Tag Archives: expectations

Thoughts, Hopes and Expectations for Seville 2012

Hi all! I’m a junior majoring in psychology and minoring in Spanish and applied linguistics. I hail from The Steel City – Pittsburgh PA – which is a wonderful place to grow up and live, but I have always loved to travel and learn about other cultures, so I’m really looking forward to this long awaited semester abroad!

I love all things natural, artistic, creative, and genuine, so I’m very much looking forward to seeing the artwork, museums and architecture in Andalusia. However, there’s still a lot I have to think about and organize before I take off:

With 3 weeks of term papers, classes, and finals left in the semester, and an entire month of traveling to see family over winter break before I leave, it hardly feels like my trip to Spain is the next thing on my list of plans, but it’s sure getting close! I haven’t booked my flights yet, but I plan to get there a day or so before our orientation in Seville, so that I can get acquainted with the city and make sure I’m in all the right places at the right times!

I’ve been getting lots of advice and safety tips from past and present Spanish professors, teachers and friends, so hopefully I’ll at least be somewhat prepared. I was adopted from Russia when I was 3 years old, and have always had an knack for languages and people of other cultures, so though I’ve lived in America most of my life, I like to think I have a pretty diverse worldview. I’ve taken courses in Spanish, Russian, and Hebrew, and learned bits of French, Arabic, and Portuguese from friends who live in the countries where they’re spoken. I’ve traveled quite a bit (mostly to Caribbean Islands and Central American countries on family vacations, Israel a few times, and to Europe on vacation and a volunteer trip), and have a lot of friends from other countries who I met in college and high school, working at sleep away camp, and elsewhere. I’ve also taught English as a Second Language (my minor), and connected to a lot of international students through that. My experiences with all these people and places have made me as much a “global citizen” as I probably could be at this point, and I hope to expand on and change my definition of this concept throughout my time in Europe.

I don’t know what exactly is in store, but I’m getting excited for the change of pace and culture that Spain will be. What I expect to see when I get to Spain is traditional Moorish and Spanish architecture, people of all different European and North African descent, a lot of cute, classy little bars, caf�s, and restaurants, and clubs 🙂 I’m really looking forward to experiencing all of the different aspects of culture – from food and going out, to casual discourse, class schedules and academic expectations. I think people will be friendly, but am aware I have to watch my back, because as in many places, security can be a concern -especially in times of economic unrest like there have been in the past couple of years. I know to take advantage of resources and opportunities (including people!), but not to be overly trusting. I love meeting new people, traveling with, and learning from them, so if all goes well I’ll have a lot of locals and friends to rely on and show me around. These are all things I got a lot of practice with last summer when I spent two months traveling in Israel, but expect to be different everywhere I go.

I’m hoping that in Europe people are accommodating to the frugal an conservationist lifestyle that I’d like to live. I recently saw a special about all of the cyclists in Copenhagen, it seemed like such a great example to be setting for the world!! I hope I have the opportunity to rent or buy a cheap bike to use if my commutes to and from classes and elsewhere necessitate it. I also hope I’ll be able to maintain a pretty healthy lifestyle – aside from not eating red meat, I tend to avoid fried foods and keep a pretty low-fat diet, and apparently the temptation of tapas (little Spanish snacks that are often fried – according to my sister, who has also traveled a lot and been to Spain) will challenge that effort.

That’s all I can think of for now, there’s lots to come – even before I set off for Europe – but I’ll save it for when I have more information about my trip! I’ll post links, photos and videos of everything about my travels as I go, there will be a lot to keep up with, but I’ll do my best to keep it up to date!

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy following my studies and adventures abroad 🙂

Location: State College, PA

家族　Family

I don`t know how, but I ended up with the ultimate host family for me. I didn`t really have any expectations for what they would be like since I was too busy thinking about learning Japanese and how to pay for this whole experience, but we fit together like a puzzle.
In part, I think it is because we are worldly people. They`ve traveled many places and have studied English and I apparently have interest in Japan and other languages as well. We are curious about each other that there is an equal amount of give and take and thus less room for miscommunication.
I feel like they go beyond the assumed requirements for a host family, especially from what I hear from others. For example, they make me lunch, which I`m supposed to take care of myself. This Sunday as well, we are going to a tea event with their friends and making a day of it. There are also more opportunities to meet their friends and go to different places away from Nagoya. They could just show me around the town and give me regional specific information, but they want to show me Japan, the big picture.
It seems that the horror stories of host families stand out the most, so I hope that my experience proves that it can work.

