Cultural Strategies

According to the guides that I have filled out, I've come to realize that I have a very specific way of going about things. My curiosity helps me in learning about new things all the time, but my inflexibility could get me in trouble when it comes to learning more about British culture. If something is not the way that I expect it to be by a certain time, I will be very annoyed and most likely let it color my judgement of the person who was running it for some time to come. While I have started to realize that this is not the only way that people run, in fact some go in the opposite, it will be still be a challenge for me if I encounter people who do not work like I expect.

For this particular issue, I think it will be good for me to meet a variety of people in order to get a richer understanding of how people view time and interactions with each other. While British culture seems to run similarly to US culture in terms of being fairly low content communicators, there will still need to be room for error in how this time is actually used. I believe that I will need to leave my perceptions of UK culture that I have picked up from popular media at the door so that I can fully integrate myself into the actual culture and not what I see on tv.

Joining clubs on campus will definitely be something that I will do since this strategy is what helped me make friends on campus whenever I first came to Maryville. My friendly personality is also something that has helped me a great deal and hopefully will help me as I go abroad as well.

In terms of being an American, specifically one from the South, I will need to recognize that there are certain stereotypes that I will need to circumvent with anyone that I meet whose only exposure would be from popular media like my exposure is for the UK. Educating someone on how living in the South does not mean I wear cowboy boots and watch NASCAR without sounding condescending will definitely be something that I will need to keep in mind when and if it comes up. I hope with this I will be able to bring a better understanding of the vast changes in the US culture across state lines just like it will be different in Plymouth than it would be in the London area.

French Culture

     Going to another country always brings along many challenges of adapting to the different culture. I have always believed that adjusting to the new cultures is easiest if you keep an open mind and jump on every opportunity that is offered. Since I have visited France in the past, I have an idea of the culture that I am going to be living in next semester. 

     I know that there are many stereotypes that we, as Americans, have for the people in France. I also know that many of these stereotypes are ridiculous and false. There are a lot of cultural stereotypes that people in France associate with US Americans. We’re known to be loud, big, assertive, and extremely patriotic. I know that while I am in France, I will amaze people with how different I am from these particular stereotypes. Being 5’2”, I would not consider myself to be a big and intimidating person. I am also a notoriously quiet person and no matter how hard I try I cannot yell. My “yell” would be anyone else’s normal talking volume. I am not the most assertive or aggressive person either. So, by just being myself, I should be able to break some stereotypes that the French generalize all Americans with.

     Immersing myself in the French culture will really help me to adapt quickly and truly appreciate the new cultural environment. Keeping an open mind to new experiences that may present themselves is important for me, or anyone, to make the most of my time in France. I am very excited to meet new people who are also studying abroad from different countries and I cannot wait learn about these different cultures.

Returning to Greece

In returning to Greece, there are many things about the culture that I am looking forward to returning to, as well as learning more about. In the six weeks that I was there, I feel that I was only able to scratch the surface of Greek culture and I want to spend next semester immersing myself in it. As far as context goes, Greece is a relatively high context culture. While there are aspects of high context culture that I identify with, I am overall low context. This, I think, is mainly due to my timeliness. I prefer to always be on time. Ironically, Greece is the opposite. Time is viewed more as a loose guideline than a strict schedule to follow. For example, if an event is supposed to “start” at 7 p.m., it is likely that people will arrive around 7:30 or 8, and the event might get started around 8:30. This was very strange, and somewhat stressful, for me to get used to. Additionally, Greeks take an afternoon siesta from 2 or 3 until 5 p.m. and shops and businesses close during that time. What I came to appreciate about that aspect of culture is how they prioritize. Intentional time spent with others, or “παρέα,”  is very important to Greeks and they would rather stop and talk to friends than rush to be on time somewhere else. Eventually I came to enjoy the more laid-back lifestyle and culture. In returning to Greece, I would like to deepen my understanding of their culture, particularly in how Greeks relate to one another more personally. How they get to know one another, how they spend time together, what elements of friendship are most important to them, and how I can use that knowledge to form closer relationships while I am there. I think that knowing how to relate to the people is one of the most important skills I can learn, and will help to form friendships that will then help to learn more about culture in general by spending time with them. I tend to form friendships slowly over time, with more intentional one-on-one interactions, and I am interested to find out whether or not that is similar to Greeks. While there are definitely a lot of differences between Greek culture and the culture I am used to, I am excited to spend more time there because they had ways of doing things that I preferred, even to my own culture. Greeks are unique and interesting and I want to learn as much as I can while I am there. 

Returning to a Familiar Culture

Readjusting my life in Korea would take time, there are many similarities between Korea and the United states but still there are many differences. My main concern is about different culture. Very easy example is saying “Hi” to someone I don’t know. Last winter, I was in Korea. I was doing grocery shopping with my old friend. I was deciding which vegetables to buy, and then I asked the lady who was also doing grocery shopping. I asked her that I was going to cook that night but I had no idea what to buy. She kindly explained from the seasonal food to her own recipes of cooking. When I finally put carrots and cucumbers in my cart my friend asked me if I know that lady. Of course, I answered that I don’t know her. My friend then said “You sure lived in the United States, no doubt”. It took time for me to understand what she meant but she meant that people don’t start conversation with unknown or strangers. Not only talking to strangers, but also like holding doors for next person, tips, and asking their conditions (how are you?), and privacy problems are cultural differences.

