Being in a foreign country, miles from home is not always easy nor do we always highlight the whole story of what looks like glorious travels. I have been trying to make the most of my time abroad which has included traveling to a new area or country outside of Rome every weekend. With this,…
Month: October 2021
Cultural Confrontation in Italy
It has officially been over 8 weeks since I arrived for my study abroad in Italy. One thing that I for sure have noticed is how quick time flies (not just for me, but all those studying abroad with me as well) and how you don’t notice until you look back and remember that it…
Cultural Confrontation in Irbid
I have been in Jordan for a little over a month now. Throughout this month, I have been surprised at the LACK of culture shock I have experienced here. Life in Jordan is extremely different from life in the U.S., but my excitement and curiosity have kept me from feeling frustrated by cultural differences. I…
Cultural Confrontation: Portugal!
I can’t lie, I have experienced multiple instances of cultural frustration I could write about: being a vegetarian in the Iberian peninsula; how difficult it is to get water at a restaurant, and also the lack of ice; the lack of spices to cook with in the grocery stores… But for this instance, I would…
Cultural Confrontation
I’ve been in the U.K now for the past week and have found it quite similar to the culture in the U.S. Both the U.S and the U.K are industrialized Western countries so I did not expect a lot of differences. But of course, there are enough differences that have gave me a chuckle or…
Blog Post #2
Traveling to Greece with the mindset that cultural confrontation would happen has made it much easier for me to accept and appreciate different cultural and everyday practices. However, there are some moments when I still get a little overwhelmed. The most common example of cultural confrontation that I have experienced is probably grocery shopping. Each…
Blog Post #2
Throughout my time here in London, I’ve noticed a lot of things people do here that are very different that what we do in the U.S. One specific thing is the travel here in the UK. People tend to take a lot of public transportation instead of driving their cars. Walking or taking the tub…
Cultural Confrontation – Service
One experience of cultural confrontation that I faced within my first month abroad was to do with the service industry in the UK compared to that of the US. A few weeks ago I was out at dinner for a friend’s birthday. We went to a popular italian place nearby. We had made a reservation…
Cultural Confrontation
One of the biggest cultural differences that I have struggled with while in Greece is the normality of staring and being stared at. Having been raised in the States, I have the understanding that staring at people is considered rude or disrespectful. However, since being in Greece, I have realized what a common practice this…
Blog Post #2
One of my first experiences after arriving abroad was a funny but prevalent moment of cultural confrontation. Freshly off the plane, trying to settle in at my new London flat one of the first things that I needed to do was grocery shop. Obviously, I know that grocery shopping in a new country would not…