Location: Minami-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi, Japan

So, I am going to leave for Nagoya today at 1:25pm. I figured I would write about my expectations before I arrive and see how things match up.
I expect that Japan will be very clean and people will be extremely polite, almost suspiciously. I am certain that I don’t know enough Japanese. There is really not much I can do about that since I’m going there to learn. Sadly, I will still kick myself every night as I recount my mistakes and realize how I could have made myself clear.
The fashion is going to be noticeably different. I am eager to see how us Americans will measure up.
My curly afro will likely draw a lot of stares from children and adults and hopefully they don’t get too hands on. I’m all about spreading culture and sharing in diversity, but I’m not a petting zoo. I expect someone will try, however.
Having a 2 hour + class will really exhaust me, but I believe the teachers will be really nice and helpful. There’s no way they would teach that long if they weren’t passionate about it, I think.
I expect that this experience is going to help me grow up again, in a way, as I learn to communicate and adapt to a new “normal.” Learning how to express myself again might help me discover a new side of myself. I’m excited to see the result, but not until I document this journey.

Location: 5113 Woodmere Drive, Centreville, VA 20120

Singapore Intro

After 30 hours of travel, I arrived in Singapore last night. I’m still getting used to the time (it’s about 3 AM here and I just woke up a few hours ago!) but everything has been going great so far. The campus is beautiful- everything is brand new and there are multiple new buildings being constructed nearby. The building I’m living in opened just a few days ago so my cohort will be the first people to live here. I live in a a 6 person apartment, though we all have single rooms, in a 21 story building with a nice view of the city from the top. I’ve only met one of roommates so far but the rest should be arriving soon.

Traveling here was hectic as expected. I flew from New York to Tokyo on a 13 hour flight, had a few hours in the Tokyo airport, and then flew 7 hours to Singapore. Apparently the Japanese are a lot more interested in visiting America than Americans are in visiting Japan as I was the only non-Japanese person on the whole flight.

Modern planes are getting nicer and nicer. I had a total of 3 meals, and a personal flat screen TV with on demand movies, TV shows, and even video games. I divided my time between ipod, video games – a racing game, tetris, and various puzzle games, reading – I finally got around the Dan Brown’s newish book, The Lost Symbol, and movies – 3:10 to Yuma which was fantastic. I threw in a few hours of sleep here and there too, but not nearly enough.

Today, I was able to a little bit of exploring around campus and the city but I’ll touch on those more in later posts once I know I get a better feel for the area.

Overall, I hope to use this blog for two main purposes- First, to let friends and family see what I’ve been up to. And second, to discuss various interesting things I come across. I hope that the second purpose will be enough to keep the blog interesting enough so that even people I don’t know might still read my posts.

My plans are to write about some of the following topics:
-Culture
-Food
-Beer
-That really cool Boat Building
-Travels in Southeast Asia
-School
-Weird laws
-Things I’m doing
-Things I’m thinking

But I’ll just play it as it goes and blog whenever I feel I have something interesting to share. Before I go, here are some pictures of my room, building, and area:

My building is the tall one at the top right

Location: Singapore

Houston

Hola,

The past week has been hectic. I had three finals this week and my last one was yesterday at 4:40, so it was very hard to concentrate on packing. I had my suitcase open all week and I think I packed and unpacked (taking out and adding stuff) at least once each day. Hopefully I ended up with everything I’ll need, and if not, well it’s only a month.

Right now, I’m sitting in the airport and it still doesn’t feel real. The time as gone so quickly and I can’t believe I’m already on my way to Mexico. Most of the group will be meeting up in Houston and flying into Mexico together, so I’m really excited to meet everyone. There are 12 students and 2 teachers. I think it will be good having such a small group because it will be easier to get to know everyone in the 4 weeks we’ll be there. Tonight we’ll all be staying together, and tomorrow I believe we are touring the city, which I am very excited about. I have an idea of what I think the city will be like, and I’ve seen pictures, but in my experience things never look like I imagine them.

They told us we should have a theme for our blog, and until right now I had no idea what mine would be. But I think it would be really interesting to compare the things I see and experience with my experiences studying abroad in Venezuela last spring. I think some things will be the same, but I can already think of some differences just in what I’ve read about the two countries.

Well, that’s all for now. Next time I write I’ll be in Mexico! Adios!

-Lexi

Location: Houston, Texas

Getting Started

Hello Everyone,

My name is Lexi and I will be studying in Guanajuato, Mexico this summer, and everything is happening so quickly. I think there are only 17 days until we leave and I am so far from ready. My biggest concern is calling my family, I needed to do it weeks ago but my nerves are getting to me… Anyway, hopefully sometime this week. I’m so excited to work on my Spanish again. I studied in Venezuela last spring and have been loosing it ever since. Today in class my profesor put a list of words up and ask if we knew how to say them in Spanish. It was so frustrating because I know that I’ve learned every one of them before and at one point I would have been the first in the class to raise my hand, but thats all gone. Its not like I’ve been slacking on it, but now that I’m in higher level Spanish classes, we don’t concentrate on all the vocabulary. And like they say, if you don’t use it, you loose it. Hopefully this summer helps. Here is a picture of downtown Guanajuato, hopefully I’ll have a lot more to tell you next time i write. Till next time. -Lexi