DU Abroad – Page 3

Culture shock

noun

1. A state of bewilderment and distress experienced by an individual who is suddenly exposed to a new, strange, or foreign social and cultural environment.

I have never really thought about culture shock, what it is, how it happens, what it is like. It has never really been on my radar, until now. Over the past couple of days it has certainly been exciting and tough for me to adjust to living somewhere abroad. For the vast majority of students studying abroad we are upper class(men/women). It’s like senior year of high school, we know the drill, run the show, have tons of confidence and unlike high school we claim to be more sophisticated, mature, and prepared to tackle to the world (debatable for some). With our seniority comes a sense of adventure, a constant urge to seek out challenges, to learn, to have fun. The thing is, in our seniority, we forget the basis of our ability to express these mentalities. The reason we’re so adventurous is we have a new comfort zone, a new home, a home away from home where we have found the freedom to make mistakes and succeed on our own. Its liberating, exciting, and quite honestly its the best. *Big shout out to all the parents (especially mine), family, friends, government aid, loans, that make that happen.*

Now, rewind back to the first days of college… Everybody was a little insecure, a little nervous, super excited, but the interesting part was we just did not know. Most of us took a chance to completely turn the past 18 years of our lives completely upside down. Friends, living space, meals, class style, social life, all of it completely new. Despite all the perfect pictures our friends would post on their social media of how they were at their “dream schools” and life could “not be any better” we all suffered a little bit to build up the amazing experience that is college. Studying abroad, is just that… you are moving to college for the first time all over again. Weird is it not?

Whether your parents came with, you did it yourself, you had someone waiting for you, or you did it with your best friend you moved to somewhere completely new, you needed to find new living quarters, figure out meals, learn in a new perspective, figure out your social life. All of it. It is all new, so new it’s not even American… Freshman year was nothing compared to this, and you did not even see it coming, because guess what? You were listening to all those stories from your friends who went before you, from the social media they posted of all the fun they were having, just like freshman year. Now before you have a midlife crisis at age 20-something and think the Illuminati are behind this (don’t rule it out either), lets get back to what is important: Study abroad is fun. Stupid fun. Study Abroad is the 1970’s Polyester Leisure suit of experiences, its uncomfortable every time you wear it, there are always moments where you’re not sure about it, but its too fresh to pass up. I understand I, nor most people of my generation can relate to this, but thats the best analogy you’re going to get.

So as some of you get close to your halfway points, are just starting, or getting ready to board your planes: love study abroad. Remember, like everything and everyone else you’ve ever loved it didn’t happen overnight. Study abroad demands a flexible, strong, and determined individual who is willing to push their comfort zones so that they can completely change their perspective and perceptions. We are all doing so different things in so many different places, that is important to know. Just because you have a friend traveling to Fiji, one eating in Venice, one skiing in South America, one riding elephants in Thailand, and your somewhere rainy and cold… think about why you are there! There are always adventures to be had, it all depends on what are you willing to do to make them happen? We all learn differently, some of us thats in an office, hiking mountains, playing music, building homes, or taking photographs, so be happy for your friends and jealous but find your own happiness in your program and let that guide you. At the end of this experience, you too will be the student who comes home and tells all of their friends how incredible your studies abroad were, show flashy pictures, and reminisce of those amazing memories. But for now, don’t worry about what you miss, or what your strive to have, embrace the now. Journal your journeys, photograph those landscapes, take some chances, and discover yourself. Wake up every day grateful that you’re doing this, that you were able to choose or be chosen for this, and think about how you are growing.

Hello Internet? I don’t know, introductions are tricky. My name is Kerry and I’m a junior studying English and Spanish. The past month I was studying Spanish and Iberian Culture with a DU program in Santander, Spain. The program is now over and I am spending a little time traveling until September 1st. From then until December, I am participating in the ISA Hispanic Studies and Electives program in Sevilla, Spain. I chose to study abroad in Spain because I want to learn Spanish and experience a little European future and oh boy has Spain delivered. After only one month I can feel my Spanish improving emensily. The post below was written two weeks into my Santander program, so let’s all hop in our time machines and get to work.

