Studying abroad here in Aix-en- Provence has been a formative experience for me and I have enjoyed every moment of it thus far. Since being in France, one of the aspects of daily life that I found hard to adjust to at first was the lack of air conditioning. I remember the first night I…
Category: France: IAU College
Blog #2 – Cultural Confrontation
Being placed in France has been one of my best life experiences so far. I have no regrets about studying abroad and although I have faced confrontational moments; such encounters have taught me life lessons and have strengthened my development of character. My biggest struggle so far has occurred during the weekends. I normally dislike…
Cultural confrontation in France (blog #2)
It is crazy to think we are already half way through the semester, as just last week I recognized that I finally felt 100% adjusted to Aix. Moving here, I definitely confronted several cultural differences that took time to get used to. Being in south France, it was extremely hot during the month of September….
Cultural Confrontation
The biggest cultural confrontation that I experienced when I first arrived in France was the lack of air conditioning. Being in the south of France at the end of August and September, it was very hot and slightly humid, but going inside did not help as much because there was no a/c. In order to…
Blog Post 2 – Vanessa Martinez
Instances in which I experienced cultural confrontation, were when I was told by several people in France that a friendly, polite smile to someone on the street could be viewed as flirtation and that consent was not as important of a concept in France as it is the U.S. It is not that the people…
Pre-Departure Blog – Jade May
Sports in the United States play a large part in American society and culture. From American football, baseball, soccer, tennis, etc. America presents a large variety of sports captured from all over the world. Sports are entertaining and extremely popular, however, they also correspond with numerous community values and morals including teamwork, justice, and leadership. …
Pre-Departure Blog – Vanessa Martinez
Individualism is often brought up in discussions of American culture. This means that Americans view themselves as their own person, independent, separate from any group. A collectivist culture on the other hand, relies on the sense of community and close intragroup connection and views all individuals as part of the group. In sharing my judgment…
Pre-Departure Blog (#1)
While preparing to go abroad for the semester, it is only natural to feel slightly anxious and nervous. Exciting nerves have been coursing through my body since the beginning of August. I have never been to Europe, even with the comforts of friends and family, so this is an entirely novel experience for me. I…
Pre-Study Abroad Prompt
By being an international student, I have learned to gather the habits from each culture to help develop my own character. So far, the United States culture had the biggest impact on me. In other words, I have more values and behaviors from the American culture than from my native culture. The value behind individualism…
France IAU Blog Post #1
When I think about American culture, a significant aspect that comes to mind is the individualistic nature of society. Compared to the more collectivist culture in Europe and in Asia, in the US every person is viewed as a self-sufficient individual. I think this connects significantly to the idea of ” The American Dream”. Over…