Jamaica is a cultural melting pot. Our motto is “out of many one people” as we have a variety of Jamaicans from various cultural backgrounds due to our history. As a nation, we are very laid-back and humorous. We take pride in our beautiful island resources, music (reggae and dancehall), and our athletic capabilities. My friends and I always say that Jamaica is not a real place, as no one takes anything that seriously. We find humour in any situation. At the same time, we value education and religion. I think someone who is not from Jamaica would view it from two different perspectives: that we are super kind and funny or that we are very much stuck in the old ways and values. I would say the mindset of most Jamaicans is very traditional, especially in the older population. Hence, when I came to the United States, I experienced a culture shock. I think everyone is more open-minded in the States. I have been studying at Rollins for almost 3 years and I still do not think I fully understand American culture. However, I can say that I have learned so much more about society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a Jamiacian, I am biased, I will always love Jamaica. I love the pride we carry ourselves with. We have a saying, “we likkle but we tallawah”. Although we are a small country, we have many historical acclalades. I have been introduced to and participated in different cultural events. I mean, there will always be things that one will not like about their country. For me, I would say I would like the older generation to not be so critical or close-minded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am beginning this programme with an open mind. It\u2019s kind of a funny yet interesting situation as I am already technically studying abroad as I am a Jamaican studying in the States. Essentially, now I am studying abroad in London while already studying abroad. I have an upper hand over my other classmates as I have already had to acclimate to another country. However, the only difference now is that I am not sure if there will be other students in similar situations to mine. Will I find anyone who I can relate to?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think this reflection will allow me to see the growth and change in mindset I will have from my study abroad experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jamaica is a cultural melting pot. Our motto is “out of many one people” as we have a variety of Jamaicans from various cultural backgrounds due to our history. As a nation, we are very laid-back and humorous. We take pride in our beautiful island resources, music (reggae and dancehall), and our athletic capabilities. My…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":734,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[369],"class_list":["post-21053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-capa","tag-rollinsabroad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/734"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21053"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21054,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21053\/revisions\/21054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}