How do you write about an intangible idea? You could start
internally with how it makes you feel: I felt like I was part of a family I
never met. You could talk externally about the people you met: they were
diverse, caring, trusting, and eternally optimistic. You could also describe
the experiences that occurred: hiking, bungee jumping, St. Patrick’s Days, etc.
Even with all these descriptions you would miss the fleeting moment/idea that I
feel embodies what study abroad is about. These moments can’t be captured in a
Facebook post, Snapchat, Instagram, or video. You try to give the feeling to
others who can’t experience through blogs, postcards, or letters. However you
know inside that the memories you have are the only traces left to accurately
embody it. With that being said take this post as a humble offer from a family
member you are meeting for the first time. Reading through some of the previous
blogs I feel honored to be included in a group of adventurous people.
My study abroad experience has gone through so many phases
in my short time. Arriving in Glasgow, Scotland with my dragon Danny, we were
very overwhelmed. The Glaswegian accent is quite thick. Every conversation was
like a blind date. I never really knew if a person was genuinely nice or
putting on a façade. I can safely say now that almost everyone is genuinely
nice and wants to help you. Additionally completing simple task felt like a
chore requiring much effort. From simple things such as buying bedding sheets
to ordering a meal, I was constantly challenged. It’s crazy how missing one or
two words can completely lose the substance of a sentence.
As I progressed I quickly became comfortable. And this sense
of family began to take shape. The easiest way to describe this is through the
lifestyle emphasis. In most situations the US tends to stratify people
increasing the power-distance. The US is like a hotel and the UK/Europe is a
mall. The penthouse of a hotel is the best, nicest room. It is physically at
the top of the hotel and financially only people who are in the top tax bracket
can afford. Therefore only people with a
lot of power (money) can get into the penthouse. The mall is not equally divided, but there is
much less distinction between the rooms. So this brings us back to the family
feeling. Every time except one, in Dublin, I have stayed in someone else’s
residence. I love staying at bed and
breakfasts (B&B). My first B&B
was at Fort Williams in Scotland. Our host Ann was very accommodating. My
roommate and I, whom I traveled with, talked at length with here during
breakfast each morning and learned much about the Fort Williams area.
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| Cold winter mornings at the B&B |
Currently I just returned from spring break. If Megabus had
frequent rider miles I would be in the platinum club! I traveled to London,
Paris, and Barcelona. London was quite expensive and overrated in my opinion, I
prefer Glasgow if you are going to endure bad weather. However Paris and
Barcelona more than lived up to their hype!!
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| Danny made a new friend! |
I was even lucky
enough to experience Holi in Barcelona. If you are an arts major I feel you
should be required to visit both cities! The Louvre Museum is so huge and
contains a lot of history, and Barcelona is a living tutorial of how you should
design any large scale project. In both cities I met amazing people who had
such a different perspective on life. I was quite jealous of how they could be
so satisfied with much less than I am accustomed to.
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| That's my "I barely survived Holi" smile |
My highlight of spring break was the Saturday in Barcelona
where I spent the day on a bike tour and the evening having a rooftop tapas
dinner.
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| Planning my return to Barcelona |
It was a great time to reflect on my time and how fortunate
I was to be abroad. That night on the rooftop, I was almost able to capture
that intangible idea. It came up in a conversation with the hostess of the
dinner. Looking out at Montjuic I told her how different our perspective of
tonight was. It was my last night in Barcelona and was quite jealous that she
could come up every day. She smiled, then looked at me and said “We don’t do
this often, plus during this time of year it gets really cold at night.”
Wendel Ridley
University of Strathclyde
Glasgow, Scotland
United Kingdom