I want to learn history of Korea. I studied a lot about American history and European history but I have never got chances to learn about Korea history. Taking Korean history may help me too but also visiting historical places and museums would remain in my head longer. To my future Korean friends, I want to teach them slang. Most students in Korea start to lean English since third grade in elementary school. Most of Koreans would know grammar and vocabulary better than I know so I want to teach them what they can’t learn in school.

My greatest challenges and obstacles while living in the USA is definitely English! Still, learning and speaking English is challenge to me all the time and every day. Whenever I am struggling with English I always think that there is no end of studying English. Unlike other my Korean friends in USA, what I most miss in Korea is not food but it is SUBWAYS! In Seoul, you can travel end of Seoul to another end of Seoul by riding subways and cost less than 2 dollar in one and a half hour (Seoul is small city but I mean the subways are fast!!). My least missing about Korea is parking spaces and traffic jams. Americans would be impossible to park in Seoul. If you are planning to drive in Seoul with your car I recommend do valeting without trying, remembering just do the valet!!

An American Abroad - Bethany Headrick

Something I learned about myself from one of the surveys we took is that I am a very "low context" person when it comes to culture. I see things for how they are - I am a very black and white person. I believe that 100%. I am a blunt, straightforward person. I am not afraid to say how I feel to the people that I am comfortable around. What I did not realize, however, is that this might hinder me from adjusting to a new culture. I will have to adjust that attitude when I am in Argentina. I will have to suppress my straightforwardness in order to get along with people that I meet; not because I am incapable of getting along but because my honesty and sarcasm will most likely be taken wrong. This boils down to the differences in culture.

The nice thing about going abroad is that I will be around students that know I am not accustomed to their culture. I will ask the students I meet and befriend about their culture—this will be the best way to acknowledge the differences—and I will change my behavior to fit theirs in a way that will not completely suppress my personality. I realize that I will not be able, most likely, to make a sarcastic comment to someone I've just met like I do here. I've accepted that and I will not go around making sarcastic jokes. But that is only one aspect of the culture that I will have to grow accustomed to.
Something I have never truly thought about before is the realization that the United States overall is a very individualistic culture. From the surveys we have done for this class, I learned that I will have to be very open-minded about cultural differences in talking, first meeting, and friendship customs. I am really excited to see the differences between United States friendship and Argentine friendship as well as the differences between family cultures. Overall I am very excited to learn the cultural differences between Argentina and the southern United States.

An American Abroad

I've always been interested in learning about other countries' cultures, and now I'm finally going to be able to experience it first-hand for an extended period of time!  I can't wait to see how life is different (and similar!) in an other English-speaking country.  The UK can be very similar to the United States in terms of culture, but also quite different.  I don't think adapting for me will be overly difficult, and I embrace the learning experience.  I scored fairly high on the "Independence" section of the self-audit; the low scores in that section were about asking others for help and meeting new people and initiating conversation.  Since I am happy and comfortable travelling alone, this shouldn't pose much of an issue for me.  I scored on the higher end of the "openness" section as well, so really getting to experience the culture won't be as much of a challenge.  Something I discovered while completing the Cultural-Context Inventory is that I am a low-context person, which I was surprised to find out was typical of the U.S.  I was also surprised about how many generalities are believed about the U.S., such as the people being fast-paced, busy, blunt, etc.  Coming from the Northeast, I can see this more commonly, but since moving to the South it seems almost the complete opposite!  That has made me realize that even though there are probably just as many assumptions about the UK, it could easily differ by location.

Something I will probably struggle a little with would be meeting new people and talking to other students.  As I said, I am comfortable travelling alone, so it won't be as big of a deal as it would be to other people perhaps, but since I will be living there for a few months, it would be a good idea to get to know some people!

One aspect of British culture I am particularly interested in learning about is their way of living.  That may sound extremely broad, but what I mean is the feel of the country.  How fast do people walk? Do people way to each other on the street or make conversation with grocers?  Are people more relaxed and laid back or are they tense?  Many of these things you can get a feel for as soon as you get to an area.  Just walking around in New York City makes me walk faster and feel like I'm on a schedule, whereas visiting family in a tiny rural town in Illinois makes for a leisurely stroll and greeting every person you pass.  These are the sort of things I want to see and compare to life here.  It is difficult to say what I want to teach about my own culture, as I'm not sure what they already think of it.  It will be interesting to answer their questions as best I can, and see what they're surprised about.

My Approach to Culture

                As someone who hasn’t really traveled that much, I feel like I don’t fully know what it is that I’ll be good at or need to work on when it comes to adapting to and understanding a new culture during my study abroad experience. I’ve always been an introvert and really enjoyed listening to people and learning about their lives. I’m an observant person – I love to be able to relax and take everything in when I go somewhere new. I think that all of these things will help me in Ireland – I’m very open to learning new things, and I’m willing to spend time to do it. Aspects of American culture that I’d like to educate others about are probably focused a lot on discouraging stereotypes. I’ll be really good at shooting down the one that says all Americans are really loud. I’d like to have a lot of compare-and-contrast conversations there – ones that leave everyone more knowledgeable about another group of people than they were before. Something I think I might need to work on will be the hands-on part of adapting to culture – listening and standing back to learn through observation have always been my comfort zones, but I know that to experience some parts of culture I’m going to have to put myself out there and risk making a mistake or doing something against the cultural norm.

                I hope to learn more about where I came from when I’m in Ireland. I think that seeing the ways in which other people are different from me will make me aware of a lot of things in my culture that have shaped who I am without me even realizing it. I want to find similarities and differences – figure out the universal and non-universal ways that culture works. While I’m finding that, I hope I can impart something similar on the people that I meet – help them learn a little more about themselves by showing them where I come from.