

Is your background a source of pride, confusion, discomfort or something else? ...continue reading "Identity"

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By conniezhanger

As a kid, I thought that being an American meant that you went to the diner after school every day to pop open glass bottles of Coca-Cola, and licked your sticky fingers after eating cotton candy at a summer carnival.The thought never occurred to me how I looked as an Asian girl, because I was always taught that I could be whoever I wanted to be, and do whatever I dreamed of.
You could say that I noticed that I would only eat rice at dinner--never mashed potatoes or roast chicken like I saw in the pictures on the bright, glaring lights of my old 1990 television set. Or that, I guess I wasn't blonde like the Barbie dolls at Toyrs R Us, and in fact, I had extremely dark hair. Christmas time was different too. When I asked my parents if we were making a gingerbread house, they looked surprised and asked me what that even was.

...continue reading "My Background as an Asian American"

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By Adaeze

I identify myself as Nigerian-Black-American, as I was born in Nigeria and raised in the USA with dual citizenship. My background is definitely a source of pride especially as I get older and become more aware of the high’s and low’s all sides. I love the customs and history of all three.

Being a woman of color (brown specifically), I am usually just seen as Black American. While I do claim both identities, ...continue reading "So a Nigerian-Black-American walks into a French room…"

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By kendallpaynenewmedia

Kendall Walking

In late August, I took a ten day backpacking trip to New Zealand. Over the years I have had the good fortune of being able to go on family vacations and school trips, but in the land of the Kiwis I learned the difference between being a tourist and a traveler. Gilbert Chesterton once said, “The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.” ...continue reading "Becoming a Traveler"

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By sreyavaidya

This past year, I have slept on many things in many places. Trains, planes, and cars. Often, we stayed in the shadiest hostels weaved into the dimly lit alleyways of Kasbahs (Islamic citadel) all over Morocco. When I think bank on these unglamorous times with the dusty furniture, lumpy mattresses, and foreboding journeys to get to them, I’m reminded not of the tiredness I felt from lack of sleep, or the ache in every bone in my body. Instead, I remember the unimaginable experiences and sites they have lead me to discover: The sprawling and vibrant Fes Medina, the largest in the world; The blue streets of Chefchouen; The secluded beaches of Tangier where the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean finally meet, but, to name a few.

Fez

Chefchouen Tangiers

 

 

 

 

 

...continue reading "18 Hours in the Rif Mountains"

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By bbarfiel

Wow, the time has truly flew by! However, I want to take the time to appreciate this experience for all the lessons that it has taught me. Reflecting back on my semester, there have been numerous adventures, challenges and obstacles that I have conquered. I’ve written about some of those in my previous post..but this one is different. ...continue reading "Reflections"

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By claudiainpune

Hanuman Temple600 steps to the top of a temple, believed to be the birthplace of Hanuman, the monkey god, seemed like an unreachable feat. My 3 friends and I had just biked about 5 miles, trekking historic and religious landmarks around Hampi, the ruins capital of India. Once we reached this temple, I was ready to just sit at the bottom as the rest of my friends went up. But, something told me that I wouldn't want to miss this. As we climbed the hilltop completely barefoot, monkeys surrounded the ancient staircases and women in their saris with their small children swiftly passed us, making their way to the top. Older men and women also dared to take on the climb and, suddenly, I felt a new sense of motivation and determination. With each step, the view became more and more breathtaking. The entire hill was composed of rugged, gigantic rocks. And, looking out into the distance, patches of paddy field looked like a solved jigsaw puzzle. Once we reached the top, we entered the temple that is dedicated to Hanuman and were offered holy water and the vermilion colored powder Hindus wear on their foreheads. ...continue reading "Looking Back"

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