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Recent comments
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Goodbye? by AudreyF on 05/21/2012 - 18:15 | Bonjoir: I agree that culture shock hits more once you're back in the US. I know when I went home for winter break, you realize how many little things you miss about each place. Get ready for free tap water at restaurants for example. I'm extremely close with my host mom as well and I'm sad to leave her. Beyond her, I have grown so accustomed to living in a very kept manner due to the homestay set up. I worry when no one is cooking me dinner every night what lazy concoctions I'll come up with. You're so lucky that Paris will always be there and glorious and relatively easy to visit. | |
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Forced Reflections by takers on 05/21/2012 - 18:11 | Agree completely: I deeply agree with the feelings you expressed in your final reflections. The gaining of patience is invevitable in study abroad. I have blamed slow Argentine service for much of this, but if you're highlighting its importance in Germany, it is certainly an across the board skill. The time spent alone has been really great for me as well. It brings out a slew of feelings and though I still sometimes don't feel safe when I'm alone in Argentina, it can be relaxing and wonderful. | |
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Advice Before Taking the Plunge by meglius on 05/21/2012 - 18:04 | Reasons for coming to South America: I love hearing people's reasons for studying abroad in Argentina. I know my reason's, but they're unique to me. Buenos Aires is slightly off the beaten path (for now at least). Experiencing the culture in Buenos Aires has been incredible but I think you'd agree that it the most European city in South America. That being said, it is blaringly obvious that we are, indeed, in South America. Furthermore, the city changes drastically from barrio to barrio. The dichotomy of Buenos Aires is fascinating and I will miss Argentina tremendously. | |
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A Tid Bit of Tips by Frauchen on 05/21/2012 - 17:53 | Re: your tidbits: That doesn't suprise me that Berlin takes a motivated student to truly enjoy it. Though I've only visited, I could tell that it was a city that had a huge underground art and party scene. Buenos Aires is similar, if you scratch below the surface, there are so many interesting activities, shows, etc. It's a shame that our time is so limited because it takes time to make these connections. | |
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Tips for future students by dana on 05/21/2012 - 17:48 | Estoy de acuerda: I think your advice for Buenos Aires hits the nail on the head. There has been a direct relationship between the improvement of my Spanish and my enjoyment of the city. Being good at Spanish has allowed me to feel more comfortable doing a million things, from dropping my laundry off to chatting with people in bars. I have really enjoyed living in the homestays. I've learned so much about how Argentines live and I'm so sad at the prospect of leaving my madre. Lastly, I agree about not needing to travel a lot. South America isn't Europe, travel is neither cheap nor easy. | |
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A Mannerist "Epiphany" of Sorts by Harrison on 05/21/2012 - 17:42 | Putting off sight-seeing: I totally can relate to wanting to do something all semester, only to wait until your final days. I just did a tour of the gorgeous historic Teatro Colon that's only a 15 minute walk from where I've lived all year. It was incredible and they told us about a free classical concert yesterday. I went and had a wonderful time. I can't help but think about all of the things I haven't done. I know regret isn't a good way to approach a year abroad because it's impossible to do everything so I try to look at it in a positive light that at least we did them at all. | |
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Parting is Such Terrible, Terrible Sorrow by HaleyWho on 05/21/2012 - 17:29 | Finding yourself in travel: Haley, I totally agree with travel yielding incredible self-discovery. I'm so glad for you that Ghana was such a conducive environment for your growth. It's also so great that you're able to identify how much you've changed while you're still in the moment. I'm really curious to see how you'll like Buenos Aires. It's an incredible city that I'm becoming increasingly sadder to leave, but also a hard and trying place to live.You should be very excited! | |
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Help! by Gabrielle on 05/14/2012 - 17:46 |
hahaa I love this post! Its: hahaa I love this post! Its true that little things that happen which make you feel like you have accomplished something in this city, that your Spanish has improved, that you belong and are not just a tourist, that make you feel so good! The other night my friends and I were talking to these Porteno guys and one told me, "but you're parents, are they from here or something? Because you're accent is really good..." and that right there was probably one of the highlights of my experiences here. Also something slightly similar happened to me here...As I was leaving for spring break and waiting for the 108 at the bus stop for the 110/108 to take me to Retiro bus terminal, the 110 passed and stopped for a second to drop off a passenger before continuing on through the green light. Through the window I locked eyes with this guy with long hair that I though I recognized, and when he smiled at me with incredulous recognition I just couldn't believe it. I had asked that same guy for directions a few weeks back. It was absolutely incredible that I had seen him again, and it made me feel like a real inhabitant here... |
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Pushin' It Under the Rug by Frauchen on 05/14/2012 - 17:30 | racism and germany: The topic of modern day Germany and racism must be so interesting to study and to experience while living there s a foreigner. I keep talking to different people and hearing really different things about German people's feelings towards the idea of racism in general, their controversial past, and their current attitudes towards foreigners. We grew up surrounded by this American culture of being 'politically correct' and becoming aware of racism, however we still have racism going on in our country. With our academic and cultural backgrounds as a Americans I think it would be really interesting to read the popular modern thoughts about how Germans view their racist history, and racism today. | |
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An Epiphany or Further Confusion? by tugzwell on 05/14/2012 - 17:07 | This is gettng me: This is gettng me thinking...We are all saying the same thing about not truly knowing the culture and city, however even as a perminent resident here can you really know an entire city? I'm thinking about my own city and I can't realy claim that I know it all, I only know my barrio, and the type of people who live within my social class and do the things I do...The divides between social classes, safety, and ifrastructure between neighborhoods here are so drastic that perhaps even the people who were born here and lived here their whole lives don't lnow the "true Buenos Aires" and haven't been to all the barrios. | |
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My Limited View of the City by Gabrielle on 05/14/2012 - 17:00 |
Well said: Gaby, I feel exactly the same way about Buenos Aires. Before coming here I wanted to be the person that explored her new city, took photographs, and learned about culture and social class. But when I first arrived, saw the never ending and frightening metropolitan before me, got lectured twenty million times about being aware of robberies, realized that as soon as I open my mouth people would know i'm a tourist and that most of the time I really didn't know where I was, I never ventured too far from the streets that became my comfort zones. The reality is that as a tourist, especially a woman, it is dangerous to be an explorer and venture out to discover social inequality and subcultures in Buenos Aires. It is a pity that there exists this strong barrier between the things you learn about and want to explore and the limits that you can go.. |
