Tag Archives: returning

The Return: Reflecting on Mexico

My oh my, how the time flies. I have been home from Mexico for over a month now, which is frightening to realize. I’ve been so busy, yet my study abroad experience feels like it just happened, still.

 

The last few days I was there were CRAZY. Not only did I have oodles of studying to do and essays to write, but I also finally got sick. I’d been pretty lucky to be one of the few people to stay healthy the whole time, but, of course, with my luck, I had a terrible allergic reaction my second-to-last day. Luckily, the university doctor was very helpful and, with a lot of rest, I managed to finish everything in time and get back rolling for the last day.

 

All of my tests, papers, and presentations went well, and before I knew it, it was time for the Farewell Dinner. All of us students came with our families to eat together at a nice restaurant, joined by our lovely coordinators, professors, and administrators from the Ibero. They gave us all certificates and, of course, delicious comida! Our one professor, Roxana, even hired a mariachi band to play! All of the families sang along, and we all got up to dance for a bunch of the songs! It was an amazingly fun time, but it was so sad to say goodbye to everyone. It felt surreal that the trip was really coming to an end, and that soon we’d all be back, doing our separate things, here in the US. And even though I’m in Facebook contact with my family, I miss living with them terribly.

 

It takes 2 hours to get to the Mexico City airport by bus from Puebla, and the earlier group of travelers, including myself, got to depart at 2 AM. Everything was smooth checking my luggage and getting through security, but the rest was a NIGHTMARE. The plane out of Mexico City was delayed about 2 hours which, sadly, was enough time to make me miss my continuing flight out of Chicago. After grumpily passing through customs, I got put on a standby flight to Allentown, which my luggage made, but I was not able to board. Long story short, it then took me 2 failed flights, lots of pointless waiting (on runways and near gates), tons of distraught phone calls to my parents, a night in the creepy, cold Chicago airport, and over 24 hours since I’d left my home in Puebla to FINALLY get home here.

 

Since then, it’s been a blur of Harry Potter premieres, family vacations, and catching up with friends–not to mention getting ready for the Fall semester. I think I’ve been putting off writing this last entry since it means that it really is over, that I really am back. Now, though, I feel like I can really look at the bigger picture of what I encountered.

 

The Mexico I experienced was neither one of pop culture dreams nor of horrific news stories. I wasn’t kidnapped or murdered, and though I did visit a lovely beach, it was far from being the highlight of the program. The true highlights were much more real. The highlights were chatting with my family for an hour after each meal, walking to the tienda down the street where the workers knew my name and taught me the names of all the fruits and vegetables, stopping to play with a friendly dog on the way to the bus stop. They included standing on the edge of a pyramid built hundreds and hundreds of years before, steps too small for us nowadays, and viewing paint strokes on pieces created only decades ago.

 

Mexico is a clash of the past and the present. Ancient temples are found in the middle of bustling cities, and buildings are built over the remains of others. There are literally layers and layers of history, all coexisting together to make the present what it is. And it’s not just in the lay of the land; it’s in the people, as well. Traditions, old, older, oldest, are all woven finely together like a beautiful tapete in a world just blooming with New, as well. Mexico is indeed related to Europe; it was and is still a kind of New Spain, only it’s so much more. Every state, every city, and every tiny pueblo has a different personality. This is a place where poverty and wealth coexist hand in hand, where different cultures have both parted and blended in every imaginable combination. The people know their past, however confused it may be, and are willing to teach it and learn from it in ways that make me question my own historical knowledge of my own country.

 

In my opinion, the Puebla program must be one of the most overlooked Spanish study abroad experiences. If it hadn’t been for a chance presentation and my own curiosity, I may have missed out on the experience of my lifetime. Many of my peers tend to look to other great cultures that are an ocean away when we have something so rich, so touching, and so beautiful right below us. We earned a solid 9 credits over 6 weeks in a summer, and of course our language skills improved, but I feel like we all gained much more than just that. The families, the professors, the university, the places we traveled, the things we saw, the people we met… If there is anything I have learned, it is that there isn’t ONE Mexico. It’s layers; nothing and everything is inherently Mexican. I’ve learned to go beyond stereotypes or expectations of a place and have found so much more than I ever expected.

 

I miss it and all the people who I shared the experience with, but, in the short amount of time I was there, I know that I discovered something that I will take with me for the rest of my life. Here’s to hoping all of your experiences are as great! Adios!

 

IMG_4353.JPG

IMG_4115b.jpg


Location: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Mission Complete

Immediately following my experiences in China, I’ve spent 21 days in the motherland of South Korea.  I spent most of my time staying with different relatives and eating delicious Korean foods, but did some interesting things like going to Jejudo, the Korean version of Hawaii, and Lotteworld, the Korean version of Disney World. 