English and Spanish at DU. I have been studying abroad in Spain for about a month (!!!!!!) already and I am head over heals in love. The past month I did a program with DU Spanish professors and students in Santander, Spain taking two classes in one month. Then, starting September 1st, I am participating in and ISA Hispanic Studies and Electives program in Sevilla, Spain. I wanted to study abroad in Spain to learn Spanish and to experience a bit of European culture and oh boy has Spain delivered. I can hear myself speaking Spanish with more confidence and fluidity. The blog post below was actually written when I was about 2 weeks into my program with Santander. So let’s hop in our time machines go back to the future¡¡¡¡

I have always been really bad at anticipating my emotions. Before a big event or a change in my life, I am incapable of really anticipate how that change will make me feel. For instance, when leaving school for the summer or for our long December break, I never really completely comprehend how much I am going to miss my friends. I see my friends crying and hugging each other so tightly it must hurt. I do hug my friends tight and say goodbye, but I never cry, or really feel much of anything. But then I leave and I find myself thinking about them at the most nonsensical times and my stomach twists and only then, I feel like crying. For instance right now, I am thinking of my excellent friend Tiffany. She is ridiculous in the most marvelous and fabulous of ways, and she was the one who encouraged me to tryout to be a DU blogger. I wouldn’t be “here” without her. And.. I’m crying. Send help Tiff.

Point is, I have never been good at foreseeing my emotions.

I’ve been in Spain now for a full week and, perhaps inevitably, I feel nothing like I thought I might. Honestly, I thought it would be weirder. I thought I would miss home and DU more. I thought it would be odd to live with a stranger in a home stay program and I thought I would be in a constant state of fear. I thought all of this on the way to the airport. I felt nothing but small waves of excitement the months of June and July and then, on the way to the airport, all my nerves hit me at once. My poor parents where trying to talk to me, the last in-person conversation for five months, and I shut down. Sorry Mom and Dad, I didn’t mean to.

But holy-guacamole I am having so much fun. (also like, guacamole. amirite?) The program I am a part of in Santander is a very work-intensive program. Last week, we had one day to explore the city, 7-8 hours of one class in 2 days and then a full day excursion. woof. These next 2 and ½ weeks are only going to get harder, and I even have a mid-term on Wednesday. Obviously, I am learning a lot. Outside of the many hours inside studying, my time here is invaluable (My time studying is also very important, the other stuff is just more fun).

One of the first notable experiences happened on Friday: the whole class went to this replica of a Celtic village. The Celtic people are a group of people indigenous to the Iberian Peninsula, and then the Roman’s came and conquered as Roman’s do (did). If you’ve seen the movie “Gladiator,” it’s more or less that. (Learned that shit in class last week). Before the excursion, we were told to dress “comfortably.” To us, that meant walking shoes, jeans or shorts, and some sort of shirt—casual, comfy, cute. Upon arrival, we were presented with a sizable hill. It was not that long of a walk up, however the plethora of cow mierda (google it) made the walk a little less enjoyable to say the least. Then, we met Raúl: straight up the smelliest man alive. He showed us how to build a house out of mud like the Celtics did—with water, dirt, and sticks

Then, he told us we were to help repair some damages the snow had caused in one of the houses. He said this is very fast Spanish, so there was a moment when we were all just looking at each other. “He didn’t just say.. no I must have heard wrong.. We’re doing what?” Nobody had any idea that we were going to have to basically roll around in the mud and build a house, and were thusly not dressed appropriately. We immediately bonded over the shared distaste for manual labor, in nice(ish) clothes, in the rain (it was raining). One hombre in my group was wearing new white vans–they were pink at the end of the day; he was so salty about it, but we all just laughed and laughed (parents: salty=angry, mad, bitter). Throughout the day and on the walk back in nice, wet cow mierda, I laughed harder than I had all summer. I realized then, the phenomenal group of people I had been thrown together with would make any walk through cow poop fun. (Mierda is Spanish for shit if you hadn’t caught on or googled that yet.)

Not to get too broad and preachy, but I think that that is a big part of being abroad. You can’t always know what you are going to do or how it is going to make you feel. When you are in a new circumstance, knowing how you will feel coming out of it is nearly impossible. You don’t know that you are only going to learn the Spanish word for shit by walking through it for ½ hour. You don’t know a smelly Spanish man named Raúl is going to, without warning, smear a bunch of mud all over your face for no reason. You don’t know not to wear your favorite, fancy pants to a Celtic village where all of your effort will be put into not ruining them. And you also cannot explain or control your reaction. But, sometimes with the right group of people, you can have a fond memory of cow poop. Study abroad you sneaky bastard you—thank you.

-Kerry Nelson

DU Sophomore

Me in my favorite fancy pants showing the celtic people, and the people of the world, what Fashion really is.

Tag: DU Abroad

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A Pleasant Memory of Cow Poop