My Life in America

First of all, my dog.

 A typical Maryville move-in day!

Some of my favorite study spots: a classroom in Thaw that catches the sun beautifully, my desk in my residence hall, and my desk at my house in Knoxville.

I love to take pictures on campus during the fall – this is a mountain view from my dorm window, and some pals in a tree.

  

 …but taking pictures of winter is great, too. This is a snowy Thaw Hall and a random icy sign that I thought looked cool.

I’ve made some really great memories while at college, like when the picture to the right was taken. I’ve also taken some really long naps, like where the picture below was taken…

I don’t take nearly as many pictures in the spring as I do in the fall, but the one below is from the College Woods. The beauty at Maryville was one of the big reasons I came to college here, and it’s lived up to everything I thought it would – everyday life here is stunning, and worthy of being framed. I hope to find myself somewhere that has that same quality while I’m abroad.

Mirror Mirror

“Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”

I think this quote accurately sums up what we’ve learned so far in this class – knowing who you are is vital to success as a human. Being at peace with that person is also important, but ownership of who you are and what you do, is crucial to survival. Knowing what we’ll call ”life skills”, the ones you’re good at and bad at is basically step number one into going abroad. It’s also very hard to analyze self. I’m being asked to look at myself - into myself and pick at the good and bad. I’m being asked to own up to the young lady that is Arieal Burton.

That’s terrifying.

What if I find something I don’t like? What if I am like the stereotypical American I think exists? Do I believe in stereotypes? Am I a good or bad example? Thankfully the Self Audit Culture Strategies, and Cultural Context assignments helped me understand the type of person I am portrayed through my everyday actions. Like time, for example. I am extremely concerned with time, windows of time, time frames, and schedules. I have come to learn within my college career, that some people view time very differently. Some people simple are not concerned with time. This baffles me. I used to wonder why. ‘Didn’t everyone grow up with the concept of time and its impertinence? Don’t just randomly plan things!’ I also get upset when people do not do what has been outlined for them. If you have one task, you need to do that one task.

Another piece of me that is rigid is my want to work with other. I am very personable and a good listener, so I find it easy to be with people, in a work situation or out, but I struggle with a want. I don’t like to work with people. I’d rather do a job by myself, if it’s within my power. However, cultures like South Korea and Japan are big on the idea of working together. I am also very good at listening and trying most things, such as food, music, dress or greeting mannerisms. I like to learn lots of things, and I think this is going to be a tremendous help, and off set my sort of time-rigid self. I know that I can come off as a very happy and relaxed person, but a very icily focused sort of student, and I wonder if studying abroad will change something within me.

For me, the biggest piece of being American that I will take with me will probably be my “Southern hospitality.” Everyone is a dear friend, and I have to help anyone if I can. I must always be a perfect host, and have to keep myself in the community loop by volunteering, attending church, etc. I have yet to decide if this is a good or bad thing, and am excited, yet slightly apprehensive to see how this melds/clashes with East Asian high context culture.

All of these thoughts are daunting, terrifying but worthwhile. I think that by being forced to examine our values and preferences, we gather a better understanding for ourselves. We will discover things we dislike about ourselves, and things we are proud of. But they all meld together to become quite the lovely little lad or lady - in most cases. We're curious about each other. Who will I become? Who will you? I think, for that reason -the final fruition of our true selves- we try our hardest to live well. 

An American in China

I am thrilled to have been placed in China for my term abroad. I have been to Hong Kong once before, but this will be my first time in mainland China. I have some knowledge about Chinese culture, but it is limited and lacking personal experience. I look forward to the opportunity to be immersed in a new culture, and I hope to prepare myself well for this experience.

As I discovered through the Cultural-Context Inventory, I personally score fairly high in the high context category. As it turns out, America is a largely low context culture. I had never been exposed to these context categories before, but they make a lot of sense to me in light of my score and how I feel that I fit into my own culture. Especially in the areas of learning style and perception of time, I have at times felt constrained by my culture because I do not hold the same views of these topics that the larger society does. However, I was excited to find that China is a predominantly a high context culture. I look forward to experiencing a culture that I may already share some similar views with. Of course I realize that cultural barriers will certainly still exist in abundance, however I hope that it may be a smoother transition because of the shared views. 

One of my characteristics that is also reflected in high context cultures is the preference of identifying with a group. Although I may have this ideal in common with my Chinese peers, I fear that I may struggle at first because I will be on my own in China. I look forward to making friends and forming a community with individuals at the university, but I realize that this may happen slowly due to language barriers, cultural differences and simply being new to the school. I hope that I am not in a situation that give me too much time on my own. I have found that I do not naturally  thrive in situations where I feel alone for extended periods of time. However, I do enjoy independence and the satisfaction of accomplishing tasks on my own. Ideally, I will be able to reconcile these two tendencies within myself so that I can simultaneously embrace being on my own at times, while also being motivated to pursue relationships and engage with the community.