So this is my last official day abroad.  I wish I had more to talk about on such an important day, but I kind of don’t.  Its bittersweet to say the least, but in truth I’m all Asia-ed out at this point.  I miss green money, relatively low population density, and the abundance of cheese.   

Cultural similarities between China and Korea is great.  I think this is because a lot of Korean culture is derived from the Confucian notion of respect and lifestyle.  There are things like respecting the elders, gender roles of men as workers and of women as house people and the like.  However, Korea is also very westernized too.  I would describe it as almost fully modernized with lots of flourishing industries with some trickles of Confucian culture remaining in everyday interactions.  I think it was a good transition between China and going back to the United States.

After successfully enduring 4 straight months of super intense Chinese, I thought Korean would be a piece of cake to catch up on during my 3 weeks here.  I was mistaken.  Korean is pretty hard too.  The alphabet system is a lot more straightforward than the Chinese character system, but everything sounds the same and all the letters look the same.  I’ve found I had a hard time memorize new words at the speed at which I was able to memorize Chinese words.  But maybe this is because in Korea I was just chilling and in China I studied the hardest I’ve ever studied in all my life.  In any case, I bought a bootlegged copy of a Korean drama called Secret Garden in China with Chinese subtitles, so maybe I’ll be able to practice my Korean listening and Chinese reading simultaneously. 

I hate the prices here.  It’s so similar to American prices, it’s almost disheartening.  I hate currency rates and their constant fluctuations that makes me regret not exchanging all my foreign cash earlier (and possible saving $30!!).  But travelling is good for the mind.  I feel like I understand the world more and would like to embrace the culture differences rather than squirm at it idea.  Cup successfully emptied and refilled.  


Location: Kimpo, South Korea

Coming back to China (?)[!]… ><

A few weeks ago we had a discussion panel with former IES alums.  Their goal was to share their experiences as expats and how to navigate through the interesting world of post graduation China life.  It was exhilarating. 

All four alums were now well into their young adult lives, making a decisive choice to come back to China in order to start a new life.  One was an “IT” guy for the IES program, another worked with the US Department of Energy, another worked on micro financing in China, and the last was an manager for the China’s Groupon.  (For those of you who don’t know what Groupon is, put those well developed googling skills to work and start saving moneys!)

They discussed their difficulties.  When they returned to America after their initial study abroad experience, a lot of them had a tough time.  Reverse culture shock, so to speak.  People would label them as “the guy who went to China”, but this wasn’t the worst of it.  I am to expect the same exact questions of “Oh, how was China”, which I imagine to get old.  But as I proceed to explain all the cool and exciting things that I did or that happened while I was in a completely different country, I am also to expect their eyes to glaze over within the first twenty seconds… because in the end all they are looking for is, “Yeah, it was cool”. 

A lot of ties and connections will be lost.  As Marc, an RA here explained, living in China for a half a year will pretty much knock all my friends down a tier in our friendship.  Besides maybe family and the best of friends, the people who I stop and chat with on campus may become people I just give the old head nod to instead.  The people I give the old head nod to may become total strangers.  But for these young professionals, that’s a way of life.  As one put it, “That’s them now, this is me.  And I may not be able to make it to their weddings or the birth of their first child, but it’s a path I chose”. 

Everything is possible in China but nothing is easy.  We entered a discussion about visas and the headaches that they often cause, switching from student to tourist to business to government services.  How often you must renew the passport (usually every 6-12 months) and whether it is single entry or multiple-entry are all factors to consider.  The terms and processes and even the fees for the visas change almost biweekly, and unless the company you work for has special connections, it might be fairly troublesome.   Having electricity may be easy in America, but perhaps not in China.  I hear you can buy a driver’s license here without going through the arduous process if you’re willing to pay enough for it.

But in the end, if opportunities are what I seek, China has a wealth of it.  We can also make a living teaching English.  We can spam our resumes to the expat community.  Fulbright Scholarships and post-back programs galore!  Everyone who is anyone wants a piece of that China pie, but I feel lucky that I have a step up over everyone else that I have taken the initiative to be here in person and see the excitement and growth myself.  I cannot help but imagine a garden flower.  The “United States” part of that garden has many beautiful flowers.  But competition is fierce for them; people crowd over the garden.  The “China” part of the garden has several times the area of the United States one, yet no one is there.  Why?  The flowers are still buds.  But very soon (and the whole world knows this), they will blossom.   


Location: IES Activity Room, Beijing, China