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The Race Talk by HaleyWho on 05/14/2012 - 12:05 | about racism: I grew up in San Diego, in a high/middle class neighborhood which was mostly white, asian, and a little bit of Indian. My whole life before coming to New York I thought that race was just as important as hair color. I didn't understand how all the problems that have occured in our nations history with race that we learn about in school can happen because somebody had different color skin. Although our university is very international, most of us are all from similar economic backgrounds and a culture that pushed us to attend university, however the city of New York itself is filled with all kinds of different people, from everywhere in the US and the world, and with so many distinct sub cultures. I remember traveling through brooklyn and being shocked by the isolation of the African American culture there, by the very unique way they talked and the similarities I saw in a culture that was very much their own. This was something I had never experienced in my little neighborhood in San Diego and the problems with race we only engaged with in books and in classes. When I got to NY, and also to Buenos Aires, I further understood the divides that identity, culture, and language create between humanity in general, and the power that these divides have to create the complicated issues of racism, justice, and wars that we deal with in the world. | |
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Tips! by Maggie on 05/14/2012 - 11:45 |
complications of organizing society: Yes, my friends and I were just discussing a similar situation with the post office here in Argentina. Here you can not bargain with the post office, but it is a very frustrating and disorganized system..and what is especially annoying is when people assume that their English is better than your Spanish and that because you are foreign you can not understand what they are saying... This makes me think about the general topic of the organization of cities in general. To me it feels that this city is full of paradoxes, on the one hand there are organized streets, buses, and plazas with tall beautiful statues...however on the other hand there are masses of people that live in Villas with tenement houses stacked on top of each other, far too many neighborhoods that are "complicados" as the say, many homeless people, many robberies, and a scary amount of little kids begging for money around the bars and nightclubs at 3:00 in the morning. All of this just makes me re-think the kind of political issues we deal with and discuss in our classes and in real lives, and the complications of attaining justice in society, making everyone's voice heard, and fixing these organizational problems. I have begun to understand why here in Argentina people are ardent about whether they are for or against the government and why people are so passionate about their political opinions...it is very hard to find anyone that is in the middle... |
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Take My Picture, Please! by HaleyWho on 05/14/2012 - 11:29 |
on photograph...: I liked that you touched on the subject of photography because it has been something I have been thinking about during my time here in Buenos Aires as well. Before coming here I had a goal that I would document my observations and my engagement with Buenos Aires in photographs, and that they would hopefully be able to serve as commentaries about different aspects of society and culture in Buenos Aires that I stand out to me from my foreign eyes. However I found that I apart from one measly album, I barely took any photos, and I was very uncomfortable to go out and explore the city for subjects to photograph. Not only am I scared of walking around with my camera in a city that is already so big, deep, complicated and scary to me already, I also don't know how to think about the moral idea of photographing strangers. A few times I have asked people to take their picture and sometimes I got an ok while other times people have refused, and every time I feel bad...the idea that I find them foreign specimens to put on display is unsettling. I remember discussing this very theme in my Photography and the Visual Archive class back in NY when looking at historical photographs in National Geographic. I still haven't been able to figure out where the moral line is... |
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Advice Before Taking the Plunge by meglius on 05/14/2012 - 10:45 |
Meg it was nice to read your: Meg it was nice to read your reflection on Buenos Aires and relate it with my own. I was freezing here too! And people, don't even try to go shopping here because everything is expensive and very poorly made... I completely agree about having a new vision of Argentina and South America in general. The classes here are really interesting because they all relate to literature, culture, and history of South America, and innevitably all the classes you take begin to overlap in interesting ways. I thought that what was really unique about our experience here was taking part in and getting to know the academic world that exists here in Buenos Aires from our professors and our studies. The other great part of our experience is also the exponential growth that I think everyone here has experienced in their Spanish. In comparison to integrating us with Argentine students, I would say that the university here does a really good job with introducing us to the academic realms and intellectual fields that have to do with South America. |
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Goodbye? by AudreyF on 05/14/2012 - 10:30 |
I can relate to you about: I can relate to you about keeping in touch with your homestay mom and about not having ever thought about what it would feel like to leave. I wonder how much I am going to miss Buenos Aires in the future, and what it will feel like to come back. I on the other hand know that if I come back it will only be to visit and not to live, not that I don't like it here, but in the end all the ties I have made with people here have been for the most part with people who are also leaving. The only exception is my homestay mom, and thats a weird topic because I am not sure how to think about her and if I will really keep in touch with her. We are also not very close, I would say we are friendly but not extraordinarily close. On the one hand I know that she has already had 8 students living in her house rotating in and out every four months, and that she is clearly doing it for the rent. However on the other hand she is a woman I have lived with, chatted with, and had dinner with everyday for four months. So I know how you feel about not really being sure if this is business or friendship, and if she even has interests in continuing our relationship... |
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Goodbye? by AudreyF on 05/14/2012 - 10:30 |
I can relate to you about: I can relate to you about keeping in touch with your homestay mom and about not having ever thought about what it would feel like to leave. I wonder how much I am going to miss Buenos Aires in the future, and what it will feel like to come back. I on the other hand know that if I come back it will only be to visit and not to live, not that I don't like it here, but in the end all the ties I have made with people here have been for the most part with people who are also leaving. The only exception is my homestay mom, and thats a weird topic because I am not sure how to think about her and if I will really keep in touch with her. We are also not very close, I would say we are friendly but not extraordinarily close. On the one hand I know that she has already had 8 students living in her house rotating in and out every four months, and that she is clearly doing it for the rent. However on the other hand she is a woman I have lived with, chatted with, and had dinner with everyday for four months. So I know how you feel about not really being sure if this is business or friendship, and if she even has interests in continuing our relationship... |
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Goodbye? by AudreyF on 05/14/2012 - 10:30 |
