Nate Long Blog 2

Preparing to study abroad and then actually studying abroad can be very difficult to prepare for and then do and it helps if you possess certain skills to help you transition into another culture.  Personally, I feel that my strengths are some of the characteristics I have, two of the most important being my calmness and my self-confidence.  First, how calm and collected I am usually helps me a lot because it helps me to not get as stressed out in many situations.  When it comes to schoolwork, for example, if I have a week coming up with lots of work I tend to not stress and just look at what needs to be done and just get it done as it is due.  As far as self-confidence, I feel that this will go a long way to helping me in Spain.  I think it will be most useful when I find myself in situations where I am not completely sure what is going on for whatever reason I will be able to look past it and know that I will know what is going on next time.  I think that the self-confidence will give me the ability to learn from all situations, even when they aren’t the best for me and apply it in similar situations in the future.  I feel that some of the biggest challenges for me will be forming new friends.  I feel this is something I am not always the best at because I am generally quiet around people who I do not know well and I feel this may be even more true when talking in another language.  This is where I feel that I should learn more about the media around me upon arrival so as to see what is popular in that location.  For example, as suggested on the “Culture Learning Strategies Inventory” I could read local newspapers to find out about current political and social issues in the country.  I think expanding this idea further to other media outlets would be useful to learn more about the way of communication and what people talk about most.  Lastly, as an American I think I want to prove to the people that I meet in Spain that many of the negative stereotypes are untrue.

First Blog Post: Studying Abroad in Spain

I want to go abroad to learn more of other countries cultures. I believe this leads to better communication between people and therefor it leads to better understanding between whole cultures. I think the best agenda to have while going abroad is to be open to any and everything the culture has to offer. This could be slang in a language to a certain type of food that looks gross, but the main thing to me is to try everything once. I want this experience to get me out of my comfort zone. I have never had a problem speaking to new people, but this will be a new experience completely.

When I first applied for study abroad I was nervous, and I did not know what to think about the future at that point, and up until my placement I had mixed feelings. Then I got my placement, and at that point I was so excited it seemed meant to be. I could not be happier to be able to have this opportunity to go study in another country. Even more specifically Spain. I have had an affinity for Europe ever since I was able to go with the Maryville College Men’s Soccer Team to Germany and Italy. That was an experience of a lifetime, and to be able to go back to Europe will be an amazing experience since I will have a whole semester opposed to just two weeks.

The three things I would like to do are going to be generic, but at the same time the will be key to getting the full experience in Spain while I am there. First off, I would like to speak 80% Spanish every week while I am there. My Spanish is advanced at the moment, but I would like to turn that into fluent by the end of the trip. Secondly, I would love to go to a La Liga game while there, and this is due to my affinity for soccer, but also for the love the culture of Spain has built around soccer. What better way to learn about Spain then through how they play soccer in person. I have been told you can learn a lot about a country from the way a country’s people play a sport. Hopefully this can give me some experience I have not had before. Along with that goal, I would love to play soccer for a club team, or just pick up while I am there. Lastly, I need to travel the country. Like in America, even in different countries there are different sub-cultures within the country. I would like to try and experience most of the sub-cultures of Spain while I am there, so I can make the most out of my trip. 

Goals for study abroad

 For as long as I can remember I have wanted to study abroad. Growing up I went to Columbus Spanish Immersion Academy where I not only learned the language but all about the many Spanish speaking countries and their traditions. My favorite Spanish speaking country is Spain. In middle school I had a teacher, Mr. Riddle, who was from Spain. He would tell us all of these amazing stories about his time there and I wanted to go and create my own stories. In high school I decided that I wanted to study aboard in Spain when I got to college so my senior year I took college classes so that I could be ahead. I wanted to ensure that I would have enough space in my schedule to go. So now I am a junior and this semester I got my acceptance letter to the Universistat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona Spain ! I am beyond excited and I cant wait to go. A lot of people as me if I'm nervous to go by myself to another country for a whole semester and honestly I'm not. I know that it will be very different than anything I've ever known, but that's the fun part! I get to go experience another culture in another part of the world. See the way people interact with each other. Try new foods, meet new friends.

Before I go to Spain I want to learn more of their slang. I have been speaking Spanish since I was young but I was taught more than one way. I learned vosotros in school, but the way I speak is more Mexican Spanish. While I’m there I would like to become completely fluent in Spanish. I’m nervous that it will take me a long time to adjust to all of the differences or that I will be really homesick. Im also nervous that when I come back to America I will feel like I didn’t accomplish enough. I don’t want this to be my only trip abroad. I have never left the country but there is so much of this world to explore and I want to experience as much of it as I can. I am so anxious (in a good way) to go to Spain. I want to create lifelong friendships and do things that will change the way I see the world. My goal is to grow in more ways than one.

Goals for Germany!

I was 16 years old the first time I went to Germany. Immediately, I felt like I was in my element, I felt like this was a place where I wanted to stay. So, needless to say, I knew I would find a way back. So, I traveled abroad again when I was 18. This time I had a better understanding of the language and I could embrace, in better detail, the difference in culture between America and Germany. Whether it was riding bikes, going to beer gardens or visiting historical sites, I was mesmerized for a second time. Ever since then, I have been yearrning to return.