An American in Germany

Going to another country for an extended period of time, regardless of how similar the culture is home, is difficult. While Germany may have some similar aspects, there are still a lot of differences. Since I have traveled before, I know that I can adapt and adjust to different cultures. Last class I learned that Germany and the USA are both Low-Context cultures. When taking the inventory, I discovered I am more on the low side than the high side. Which will be a strength while in Germany because that won't be nearly as much as a change.

From taking self-audits, surveys, inventories, and just knowing about myself, I know that I am very independent and open. It is easy for me to adjust to new people and places. Because I am independent and outgoing, I hope that I will be able to make friends easily. I have also recently discovered that I am comfortable traveling alone and can always find something to do. Being open is a major strength when traveling. Because I am open to new things, I wont be afraid to go out of my comfort zone to learn and try new things. 

I am interested to learn more about German culture as the semester goes on and then to be immersed in the culture. I really want to learn more about their language and hopefully be able to converse at least a basic level by the time I leave. Being an American abroad does create some challenges though. During my previous travels, I have heard things such as "Americans are dumb." I want to prove to people that not all stereotypes about Americans are correct, although some are. I hope to be able to share my culture with my friends while abroad while I learn more about theirs. 

An American in the Middle East

As I am preparing to return to the Middle East, this time to study abroad, there are several things which I must keep in mind. The activities and surveys I have taken for my study abroad prep class have made me realize just how much group identity is valued in the Middle East. The United States places a strong emphasis on individuality, but countries such as the United Arab Emirates have more of an emphasis on group identity than I am used to in the United States. These surveys have also showed me that I am a culturally flexible type of person. I do not necessarily fall on one extreme side of any cultural spectrum, so adjusting to vastly different cultures seems less daunting for me than it might to some people.

Between now and the time that I leave for the United Arab Emirates, I need to do some research and reading on my own about the cultural differences between American society and the Middle East. I do not want to accidentally offend someone with a crude gesture or an inappropriate exaggeration of my voice. Even if I do something offensive, I am not too overly worried about the consequences. It has been my experience from traveling that people are generally quite forgiving to foreigners over those sorts of things.

When I am in the United Arab Emirates, I wish to adapt my cultural practices to as close as the local Emirati practices as possible. I can do this by conversing with local students on campus, being observant when I am out in public, and approaching the situation with an open mind. This will be challenging for me because I have never been out of the United States for this long. I am unsure about how long I will change over time and how much my cultural practices will adapt throughout the semester. It is also going to be important for me to keep an open mind on time management. I am generally someone who likes to be on time to events and expects others to be on time as well. This is something which will not be a given in the Middle East, so I should definitely plan accordingly.

An American in Bangkok

Looking ahead, I'm excited about what lies in wait for me upon my arrival to Thailand. As excited as I am, I know that, at times, I will be presented with a lot of challenges -- many of which will probably stem from cultural difference.

First off, one of the things that might be the most tricky is that, as a Westerner, I place a lot of value on my identity as an individual, and going into a culture that is collectivist in nature might cause issues. I am very introverted in many ways and need lots of time alone because being in groups tends to wear me down quickly and easily. Emphasis on one's role in the group at large as opposed to the self within the group will be a different understanding that I will have to get used to.

I suppose most obviously, a physical cultural barrier would be the fact that I have almost no understanding of the Thai language, and although at the university people will speak English, in the day to day of ordering a taxi or a meal, I will scarcely find people who speak my language. While I am there I am taking Thai language courses, and I plan on practicing some before I arrive, but all the same I'm sure some stress will arise from language barriers.

After taking some of the surveys we've done for class as well as paying attention to myself more often, I've noticed how rigid I can be about time. I'm not necessarily an organized person with good time management skills, but I am never late and I cannot stand it when other people are late or keep me waiting. Researching online shows that Thai concepts of time are very fluid and flexible, so I am going to start working now on loosening up about timeliness so as not to offend anyone while I am there,

A couple of weeks ago my mother shared a post on my Facebook about various obscene hand gestures from about the world, which at first I thought was a weird thing for her to do but it turns out that the thumbs-up is equivalent to the middle finger in Thailand. I give people the thumbs-up on the regular so I need to not anymore so again, I don't accidentally offend people.

It will be hard work preparing culturally to enter into a society so different from my own; even with preparation there will still be times while I'm abroad that I'll have no idea what is happening and *hopefully* people will be understanding and help me adjust.