I can relate to you about: I can relate to you about keeping in touch with your homestay mom and about not having ever thought about what it would feel like to leave. I wonder how much I am going to miss Buenos Aires in the future, and what it will feel like to come back. I on the other hand know that if I come back it will only be to visit and not to live, not that I don't like it here, but in the end all the ties I have made with people here have been for the most part with people who are also leaving. The only exception is my homestay mom, and thats a weird topic because I am not sure how to think about her and if I will really keep in touch with her. We are also not very close, I would say we are friendly but not extraordinarily close. On the one hand I know that she has already had 8 students living in her house rotating in and out every four months, and that she is clearly doing it for the rent. However on the other hand she is a woman I have lived with, chatted with, and had dinner with everyday for four months. So I know how you feel about not really being sure if this is business or friendship, and if she even has interests in continuing our relationship... |
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Goodbye? by AudreyF on 05/14/2012 - 10:29 |
I can relate to you about: I can relate to you about keeping in touch with your homestay mom and about not having ever thought about what it would feel like to leave. I wonder how much I am going to miss Buenos Aires in the future, and what it will feel like to come back. I on the other hand know that if I come back it will only be to visit and not to live, not that I don't like it here, but in the end all the ties I have made with people here have been for the most part with people who are also leaving. The only exception is my homestay mom, and thats a weird topic because I am not sure how to think about her and if I will really keep in touch with her. We are also not very close, I would say we are friendly but not extraordinarily close. On the one hand I know that she has already had 8 students living in her house rotating in and out every four months, and that she is clearly doing it for the rent. However on the other hand she is a woman I have lived with, chatted with, and had dinner with everyday for four months. So I know how you feel about not really being sure if this is business or friendship, and if she even has interests in continuing our relationship... |
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A Tid Bit of Tips by Frauchen on 05/14/2012 - 10:16 | Reading your tips was really: Reading your tips was really interesting for me because made me imagine what living in Berlin must be like. Although I have been to Berlin for a few days this past summer and was thoroughly dazzled by the hipster,artsy,party, intellectual scenes, I can imagine that living in a place is so much different than visiting it. I felt the same way after I had lived in New York in comparison to my perception of it as a tourist. In an abstract way your tips made me imagine the city of Berlin from a completely different point of view, and it just goes to show the difference in visiting a place and becoming part of a place. | |
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Great Good Places by Elena on 05/13/2012 - 18:44 |
Cafe lifestyle: I definitely know what you mean when it comes to the laid back atmosphere of Italian cafes and bars (a word I used to associate with alcohol, but quickly realized is just another word for cafe). This is only really if you sit down, however, since you're paying for your time at the table as well as the food you are eating. I have found that I drink my espresso and eat my brioche a lot quicker at a cafe, since most of the time I don't want to pay to sit down, so I just stand up and enjoy my breakfast. In the cafe at school, I'm definitely able to take my time unless I have class coming up soon. So, I guess, for me, the relaxed nature of the cafe experience really depends on the context and how much I'm willing to pay. |
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The Art of Writing about Travel by meglius on 05/13/2012 - 13:48 |
A beautiful reflection: I definitely agree that when you are forced to write about your experiences it slows you down and forces you to reflect on what you are learning and how you are growing. Sometimes when I write posts I end up thinking about it all week. Especially the authenticity post and the article, which I have written about 1,00 words for and still haven't posted because now I am just lost in my thoughts. I also think its interesting how everyone is saying "I know I will be back". Most of us have never been to our study abroad countries before, and after being here for so long and being forced to get to know this foreign city I think we all are leaving with this feeling that we know its not the end. We have made these personal connections with the culture and place and we imagine ourselves years from now rediscovering what we have already discovered... |
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Western Imperialism in Traveling by menglijun on 05/10/2012 - 04:14 |
Recognizing "Singlish" For the First Time: This is my favorite post on Kincaid, you have a lot of really interesting points. Especially the point of 'double consumption' which reminded me of Twain's writing - good to know we've been doing it for over a century, because not only is Twain doing the double consumption you described, he is finishing the final stage after your consumption - the output -as you dub it Hollywood -where we tell everyone about our consumption. These celluloid impressions of a society can shape the perspective and vocabulary of the worlds they are interpreting. As your picture proves - for generations. Your personal experiences are very interesting. There is a very warped American reaction - that I have been guilty of - to hearing English spoken in a Philippine or Singaporean accent for the first time. What's worse is that - because of this double consumption - what I knew about Singapore on first hearing the accent - was really just more information about America - that didn't actually provide any knowledge into the actual place - because like most travel stories - our films talk most about their authors. |
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God Bless Alcohol by appleoh3 on 05/10/2012 - 03:52 | Also Commenting on Slang: It is interesting that these topics are so appealing - even to comment on. Slang has that feeling to it, like when you are using it - you are saying something real - something raw - even though it is well fashioned and usually well practiced because they are practiced through the 'grown up way to indulge.' There are so many ways to say that learning slang is important to understanding a language - or as another comment here says to indoctrinate the speaker into the culture - the final step. Or at least it seems that way, the way you combine it with the adult ways of indulging. I like that idea a lot. Even more when you see how these ideas transform through culture - what is taboo and adult slides around with the slang of the language in the advanced courses. I would say it puts people at ease in conversation and levels the playing field. What could be more adult than that? | |
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Habitual Creatures by Abraham on 05/10/2012 - 03:42 | Control.: Hmmmm a lot of things to think about. You mention that people need control - and that is why they stop exploring, and that traveling alone is intimidating and that other people add more unknowns to the experience. So adding unknown people to the mix might make traveling alone even more of an uncontrollable experience - but you would recommend that people should travel alone - and I wonder if there is a balance of power and control people need to see the world. Does traveling with others in strange lands overwhelm the senses and shut down seeing? It's a nice place to leave a reader. Thinking about who to travel with home and away. | |
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From Cortazar with Love by Kristy on 05/10/2012 - 03:35 | Sense and nonsense: I had the opposite reaction to this piece, so I like the way you describe how you enjoyed it. Making the characters more real through each other and making sense of the nonsense through nonsensicality. It makes me interested in the piece. For me it was hard to find anything to hold onto, but I think I have to go back over it now, and look at how the authors bring things together through each other. This is the only piece where two people tell the same story - and they tell the same story and it is a crazy story. Does the piece need both voices to have credibility? Is it more free because the author has a partner? hmmm... | |
