(as written on August 11th, 2010...on my way to Tuebingen!!)
Having never left the United States before this trip, I had my own stereotypical expectations about what it would be like to visit a foreign country. I knew I would have a difficult time with food since I am a vegetarian. I knew that I would end up getting really lost. I knew I would definitely stick out as a tourist in certain places. I had heard about culture shock, but did not really expect to encounter this sort of thing until I had actually settled down in Tuebingen.
At first, I felt pretty much at home in the countries I traveled to. Ireland's airport looks disappointingly a lot like the airport in my home town of Columbus, Ohio. Actually a lot of the rural areas I traveled to look like Ohio. It was not until I reached Amsterdam that I felt like I was truly in a different country, because the main language spoken there is not English. My boyfriend urged us all to learn a little Dutch for the few days we would spend there, but we scoffed at him, thinking, “Everyone knows English there, we'll be fine!”
Although this was true, almost everyone did speak a little English everywhere we went, we found it to be very much in our favor to speak a little of the native tongue in the countries we visited. We learned to say “hello”, “thank you”, “please”, “excuse me”, and “goodbye” in Dutch, Spanish, Italian, German, and Czech, and this little bit of extra effort was much appreciated in every country. People were delighted and grateful that we had shown an interest in their culture, and weren't just there to party and find our way to the nearest McDonald's. Just as we have a stereotypical idea of what people from other countries are like, they have their own ideas of what Americans are like. Learning just a little bit of the native tongue earned us great service, good directions, and tips on the local spots we would not have been able to find on our own.
However, I did not make it much past the basics in any language that I tried to speak, and I found myself uncomfortably silent while at restaurants, grocery stores, and other social spots. I'm used to cracking jokes with the cashier, commenting on the weather with the server, discussing the scene with the bartender...and in a country where I can barely say “hello” and 'thank you”, I found myself doing a lot of smiling and nodding. Not being able to communicate felt odd and uncomfortable.
Going grocery shopping was a whole new world of frustration. It took me hours to grocery shop when I had to bust out the dictionary in front of every item I thought about buying. Several times, I had a very strong urge to just give it up and go home. I was sick of everything being so hard to figure out, and not being able to ask anyone for help was very discouraging for me.
But..there is no giving up now. This is my dream, and despite all the frustration and anxiety, I have faith that I will figure everything out. If there is one thing traveling abroad can give you, it is confidence and faith in yourself. As we speak, I am on bus from Prague to Stuttgart, where I will have to find my way to the airport to catch another bus to Tuebingen. I am alone for the first time in two and a half months. I am traveling in a country that I barely speak the language of, on a bus full of people speaking a second language I don't speak. Honestly, I am terrified right now. I have no idea what lies ahead of me, which is a very scary thing, but also very exciting. This is what I worked so hard for. This is the day I've been waiting for—the first day of the study abroad program. Wish me luck!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment