From Gothic to Romanesque to Contemporary Paris!
Born and brought up in India, a very cultural and diverse land, I was exposed to different cultures, languages, beliefs and customs since childhood. This exposure always gave me that temperament of curiosity which was increased every time I went on a trip with my family. From then on, I decided to travel the whole world. Side by side I developed my interest in studying abroad and I came to the USA where I realized that this was a step closer to my dream of traveling the world. I started to look for honors study abroad seminars, but I couldn't choose one. But every time I saw the honors study abroad page my eyes used to stop at Paris. Still unsure, I asked my family if I can go on a tour and they were more than happy and willing to let me get this experience and even their only choice was Paris. One of the major reasons my family wanted me to go on this tour was to get real life experience. So this experience was not just for my dream but also for developing my personality.
All along my spring semester, on one hand I was learning about the French culture, politics and history but I was also actually experiencing the American culture, politics and the effect of history. I always used to connect them to the Indian culture, politics and history. This particular compare and contrast experience helped me to realize the fact that even in a very different culture people can never lose the identity they carry from their roots. This whole experience of being in Paris thought me that to feel a little more comfortable in a new setting, you have to get used to and try to adapt to the things that most locals do. For example, In Paris I was no more looking for the food I like to eat but was enjoying crepes and coffee. The author starts the book by saying that one can never experience a city if we haven’t got bored in it, haven’t got lost or haven’t experienced anything terrible. I proved this statement right when I lost my 2-months old cell phone on my second day of the tour. This experience made me email the owner and then personally visit the restaurant where I last used my phone. I had to find his email ID in the local directory and I took help from my hotel’s receptionist to email the owner in French. This is how I saw that opening statement of my book being proved true in front of my eyes.
Another part of my Paris tour was getting a Schengen Visa. I was the only international student in our class and I had to go through this process all alone. I did not contact any travel consultant but did everything myself. I had to go to Chicago to give an interview for my visa. I was very nervous since I had deposited the fee for my tour without having my visa. I collected all the documents, maintained my bank account statement, and contacted the French consulate for any query, practiced for the visa interview all by myself. After looking at my documents and visa application, even the interviewer was impressed that I did all that by myself. Another part of this experience was that I had to go to Chicago on a working day, that too, all by myself when I have not traveled outside the UC campus and was not much aware of how things work in US.A. This is when I made Google and a smartphone as my best friend. I planned my whole trip through Google maps and was able to have a very successful trip.
As a global citizen, I now realize that even though we are always identified by our cultural identity, but when seen globally, people are just the same. Their problems might be solved in different ways, their cultural upbringing could be different, they may prefer different spice levels, but at the end, we are all humans the moral values we have are just the same. So, if someone can adjust at a high school of 300 students as its graduating class, then being at a place where the incoming freshmen class constitutes of thousands of students should not be difficult if it is kept in mind that we all are just the same.
This tour not only helped me realize my good communication and problem-solving skills independently but also helped me to make the world my home. This experience will always help me to adjust to new surroundings and cultures easily. I know understand that it is important for me to enjoy the present and be happy to be able to study at such a great university and if I have to face problems as small as not being able to get good food or friends then I should try to solve them rather than curse being in that situation.
This is how I am integrating the lessons I learned in this tour into my life. As a part of my dream to travel the world, I have started to make a scrapbook starting with the Paris tour and I wish that by the time I finish the scrapbook I would have traveled all around the world. I always think that the best way to improve one’s life is to move forward with the lessons learned from every experience and the experiences I learned will definitely make my coming global tours more successful by making me aware of the surrounding, being updated with current affairs, taking care of personal belongings, taking extra care of health and trying to adjust at new places by making it feel like home. And I would suggest to all my peers to definitely go for a study abroad tour and do everything independently and cherish all the situations you fall in because good or bad, it will teach you something.
All along my spring semester, on one hand I was learning about the French culture, politics and history but I was also actually experiencing the American culture, politics and the effect of history. I always used to connect them to the Indian culture, politics and history. This particular compare and contrast experience helped me to realize the fact that even in a very different culture people can never lose the identity they carry from their roots. This whole experience of being in Paris thought me that to feel a little more comfortable in a new setting, you have to get used to and try to adapt to the things that most locals do. For example, In Paris I was no more looking for the food I like to eat but was enjoying crepes and coffee. The author starts the book by saying that one can never experience a city if we haven’t got bored in it, haven’t got lost or haven’t experienced anything terrible. I proved this statement right when I lost my 2-months old cell phone on my second day of the tour. This experience made me email the owner and then personally visit the restaurant where I last used my phone. I had to find his email ID in the local directory and I took help from my hotel’s receptionist to email the owner in French. This is how I saw that opening statement of my book being proved true in front of my eyes.
Another part of my Paris tour was getting a Schengen Visa. I was the only international student in our class and I had to go through this process all alone. I did not contact any travel consultant but did everything myself. I had to go to Chicago to give an interview for my visa. I was very nervous since I had deposited the fee for my tour without having my visa. I collected all the documents, maintained my bank account statement, and contacted the French consulate for any query, practiced for the visa interview all by myself. After looking at my documents and visa application, even the interviewer was impressed that I did all that by myself. Another part of this experience was that I had to go to Chicago on a working day, that too, all by myself when I have not traveled outside the UC campus and was not much aware of how things work in US.A. This is when I made Google and a smartphone as my best friend. I planned my whole trip through Google maps and was able to have a very successful trip.
As a global citizen, I now realize that even though we are always identified by our cultural identity, but when seen globally, people are just the same. Their problems might be solved in different ways, their cultural upbringing could be different, they may prefer different spice levels, but at the end, we are all humans the moral values we have are just the same. So, if someone can adjust at a high school of 300 students as its graduating class, then being at a place where the incoming freshmen class constitutes of thousands of students should not be difficult if it is kept in mind that we all are just the same.
This tour not only helped me realize my good communication and problem-solving skills independently but also helped me to make the world my home. This experience will always help me to adjust to new surroundings and cultures easily. I know understand that it is important for me to enjoy the present and be happy to be able to study at such a great university and if I have to face problems as small as not being able to get good food or friends then I should try to solve them rather than curse being in that situation.
This is how I am integrating the lessons I learned in this tour into my life. As a part of my dream to travel the world, I have started to make a scrapbook starting with the Paris tour and I wish that by the time I finish the scrapbook I would have traveled all around the world. I always think that the best way to improve one’s life is to move forward with the lessons learned from every experience and the experiences I learned will definitely make my coming global tours more successful by making me aware of the surrounding, being updated with current affairs, taking care of personal belongings, taking extra care of health and trying to adjust at new places by making it feel like home. And I would suggest to all my peers to definitely go for a study abroad tour and do everything independently and cherish all the situations you fall in because good or bad, it will teach you something.