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Musical Maps by Eddie on 05/10/2012 - 03:24 | Making Music: Interesting how you make the travel active again - with our own modes of transportation being the song lines. Theroux might be the best choice for this, so much of what he is writing is the 'songs' (to Theroux - the tone deaf ones of his fellow passengers) that he and the other people are making along the way. Good idea. I wonder if trains are a better mode of travel, or cars, or if walking really is the best for making these songs. For me the song lines - and Chatwin's own writing seemed formed, largely by the uncertainty of a destination. Rather than just thinking about speed, maybe efficiency adds its own white noise to the sound track. Not getting to where you are going, or even knowing where that is, as well as being your own driver, rather than on a well known course. | |
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Egocentric Travel by stircrazy on 05/10/2012 - 03:17 | Interacting In Travel: "But the essence of the traveler is what breathes life into their stories, and it should definitely be harnessed and utilized." - Very well phrased, and I agree with it the statement. You are right, Theroux does a good job having a perspective, and placing his voice on a story, while remaining anthropological - and somewhat discrete. He does a good job of this, but I wonder if in some way a travel writer should not just breath life into the stories, but the events going on around them as well. As you recognized there is no way to leave yourself behind - but I think Theroux leaves himself out of the narrative, even though so much of the story has his very strong voice. I wanted the people in the stories to respond to Theroux more, for him to breathe life into his surroundings. Just witnessing and then judging doesn't seem like really testing a situation - although it probably is. Theroux reminded me a bit of a whale expert that has never swam with whales (I don't know - just something like that) - to some degree should anthropology include more subject/observer interaction? | |
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Work Relations for Australians by ANTHONY on 05/10/2012 - 02:48 | Drawing Someone Else: I also kept thinking about drawing somebody else's animals after reading this. The idea that it would be a betrayal, and kill you, of sorts, to draw your own animal, but that everyone else knew what your dream animal was, is very very interesting. Is it like a biography vs. an autobiography? Are there things that can't be said about yourself that someone else can say? Or is it just too much to know and admit to? Or is it actually a betrayal of something private that everyone should have - and have away from other people. - It may be forced - but it would be nice to tie this in with your other idea of Marx's response - to "take on all practices of labor alien to one’s own self, eventually losing touch with nature and community. " - that this refusal to paint your own animal is independence, even if you do paint someone else's. | |
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Song of the Souvenir Shoppers by StacyH on 05/10/2012 - 02:35 | I get it now... or got something.: Really interesting way to write a blog. By putting the nonlinear style of Chatwin's inconclusive piece on trial first and ending in the pointlessness - for the aboriginal - of painting something for someone else I feel really comfortable about the pointlessness of Chatwin's writing. Your linear thinking put me at peace with the meandering piece that was never a problem to begin with for my scattered brain. This probably isn't a condolence for you, but I like this post a lot. It took me somewhere. | |
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Every Intellectual Sounds like a Hipster by ANTHONY on 05/10/2012 - 02:25 | Punched out lenses, sand gets in your eyes.: Haha Great picture really sells the idea. I guess Bowels could be called a hipster... Although I think hipsters would make really good traveling companions. They are easily excitable, try to be open to things, tend to get into trouble testing out somewhat bad theories. I mean, I try to keep them out of my everyday life, but I think on an adventure they would be perfect company. Maybe Bowels is not the exact hipster, but he does a lot of 'middle/upper class intellectual in search of pure experience in another class' things that are pretty hilarious, if not pretentious. My favorite is when he decides to take a Muslim tour guide - against advice - to Turkey, but the man is a very different type of Muslim and tries to start fights - sounds like a good plot line for "The New Girl"'s travel episode. I agree, he is kinda hipster, but I think he would be a great travel companion. | |
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The Art of "Gaman" by Sneha on 05/10/2012 - 01:45 |
It is hard to be polite.: Bringing up the positive aspects to the more polite/less-direct culture is a really good point. Trying to live thoughtfully enough to be polite takes a lot of willpower and concentration. I am definitely not good at it. I'm curious to know how much things have changed since Davidson wrote this - I think she wrote it in the 80s.... right? Either way, it's interesting that you mention Japanese girls being more vocal about their choice in men, and how that is affecting birth rates (funny). Japan is the country I most expect never to understand. The impressions we get of it are so strong in so many opposite directions - it is impossible to wrap my head around any image of it. But I think this combination of blunt responses and cultural modesty that confuses me the most, but makes it seem so interesting and complicated - sort of a cognitive dissonance to my blunt, very Western, brain. Good post! |
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Traveling at Home by thpm12 on 05/10/2012 - 01:05 |
Creative Travel: I like the way you portray travel. There is something appealing in thinking about it as "accessible, creative, eye-opening, refreshing, healthy" in contrast to the overwhelming shock of a totally foreign immersion. I never thought about travel being applicable to those terms, not even through this course, or the last readings. It reminds me of that amazing stage just past boredom - the stage where your actions don't entirely make sense in retrospect... and it is a very special place - and I definitely can't reach that in new places.... but I wonder if for some people the opposite would be true. I know people that travel and become the loudest most playful people while at their homes they are dull and uptight. I think for them there is a freedom from not needing to memorize streets, names, or make life time friends, that can open the creative, eye-opening, refreshing view on travel. Inspiring post. |
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Unconventional definitions of travel by KVonnegut on 05/10/2012 - 00:47 |
organizing by time and association: I like how you compare Bowel's writing style to natural story telling, and agree that this makes him the most personable writer. The way he writes, as you put it, "moving through time rather than through space" does make it feel more like a memory - and I would add that he writes through association as well. The way he organizes his details makes me feel like I know him as a character more than I know some of the other authors - who are either just delivering facts, or writing themselves as characters. It feels more genuine just through the order of details. He also does choose interesting things to talk about. His writing is not just a criticism or personal agenda, he chooses human concepts and tells them through human subjects. And tells interesting stories, because he seems to expose himself to people enough to hear them. Definitely one of my favorite authors from this class as well. |
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The Road to Tangier and the Orient by KRenee on 05/09/2012 - 17:05 |
Truth told in Lives: (Wait, but did you catch that pun? Like, truth told in lies? Yeah?) Something that we both picked up on here was the genuine feel of Bowles's work. And I'm pretty sure we're seeing it for the same reason - his account doesn't read like a typical travel narrative, but more of a personal account of what was most memorable to him in a certain place including, as you said, landscape and politics. I find it refreshing that there is more time spent recounting his most memorable exchanges and experiences and less emphasis on landscape, something we can google and find hundreds of thousands of photos on. |
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Reflections by JohnRussell on 05/09/2012 - 16:50 | On Travel-Narrative Authority: It is interesting that you bring up the subjective-objective conundrum as a qualifier for your preferential treatment of the first half of the semester's oeuvre; because it brings up the issue of authority in writing that is a central performative aspect of this course to be thinking about. As James Clifford says in The Predicament of Culture, and substituting the term "Ethnography" for "Travel Narratives;' "...[H]ow is unruly experience transformed into an authoritative written account? How, precisely, is a garrulous, overdetermined cross-cultural encounter shot through with power relations and personal cross-purposes circumscribed as an adequate version of a more or less discreet 'other world' composed by an individual author? In analyzing this complex transformation one must bear in mind the fact that [travel narratives are], from beginning to end, enmeshed in writing. This writing includes, minimally, a translation of experience into textual form. The process is complicated by the action of multiple subjectivities and political constraints beyond the control of the writer. In response to these forces [travel] writing enacts a specific strategy of authority. This strategy has classically involved an unquestioned claim to appear as the purveyor of truth in the text," (25). Thus, the markings-down of even the "first-order tourist" is bound up in a complex inter-web at whose apex is a claim that "this account is correct." | |
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The Art of "Gaman" by Sneha on 05/09/2012 - 16:22 | Politeness and Regard for the West: an Inversion: I found that I did not entirely agree with Davidson's portrayal of politness, though the Japanese dual-view of the West resonated sharply. This is due to my contextualization of this reading with Junichiro Tanizaki's In Praise of Shadows. He says, "Anyone with a taste for traditional architecture must agree that the Japanese toilet is perfection....in an ordinary household it is no easy task to keep it clean. No matter how fastidious one may be or how diligently one may scrub, dirt will show, particularly on a floor of wood or tatami matting. And so here too it turns out to be more hygienic and efficient to install modern sanitary facilities - tile and a flush toilet - though at the price of destroying all affinity with 'good taste' and the 'beauties of nature.' That burst of light from those four white walls hardly puts one in a mood to relish Soseki's 'physiological delight,'" (5). He also says, "Compared to Westerners, who regard the toilet as utterly unclean and avoid even the mention of it in polite conversation, we are far more sensible and certainly in better taste," (4). | |
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Space-time, Dreamtime by alex-b on 05/09/2012 - 15:43 |
Howard Morphy, Elizabeth Durack and "Eddie Burrup": Chatwin does leave understandings of the vast inter-relational system of aboriginal Australian cosmology to the imagination. However, not all drawings are as secretive as he presumes. In his book Aboriginal Art Howard Morphy describes an aboriginal painting from 1967 that hints at what Chatwin subsumes in his narrative of subjective experience. Morphy writes, "On the left of the painting [Morning Star by David Malangi]...is a representation of a hollow-log coffin, in which the bones of the dead are finally placed. Looming over the coffin is the figure of Murayana [a deity] merging in with or growing out of the background forest. Murayana is a mokuy, a spirit being who provides company for the dead and moves between the world of the living and the spirit world that underlies it. Murayana is stretched out like a dead body covered with designs that represent the leaves of the Warri tree. The leaves of the body painting join the leaves of the trees in the jungle creating a continuous relationship between the present and the ancestral past, the living and the dead, the mundane and the spiritual," (83). But Morphy outlines this discourse because none of its content is secret; unlike the controversial paintings of Eddie Burrup.
"A short biography might run:
Eddie Burrup was born circa 1915 at Yandeyarra Station on the Yule River in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. His father and grandfather had helped establish this station in the 1880s. He learned to ride when very young and worked as a stockman on Yandeyarra and adjacent properties. Familiar with several traditional languages, he spoke mostly the century-old lingua franca of the bush (now known as kriol) that persists in some remote areas today....With maturity and in conformity with traditional custom he attained the status of maban — a Man of High Degree — giving him right of access to a vast territory extending from the Ashburton to the Fitzroy and Ord Rivers....Questions concerning Burrup were raised following an interview he gave to the magazine Art Monthly Australia in March 1997 in which he professed himself to be an elderly white woman of Irish descent. Despite considerable publicity resulting from this announcement the subject of the artist’s provenance remains largely an enigma."
In actuality: "He is the brush and pen name of the artist Elizabeth Durack and an integral part of the prodigious body of work she produced over a period of some 70 years....The persona himself appeared quite unexpectedly one warm summer morning when Elizabeth Durack was walking with her daughter, Perpetua, beside the Swan River in Western Australia. Soon after that Eddie Burrup asserted his individuality and before long had taken possession of his creator.....Detractors and gatekeepers [among them some of the aboriginal Australians she knew well] have disparaged the Eddie Burrup phenomenon. They describe it variously as a fiction, a hoax, a fraud, even a crime. They denounce Elizabeth Durack and contend she has appropriated Aboriginal culture." While the aboriginal paintings reflect actual cosmological phenomena, sometimes the imagination of the traveler misrepresents and offends the shape of aboriginal Australian expressionism. http://www.elizabethdurack.com/burrup_1_intro.php |
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A Walk Down Memory Lane by Effie on 05/09/2012 - 14:43 | Yorro Yorro: I was similarly interested in the narrative's inclusion of the narrator, especially with regard to duality and the dialectic of sight and blindness. Reading this post, I was reminded of another Australian travel narrative bi-composed by Westerner Jutta Malnic and her collaborator aboriginal actor David Mowaljarlai: Yorro, Yorro: Aboriginal Creation and the Renewal of Nature: Rock Paintings and Stories from the Australian Kimberley. Chapter 15, "Alwayu - Dreaming of Daylight and Darkness" is partially constituted by Malnic's revelation via the dreaming. She recounts, "Then I drift into a lovely dream, feel warm eyelashes brushing against my cheek. Thoughts alight and dim away, a notion of lightehearted laughter passes by - and I follow, wander lightly with unseen presences. Then I hear a deep, soothing voice say, 'The earth is sleeping - touch her, make a wish'...In the darkness I scrawl some words into my notebook. In the morning they hang there like a magician's rope, coming from nowhere, not touching ground, a reminder that I had understood something during the night - but what? The words read: 'You can only see with your eyes closed. Be patient,'" (87). The dreaming, thus, is constitutive of a change in Malnic - her provincial Western-demarcated outline of vision opens to glimpse the fundamental, intangible aspect of Aboriginal belief that Chatwin was so similarly seeking. She has acquired an ability to gaze upon the diarama - what surrounds her - rather than, in the Western predatory sense, what is only in front of her: the spirit in everything. As she glimpses the universality of this, Mowaljarlai finds that it appeals to untiy. With this they collectively compose the tenor of Yorro Yorro - much as Chatwin does Songlines - and act as its representations. | |
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Final Reflection by Kristy on 05/09/2012 - 13:07 | The Merits of Different Types of Tourists: I really liked your post, especially because your desire to be a third-order tourist is so different from my desire to channel my inner first-order tourist. While I don’t want to be glued to facebook or my camera lens, I think being a first-order tourist helps create a playful and inquisitives attitude towards other countries that can often seem very daunting because they encompass such a vast range of standards, perspectives, opinions and behaviors. However I can see why being a third-order tourist would be so appealing as it is a great way to document culture without “trespassing”. Have a great summer break! | |
