During my time in London, there were several occurences where I had to adjust to my host culture. As an international student from Germany, this was something I had already experienced when studying and working in the United States. One specific occurence of an aspect I had to adjust to was related to the UK’s work culture. In my previous internships in Germany and the US, great emphasis was put on the productivity of the individual. As such, I was used to working in cubicles or small personal offices by myself, isolated from the other employees until our lunch break. I felt as though I always have to look busy. On the other hand, during my time at Inspiratia (my London internship company), the office atmosphere was much more relaxed. My coworkers would chat with each other, browse their social media on their phones and sometimes even bring out a ping pong table. This was not something that I had been used to, so I had to loosen up and adjust myself.
While this may not apply to all companies operating in the UK, it was still a general trend I had noticed across my friends’ experiences as well. However, this could also be caused by the size of our internship companies. My firm was relatively small with only 21 employees, which makes it much easier to get to know the whole team on a more personal level and therefore become more relaxed.
I think that studying and especially interning abroad are a great experience that allowed me to grow personally and professionally, in line with Rollins’ mission to raise global citizens and responsible leaders. Throughout my courses, of which most were electives that were related to British culture and life, I learned a lot about my host country and city. Especially the many field trips organized by my professors allowed me to see and learn about many places I would have never known about. Additionaly, my internship helped me develop my professional and intercultural skills. By itself, internships are already very enriching experiences, but the international, intercultural focus of this internship definitely added another layer of complexity and allowed me to learn and grow even more.
Naturally, studying and interning abroad is also a very marketable experience and I have noticed the impact it has had on my applications when searching for jobs.
I think I was a bit more engaged with people of my host culture than most other people in my program, which helps me understand my experience from their viewpoint a bit better. As a competitive swimmer, I had to keep training while abroad, which is why I joined a local swim club. It was very fun to train with this group of people, and through the questions they asked me, I was able to better understand their perspective.
For example, many of their questions revolved about German and US stereotypes, or what it was like living abroad. I think that, from their viewpoint, it was very exciting to have somebody new that was not from the same culture as everyone else. They seemed to cherish the cultural differences between us and were always curious.
How do these reflections help me in the future?
Reflecting on intercultural collision and exchange is important, especially in our increasingly globalized world. I have particularly noticed this during my time as a foreigner in the US, where I have had to adjust and allow for intercultural differences. Overall, reflection is a very powerful tool that allows us to understand past mistakes, but also things we did well, and helps us learn and grow from the experience.
Christian Huber