Boom! So, what happens? I get accepted and placed at the Katholische Universtat in Eichstätt, Germany! I was, and am, elated beyond description. Finally, a chance not only to return to Germany, but a chance to study, learn, and grow in my passions, goals and dreams.

The goals I have for myself are best manifested, but not limited to, two different categories: social/spiritual goals and academic goals. Academically, I am interested in two things. I want to become as proficient as I can in the German language while earning a German language minor. I also want to deepen my knowledge and understanding of early church history/Catholicism in Europe. The Protestant Reformation was not only a turning point in religious persons history, but the non-religious as well. So, to be near the very origins of the movement, and studying at a Catholic University seems to be the perfect placement for me. Having a better sense and knowledge for the German language and early church history will benefit my overall preparation for seminary. Whether it is understanding more deeply the nuance of a word in German to assist in an ontological argument, or explaining the importance of becoming a free-thinking citizen, I want to learn it all.

While I expect the social, spiritual, and academic to all overlap, they all will happen on their own time. What I am hoping for socially is to secure strong relationships and bonds with native Germans. My German won't get any better if I only hang out with Americans. I hope to truly speak, engage, and sympathize with people of a different culture. This ties in with my spiritual hopes and aspirations too. When you open up, sympathize, and are even not afraid to engage in difficult conversation with people different from yourself, you broaden the lens of your prospective. So, while these things will undoubtably prepare me for seminary, I hope this is the next step towards living my most fulfilling life.

Blog Post #1

Next spring I will be studying abroad in Spain. My primary goal for studying in Spain is to become fluent in Spanish and to live among locals to become better acquainted with their culture. I would also like to travel around Spain as well as other countries in Europe. Another goal of mine is to be able to have tapas and wine every week! 

Before heading to Spain, I am worried about the language barrier. I am excited to meet new people and experience their culture; however, I am nervous that my Spanish will not be up to the level of understanding all of my professors. 

The first thing I would like to do to maximize my experience is to make friends who are locals of Madrid so that I can experience the city as a local. I also want to push myself to only speaking Spanish so that I can try to avoid the language barrier as much as possible. Lastly, I want to try as much Spanish things as possible (food) and avoid American chains. 

Study Abroad Goals

Studying abroad has always been a dream of mine; in fact, it was one of the main reasons why I decided to go to college. I have always wanted to experience my major from a different perspective and culture that I can’t get from home. The chance to gain different journalistic styles and written communication will help me to improve my overall journalistic ability. Furthermore, interacting with new people of different backgrounds will encourage me as a journalist to tell stories from a different perspective. I think that the chance to immerse myself in a different education system is a great way to understand the people and their different traditions and cultures and will help me to have a better, well-rounded experience at Maryville College.

            Going to college out of state was the first time I had ever been away from home. I think that leaving the US will help me to better appreciate the nation’s people and how their history differs from the US. The chance to experience a completely new way of life is very exciting and fascinating to me because, upon graduation, I am not sure where I want to live; maybe the United Kingdom could be the place for me to grow socially and career wise. However, I will not know until I get there.

            I chose the United Kingdom because, as a requirement to graduate, I must do a senior thesis about a subject within my major. I plan to do a study on how TV journalism is the same/different between the UK and the US. My thesis will focus on news and current events in both countries as well as international relations and how it is presented in the news media. I need to go to United Kingdom to fully understand the media presentation and media’s effect on society.

Nate Long: Blog 1

Just two days ago I found out that I would be studying abroad in Pamplona in the North of Spain.  I have many things that I want to do and see while there being both in Spain and out.  The main goal that I have in studying abroad is that I want to become fluent in Spanish seeing as it is my major and just as a personal goal of mine.  However, outside of the classroom and language skills I want to travel as much as possible while there.  I want to be able to travel outside of Spain to other countries but at this point I don’t really know where all this includes.  As I draw closer to going, I want to get a better idea of my schedule and the amount of traveling that I will be capable of so that I can make plans.  Within Spain though, I hope to travel to the Madrid and Barcelona being two of the largest cities in Spain.  Not only this but these two cities are home to two of the largest soccer clubs in all of the world and I hope to be able to attend at least one of their games, especially El Clasico if at all possible.

Having just received my placement I am very excited for the trip but realize that it is months away and I still have much planning to do.  The only thing that I feel I am really nervous about is missing my friends and things that are going to happen back home.  Ultimately though, I know that I will love my time abroad and that seems to make me feel better about not being here for a whole semester.  As far as the actual trip, at this point being a few months away from going I’m not really nervous or scared of anything pertaining to the whole study abroad experience but I feel that as I draw closer I will grow more anxious about the upcoming trip.

When it comes to maximizing my experience the first thing I think I can do is, as already mentioned, to travel as much as possible to see the world and see different cultures.  I feel that this will help me learn greatly about the world and things in it.  Next, seeing as one of my goals is to become fluent, I want to surround myself as much as possible with people who will always speak Spanish with me and help me to improve in the language.  Lastly, I want to make many new friends from all around world for two reasons.  First, to learn about them, where they are from and their culture.  Secondly, for future traveling having these friends around the world would potentially make it easier to travel around the world.