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The Notebook by Kristy on 05/09/2012 - 11:30 | Self-Same: Perhaps you would enjoy the writings of Frenchman Michel Leiris as well. James Clifford in his conceptual history of ethnography, The Predicament of Culture, writes, "L'Afrique fantome is...533 dense pages of ethnography, travel diary, self-exploration, 'oneirography'" (165). In Leiris' works "The realist imagination, fabricator of the vraisemblable, is refused in favor of an impossibly sincere record of the real: perceptions, moods, facts. In Africa Leiris begins to keep field notes on himself, or more precisely on an uncertain existence. These notes, on carefully collated cards, will form the data for L'age d'homme (Manhood, translated by Richard Howard) and four volumes of La regle du jeu: not autobiographies but collections of 'facts and images which I refused to exploit by letting my imagination work on them; in other words, the negation of a novel. To reject all fables...nothing but these facts and all these facts,' (167). This is classified as a specific type of travel narrative that we have spoken on some before. According to Clifford "By excess of subjectivity, a kind of objectivity is guaranteed - that (paradoxically) of a personal ethnography," (167). Thus, the performative function of the search (written/recorded, spoken, and done) yields the self for the subject. | |
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On Channeling My Inner Traveler by Debbie on 05/09/2012 - 11:04 | "le Divers": I can relate in totality to your experience in New York as mine has been similarly disillusioning. I like the idea of spending the next few weeks blogging like a "thrown" (in Heidegerian terms) tourist. Perhaps your quest for New York through the eyes of the former-self can fulfill its transfiguration by proxy of Victor Segalen's experience in travel writing French Polynesia and China: "Segalen redefines exoticism as an 'aesthetic of the diverse.' This is the subtitle of his long essay on the subject....In it he attacks the predictable narratives and decor of most travel writing (Loti is his chief target). His own writing substitutes troubling encounters with the unexpected, the strangely familiar, the unformed. Exoticism emerges as an extension of his friend Jules de Gaultier's 'Law of Bovaryism': in Segalen's paraphrase, 'Every being in conceiving of itself conceives itself as necessarily other than it is'...Making the most of modern anomie, Segalen's exoticist extends and rediscovers an identity by means of a perpetual series of detours, of encounters with 'le Divers.' | |
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On Channeling My Inner Traveler by Debbie on 05/08/2012 - 21:01 | As a freshman at NYU in 2008,: As a freshman at NYU in 2008, a senior at the time advised me not to compare this experience because it won't be like anything else I've done. She also told me that she after four years, she still felt like there was so much of New York that she has not seen. Now that we are graduating in a week, I definitely feel that time pressure to savor every minute left. Your blog sounds awesome and I can relate to that underlying transformation we all seem to have gone through between freshman and senior year. That I think is something we can take with us after NYU. Good luck! | |
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Truth in Competing Voices by alex-b on 05/08/2012 - 16:08 | TANGIER: I agree that Bowles gives the most objective description of a place with regards to the previous authors. Whether this is a result of his writing style or the complexity and character of a place like Tangier, I do not know. Bowles uses the various perspectives to hint at this complexity. Each individual he meets is given a voice, a chance to describe their Tangier, which, naturally, leads to a wide array of images. Writing this comment in restrospect, I can say that I did not find a single place more intriguing this semster than Tangier and Morocco. The history, and strange status as an international city, come through in Bowle's work. Berbers, Islamists, Spanish, French, and English have all played defining roles in the history of the city. And yet, a distinct culture developed as a composite of this influences. I believe the physical layout of Moroccan cities, especially the medinas, and the climate in the Sahara, fostered this inclusion. For whatever reason it came about, Bowles found the place very comforting, and chose to spend the rest of his life their, a fact which should not be taken lightly. | |
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The Transcendence of Water by ANTHONY on 05/08/2012 - 15:51 | SOLITUDE: You pick up on something crucial about Mahoney: her desire to be alone. Her travel is about connecting with the natural landscape and with herself, but with the people and cultures of Eygpt. Her motivation is the physical and mental challenge of rowing the Nile; everything else is secondary. This is not to say Mahoney disregards the Eygptian people, becuase she is in fact incredibly polite and sensitive, especially in the face of overt sexism. But she remains focused on her goal throughout, and attempts to minimize all ambient distractions. I sympathize with this ideal. To be alone, surrounded by natural beauty and wonder is a feeling beyond description. It makes you feel tiny and powerless, which is entirely refreshing. I also understand her desire to row. Clearly, it is a very meaningful practice to her, and the Nile is her ultimate challenge. | |
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Where to Begin? by thpm12 on 05/08/2012 - 15:40 | AUTHENTICITY: I'm glad you brought up your dislike for the concept of "authenticity". I found that, while in all other regards I leave this course more informed than before, I still have no clue as to what "authentic" is, or why it even matters. I felt, as a class, we never nailed down a defenition of what it meant and how the idea functioned. Instead, the term was thrown around lightly with nothing really coming from it. Travel is such a subjective experience that no all encompassing defenition of authentic can be used. Rather, I believe that all travel is authentic to the individual. The place is different for all people, and there is no right way to experience it. The simple fact that you went somewhere, makes that authentic to yourself. It is your authentic West Africa, your authentic Antigua, your authentic Paris. | |
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A Whole New World by ANTHONY on 05/08/2012 - 15:25 | TRIBE: Phillip's defenition of "tribe", which does indeed feel arbitrary upon first glance, but I believe it is important to overall message. In his travels he becomes aware of the striking similarities across Europe and it people with regards to race. In his opinion, these tendencies are strong enough to constitute the term "tribe". The excerpts on Poland and Morocco provided vivid descriptions of interesting places, and were enjoyable to me as well. But I believe all stops along Phillips' journey are included to serve his point. The inequality of cities like Casblanca, overrun by Europeans are the result of these tribal tendencies. In Poland, a place Phillips imagined to be very different than Western Europe, he encounters the same racist attitudes that plagued him at home. Poland and Casablanca are just two of the examples that give Phillips a hopeless outlook cocerning Europe as a whole. | |
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Travel as a Road to Exile by Debbie on 05/08/2012 - 11:35 |
When I'm bummed, I just go for a walk.: After discussing Morris in more detail in class, I remember Professor Hutkins telling us that she had actually left America because of a bad breakup. Not only does this help clarify the glaring why you are posing here, it also helps better understand Morris's narrative and her trouble with men. So, first of all, I think you can lay your troubles to rest in terms of this whole omgwillihatenewyorkinthirtyseconds thing (unless you plan on being heartbroken anytime soon.) Do you think, maybe then, that when Morris says San Miguel is a place of exile, she is, perhaps, drawing a parallel to the Christmas favorite's island of misfits? Do you think perhaps she is demonizing those who travel to this specific part of Mexico, labeling them as failures or untouchables in America? She discusses men who lied about being war vets and women who don't care for their children as residing in this area; so, is it possible, then, that she is saying the Americans who choose to live there deserve it, are on the same level as these "awful" individuals? I never really thought about it while reading the piece, but you're absolutely correct; it is difficult to think of travel as exile. Travel typically means vacation. However, for me, traveling has always meant getting from one place to another: traveling from dad's house to mom's house, from school to home, etc. I've never been one to desire being anywhere else, as I come from a place upstate full of woods, fields, trees, and beautiful sunsets; I've never questioned it and have started appreciating my trips home more than ever after living in New York. It's interesting to remind myself that travel, for most people, includes a level of pleasure. Also, speaking to the difference in lifestyles, for me, New York means community, it means connection. As a lesbian from a very conservative, Republican area, New York was, in my mind, a sort of "gay mecca" a place to belong and establish relationships with people who endured the same struggles as me. But, as you pointed out Morris's disillusionment and disappointment upon her arrival, I too was a little let down. I almost expected New York to be bigger, more dangerous, more...gay. However, I navigated my way around the city and NYU and established my own community full of people and experiences far better than those I had dreamed up. And, after being heartbroken my freshman year, I really had no desire to leave the city; it comforted me. I'm just such the opposite of Morris. I definitely agree with you on this point that Morris was attempting to heal herself and was running away from her probems. To answer your question though, while it IS a bit assinine to run away from your problems, there's a certain level of discovery and rehabilitation that comes with self-reliance. If you cannot depend on yourself, you cannot survive. I think that was exactly what Morris needed after feeling a lack of worth post-breakup - to rediscover what she was capable of and what she had to offer. And, if she started to die in the process, well, then she learned she needed to change. |
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Writing Home by appleoh3 on 05/08/2012 - 11:20 |
Except like, you're absolutely write (omg get it? a pun? yeah?: There's definitely a difference between his letters and his notes. The one note that really stuck out to me was simply the effect of the towel dangling from the tent (something to that effect), because it is something only Flaubert could understand. I mean, sure, we could guess, but we're at his mercy to reconstruct that for us. I also picked up on the difference between subject matter and presentation among letters to Flaubert's mother and his friend. You make a good point though, about how reading these letters gives us insight into how Flaubert is actuallt perceiving the culture around him; I didn't even pick up on that. However, I also have to wonder how much of the letter is truly emotional and visceral as you said and how much is merely a performance - how much is Flaubert merely attempting to appease his audience? I'm not sure I agree with you on the point that Flaubert probably never intended for his notes or letters to be published. Based off of Flaubert's initial arrogance, paired with his deep desire to romanticize everything around him, I truly believe when Flaubert wrote, he was attempting to engender every aspect of Egypt that would make good material for publication. Even his detailed account of tristes with prostitutes were romanticized towards the end. |
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The Everyday Traveler by menglijun on 05/07/2012 - 20:16 | Stop & smell the roses.: You're right, de Botton elicited some very engaging ideas about the mindset we attribute to travel, pointing out how it can be acquired without actually leaving home. I think de Maistre's endeavor to transform his bedroom into a travel destination is refreshing, yet I wonder to what extent we can actually embrace this attitude in the mundane. Traveling, traditionally, not only implies a change of location, but also a slot of free time. With this in mind, a "staycation" appears possible if one set aside the time, but to fully adopt the traveler's perspective while still fulfilling one's responsibilities in the daily routine seems less so. Still, though receptivity is not entirely or constantly attainable, it is an approach worth embracing once in a while. We should stop and smell the roses that, as you mention, "usually slip past unnoticed," so as to appreciate what we call home. | |
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Travel Reflections by Sneha on 05/07/2012 - 18:41 |
Closing Words: Hey Sneha! Great final post! I love the way in which you tied all of the pieces from the beginning of the semester into one final narrative. Reflecting on how each piece ultimately influenced my means of thinking about the concept of travel, I now understand that to understand travel is a step-by-step process, where we as people, need to understand our faults first before ingesting the true beauties, cultures, biases, etc. of the world. Tying the ideas of De Botton and Iyer, one could ultimately say that, as simple as it seems, we can influence the world within a two-way process no matter where we travel; it’s all travel! And although the very idea appears overtly inherent in our understanding of human interaction, I think that to know the inner-mechanics of travel can truly leave a person more at peace in an ever-growing, ever-traveling globalized world. What’s more authentic, Times Square or an off-beaten path in Patagonia? It’s your call. |
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Travel Reflections by Sneha on 05/07/2012 - 16:43 | Hi Sneha, I agree with how: Hi Sneha, I agree with how the readings have made me feel as if I have traveled to all over the globe, as well as forced me to redefine the meanings of tourist and traveler every single week. I used to think that I was a second order tourist, and that I make a conscious effort not to fall into the trap of the first order tourist whenever I am in a new place. However, after reading Cortezar and De Botton's narratives about noticing places that we usually take for granted, I realized that it is not enough to take on a less touristy mindset when I fail to truly appreciate my everyday environment, and to be receptive to the surprises of my surroundings. Overall, I think the most important thing I took away from this class is not the definitions of tourist/traveler, or what it means to travel, but the importance of always maintaining that spirit of curiosity and receptivity even when at home. | |
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Goodbyes! by stircrazy on 05/07/2012 - 13:04 |
Travel, Travel, Travel: I agree that everyone in the class brought such unique experiences to the table – we were quiet the diverse crowd. This made class discussions all the more dynamic. I also agree with you that most people do tend to get too comfortable and settle into a routine, forgetting about travel. But what Cortazar and Botton taught us is that we can travel at home itself. Instead of slipping into a boring, mundane routine, we can spice up our lives by taking small steps to travel on a daily basis – whether it is going to a new restaurant or exploring a different neighborhood or traveling by bus instead of subway. I too am graduating this semester, and it is a scary thought to enter the real world and fall into this everyday “routine.” Hopefully we will find ways to continuously travel and bring more excitement into our lives. Good luck with moving to a new place next year! |
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The Everyday Traveler by menglijun on 05/07/2012 - 12:54 | Traveling is what you make of it: I think Cortazar and Botton were very fitting travel writers to end the course with. Prior to these readings, all other travel writers' works described far-away locations. Cortazar and Botton did not have to move far, yet still found the beauty and excitement of travel. It was really eye-opening to see that travel is really what you make of it. Cortazar managed to make the bland, endless freeway seem like an exciting, dangerous adventure. He made his travel experience into a game, which I found to be a very good idea. It makes things a lot more exciting and forces you to explore. In class, people mentioned the idea of creating a situation where you get “lost” in NYC, and this definitely seems like an interesting means of traveling without having to physically travel a long distance. | |
