Allegheny College Study Abroad Spring 2009

Leaving North Carolina I was leaving more than just the Marine Lab and my friends. Part of my family lives there as well and pulling out of their driveway that morning was harder than anything. Even though we like to think we will keep in touch life gets in the way and I knew this would happen. However, it was a comfort knowing the impressions I’ve made on everyone down there would remain. As an American ambassador I would have to say my work was well quite minimal seeing as everyone else there was American. I did enjoy meeting people in Trinidad and definitely made some amazing friends there. I am still in contact with a few of the Trinidad “nature seekers” who worked with leatherback sea turtles there. Working along with these wonderful people they quickly realize that MTV is full of crap  and not all Americans fit into that cliché group. As an Allegheny College ambassador I was myself. I love learning about people and their backgrounds be it in the USA or elsewhere. I am still close friends with two girls from the Marine Lab and we just had a reunion!! I plan on making a few trips down to Duke to catch up with them and a few of my favorite professors.

In Mexico, I believe forfilled the role as an American and Allegheny ambassador very well. As an American ambassador it was important to live up to the standards American citizens have to live up to in America. Without imposing my beliefs about society and government on the people of Mexico I was able to show them how we live in America while also learning from them and their beliefs. In regards to Allegheny, I was a good example of Allegheny by always striving for knowledge and unsterstanding of my host culture. By stressing friendship and community I believe I brought some of the values of Allegheny College to Mexico to be shared with my Mexican and American friends. I believe the values of Allegheny helped me gain a better understanding and knowlege while in my host country and I wouldn't have been able to learn as much without having them with me

I have been home for a few weeks ago and already I have adapted back to my life in the states. While abroad I feel like I have achieved my role of a U.S. and Allegheny ambassador because of my homestay and internship. I lived with two different families over three and a half months and over this time we learned from each other. Both of my homestays have hosted before but each time it is a little different. A lot of the time I sat down explaining to my family and friends that life in America isn't perfect. In many ways they felt like Americans don't have struggles and I guess in a lot of ways they are not as great as the ones many Africans face. Immediately everyone assumes you are rich so I spent a lot of time trying to clear up this misconception. I explained to them that I have been working since I was fifteen and am just a regular student and by no means do I live the life of luxury. My stories were not always easy for them to understand as I was their direct link to an American student. Most of their facts comes from the media which can be biased. Reality TV shows also give the U.S. a poor image as many Africans use this as a base for comparison. Overall, I enjoyed my time with the family and hopefully gave them a new perspective on what they think of America.

As I prepare to leave Angers a week from tomorrow, I find it hard to believe it's been 4 months. I've met a lot of great people here, and it will be sad to leave. I'll be happy to return home to see my family and friends again, but at the same time it will be disheartening knowing that 99% of the people I've met here, I will probably never see again. As an Allegheny ambassador, I've done my best to conduct myself with great responsibility and do the best work possible, using the knowledge I have from my experience at Allegheny to my advantage both in and out of class. I feel that I've certainly been an mabassador of the US, sharing my culture and memories from home with the friends I've made here in Angers. It's been an amazing experience, and I can't believe it's almost over. I'll miss the people and also Angers, but it's time to return home for the summer. Au revoir, Angers, I'm nearly Homeward Bound.

Here in Angers, there is a program known as VVV, which is a group created to exchange cultural differences between American and French students. The members will go out to bars around the town on a set night just to spend some time together. It is a way for the French students to learn more English and for the American students to learn more French. It's a great way to meet new people as well as an excellent opportunity to better your speaking skills and expand your vocabulary in a different language. As an American, you're also able to share some of your experiences with the French students and teach them some new vocabulary of your own.

When I arrived back in the United States I never expected that I would experience on my re-entry just as I had thought when I started this entire adventure. I mean this is my home where I have grown up and lived most of my life so how could it cause unsettling feelings. This feeling in my gut of discontent and confusion I cannot explain nor do I know why it is there. I desire to be back in Europe and Spain even though when I left I wanted to come home. This inner battle of confusion has me lost in the United States. While in Spain, I never had to defend my political views or my religious beliefs in a country that is 96% Roman Catholic. However, I did have to defend my fan-hood and passion for my favorite football teams: FC Bayern Muenchen, Sevilla FC, and Newcastle United. My professors were surprised and loved the fact that I was such an avid fan of European football unlike the majority Americans and the fact that I was not as ignorant to the sport like others. I also am an avid cyclist fan and enjoy watching the ProTour on Versus; a fact that surprised the Spaniards. I feel that my worldly view of sports showed that we Americans are not completely and totally caught up in our football, hockey, baseball, and basketball; some of us have other interests.

Although we were instructed on our roles as ambassadors of both Allegheny
and America before we left for our respective courses, I myself never
thought about it much. However, looking back I am able to think of any
number of examples where I have positively represented Americans, as well
as Allegheny College. This mostly has to do with the fact that I like to
complain. Any difference I found between my previous lifestyle and my life
in England, I would find a way to spin it so that America and Allegheny
came out on top. For instance, even though Lancaster has a month long
spring break (seriously Allegheny, think about it) and gives its final
exams over a course of several weeks, I chose to interpret this to my
flatmates that American universities, particularly liberal arts colleges,
provide a more rigorous education, and are thus clearly better. In this
regard, I have also found myself constantly forced to be an American
ambassador because people in Europe find Americans rather fascinating.
Everywhere I went, whether it be Brussels, London, or Prague, I found
myself being questioned about American politics or my life at home. At
first, this was rather off-putting and I usually knew less about American
politics than the person asking me about them, thus making me a less than
admirable ambassador. However, as time went on I found myself more
interested in politics and world happenings due to the added focus and
interactions with global issues. So while at some times I played the role
of the ignorant American and perhaps rubbed people the wrong way (when the
French barista in a Paris Starbucks refused to give me a straw while I
mimed drinking in the air), I still believe that I represented America and
Allegheny positively. While talking with my American friends that are also
abroad, we have all found that we have a much greater appreciation for
what we left behind while we are gone. Before I left, I was never one to
boast about how great America is--whether this is because I had never been
anywhere to compare it with or because Obama was inaugurated while I was
gone, we will never know. Now, whether its talking about how much cooler
the President is than the Queen, or talking up the quality of American
education, I know that I have fulfilled my role as an ambassador and that
I have left people (at least a few) with a better impression of Americans
than they had before.

I am satisfied with my ambassadorial role here. Although I have only really been in Germany for about 6 weeks, I have definitely fulfilled my role. I have made an effort to cut my ties with Americans here and speak German with Germans. I am constantly asking people where they are from and what it's like there. A good example relates to a girl from Riga, Latvia. I asked where she was from and she replied "Lettland" - I didn't know this was the German name for Latvia, so she said that I ought to know if I'm interested in diplomacy, which we had discussed earlier. I then explained to her that I didn't know Lettland was Latvia, and to make my point clear and to make sure I was certain about where it was, I told her that it was between Estonia and Lithuania (whose capital cities I also mentioned). I wanted to let her know that I do want to learn about countries! I am interested in the world! I do know some things about it! And I think I've made that point clear to all of my acquaintances - I've lived in Germany for a year already, China for two months, and plan on interning in Serbia next Spring. And I write for an art center in Shanghai and have two passports and am working on getting my third. Although my German still needs work, the fact that I carry around a little log and write down every incomprehensible word lets people know that I really am trying to learn the language - and it's paid off! My German is getting so much better!

Yay for being an ambassador! I'm not trying that hard but I think I'm still doing just fine.

And integration? I was on the way to Stuttgart on my way to Belgrade and I got off at the wrong train station. While waiting, a girl joined me and I asked her if it was easy to get to Stuttgart from the station the train was heading towards. She said that was the case, and then said "Du gehst bestimmt feiern, oder?" (You're definitely going to some party, right?) I told her I was on the way to Budapest, and ultimately Belgrade, where I was visiting my good friend. We got to chatting and she eventually told me that I had a small accent and asked where I was from. I told her "California." She gawked at me with wide eyes. "But you're fluent!" And I said "Wenn du meinst!" ("If you say so!") I was flattered. On the train, I was talking to a Croatian construction worker who was born in Germany. I definitely noticed his accent - it was difficult for me to believe that he was born in Germany (no offense dude). And then other people have told me that they can tell right away if I'm American.

Mixed reviews tend to confuse, but I'm satisfied with my integration. I've managed to mingle, mingle, mingle with the Germans well enough.

The role of an ambassador is to show that where they come from must be good off of what they produced. It's the ambassador's role to show this to many people. So I'd say I'm about the average ambassador. I've made a good few friends here happily and done my best to be good to everyone as I always try to be, but I'm not much of a social maniac so probably don't present myself enough. So besides presenting myself well to friends and classmates best I can (without really trying admittedly) all I really got is fencing. Here I did pretty well though, helped lead the men's team to a undefeated victory in the league and cup down here, got a pretty metal for the win and apparantly I'm supposed to be getting an award from the school for my dedication and helping to bring about this never before done feat. But that was just kind of my fun and games as well, I'm a fencer, I fence. Actually all I've done since I've gotten here was be myself like that, any role as an ambassador has come second really.

I've been an ambassador for a lot of things now, my school club, my age group, my highschool, allegheny college, my sexuality, my physics department, my teachers, my opponents, even for the city of Lancaster. Eh, in the end it should all just be trying to be the best you can be, aka, trying to represent yourself best you can, everything else just kind of falls into place with that. Not at my best yet, or anywhere near, but that's the struggle that was my struggle as an ambassador in the end.

I still have about a month left in Australia and though I did not come here expecting to be an American ambassador, I can think of some ways I have changed my new friends’ perceptions of American culture. The United States and Australia are very similar countries. We share similar histories, language, and governments, but the attitudes of the people are incredibly different. Australians see us as loud, elitist jerks. This stereotype is not helped by the exchange students who only spend time with others from America, or those who are, in fact, loud, elitist jerks (I have met a few). I am proud to say that my Australian clique has officially adopted me as one of their own. On occasion, they will bring up “the Americans” (other exchanges) in conversation, and quickly turn to me and say, “oh, but you don’t count.” I hope I have shown them that Americans, like Australians, are not all the same, and those of us who want to learn about and assimilate into another culture can do it quickly and easily. I also hope that through four months’ worth of conversation they have learned a little bit about America: its history, government, school systems, and so on. It is great to have so much knowledge about something by default, and we often find ourselves comparing and contrasting aspects of culture over meals. I believe that networking opportunities like those provided by studying abroad can result in understanding and prosperity for all parties involved.