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Goodbye? by AudreyF on 05/07/2012 - 08:56 |
Processing Partitions: I can identify with the feeling of un-expectation that comes with coming to and returning from a 'new' place. It must be even more difficult because of your host mother. It's so easy to travel to a different place, or live somewhere different for a while, and then leave as if it were a dream, another world, something not-part of day-t-day life in our NYU community. If I have any advice (for myself too), it would be to stay in touch as much as possible. The best thanks one could give is the continuation of friendship. Although, never regret a falling-out too much. Perhaps you can make her a fantastic dessert? Or you two, before you leave, can make an elaborate meal together with a bottle of wine and share your experiences. Things are moving quickly, and it's things like planning goodbyes and writing these posts that force us to slow them down. It's an overwhelming process at times, but very valuable. I'm sure someday you'll come back to Paris and feel like you're returning home. |
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The Art of Writing about Travel by meglius on 05/07/2012 - 08:48 | Giving Thanks: I couldn't agree more about how enjoyable it has been to be forced to (sometimes reluctantly) reflect upon and write about our experiences here. Because I am not the type to ever take pictures, I think I'll be looking back at these posts a lot in the future when reminiscing about my time here. It seems like you can already tell how much of an impact these blogging experiences have been for you, as an addition to your travels in BA. But don't worry about your "hardest part" too much, if you commit to "return," or continue traveling as much as possible, you'll definitely do it! Or blog about your adventures not-abroad! They will still be adventures, as I'm sure we've all gained a bit more confidence in exploring all parts of the world- even out own- from traveling this semester. | |
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Final Reflection by Kristy on 05/06/2012 - 22:46 |
Self-Awareness and Inhibitions: Kristy -- I've been to a Japanese noodle shop and I too felt extremely awkward about slurping my noodles! I really think something inherent in many of the authors we have read in this course is a certain lack of inhibition, mixed with stubbornness, and extreme amounts of extraversion. These are all traits, which I definitely feel like I need more of. I consistently find myself preventing myself from enjoying the moment or in really participating in something because I feel like it is not appropriate conduct. For instance, when I went to Taiwan one summer I had the opportunity to ride an elephant. Only little kids were doing so, and I felt so awkward to be the only teenager in line. Eventually I ran out of the line and to this day I am very regretful about not doing so. I know it would have been an amazing experience. Something I know I will take away from this class is to be a little more easy going and relax and to follow Flaubert's example of doing what he wants, when he wants, and when he pleases. I feel that if we adopt this sort of attitude in our travels we may be able to really get at the heart of touristic authenticity. After all slurping noodles...although many Americans may think it is impolite could be extremely fun/hilarious! |
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Where To Now? by alex-b on 05/06/2012 - 17:30 |
Well Summarized: "Then we are simultaneously gaining new experiences, augmenting and changing our identities as well as uncovering that which was already there, but dormant." I like the way you phrased this. You have a very clear way of expressing yourself. Its true, traveling does inspire us to find parts of ourselves that need uncovering. Being able to "redefine yourself and to inhabit your self-selected identity all the more thoroughly" teaches us more about ourselves, and to me, that is the very point of life. Stretching your depths to "places" you never thought you would go is the most fulfilling thing one can do. I am very jealous you were able to live in different places. I'm sure it has provided you with a very diverse perspective. While I did grow up in one city, however, I still struggled with my identity and where I belonged. I come from both a Jewish and Catholic family, who can claim to be equally German, Polish, Lithuanian, Czech, etc. and so I never really had a type of culture to belong to. It has definitely bothered me, and caused me to have a constant, internal need to search for one. This class has given me much insight on this and I will definitely miss it! |
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Reflections on this Class before my Vacation to Antigua (JK LOL) by ANTHONY on 05/06/2012 - 16:54 | Story: That's such an interesting point you made about Kincaid's piece. I can definitely see why many didn't favor that particular reading. Although I found it powerful and convicting (obviously convicting), she didn't include that vivid imagery and narrative that I enjoyed in the content of other authors, such as stories involving Morris' almost rapes and Flaubert's booty calls. That kind of action and conflict is what keeps me reading and makes for a good story. | |
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Perche Firenze? by Bianca on 05/06/2012 - 07:45 | Similar ideas: I've had a similar experience here in Florence, apart from the homestay part, a living situation that I'm still somewhat regretting not doing to learn to speak better Italian. I'm also glad that you traveled within Italy for your spring break! So many people forget that we are in one of the most beautiful countries in the world and want to jet off to all the major European cities. I decided to do a fairly cheap spring break doing flights out of Pisa to Budapest and Berlin, which I'm really glad I did, but I definitely wish I had spent more time in Italy. The weather has affected my travel experiences as well. I felt like whenever I went somewhere, I thought it would be warm and sunny, when most of the time it was partly cloudy and chilly. But hey, it makes you appreciate it all the more when the sun comes out. I also love all the places you are talking about. La Carraia (lemon cookie flavor, yes please), Volume, and Zoe are three of my favorites as well. So glad that you are also into crossing the Arno too. How much are you going to miss Florence? My answer is A LOT. | |
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How can I explain why foreign cities came to mean so much to me? by Sophia on 05/06/2012 - 04:33 | Who are we?: I love that you ask the question "who are we?" as it pertains to travel. Travel itself is clearly a time-tested attempt to answer this question. When we travel we are stripped down to the bare essentials of our lives and our personalities. All we have is ourselves; none of the acquaintances in our lives are around to bump into, we are alone in a very different place with nothing to tie us to the lives we left. The fact that we tend to feel more "authentic" when traveling should illustrate the cleansing and illuminating nature of travel. I am reminded of Paul Bowles' Baptism of Solitude, and the irreplaceably sublime moment he references. After reading that piece I will constantly be seeking that baptismal moment. It is something I very much look forward to striving for in my future life. | |
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Where To Now? by alex-b on 05/06/2012 - 04:22 |
I agree about spaces being: I agree about spaces being noticably un-static. Every since I moved here I have always been so cognisant of how rapidly the city's facade can change, even just over a period of a few years. Just think about the amount of construction going on in the city at all times. Even in my suburban town in South Carolina I was never far from a construction site. These growing pains have become all the most obvious after splitting my time between two places. Every time I go home there is also something different. I also liked your ties between travel and identity as an expanse of subjectivity. Travel reveals the dark corners of your core person that always exsisted, but were never called upon before. So how can we afford NOT to travel if that is the answer to self awareness and completeness? Sounds like a good excuse to travel the world to me. |
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My Travel Narrative by KRenee on 05/06/2012 - 04:13 | That's really exciting! I: That's really exciting! I think I can speak for all of us when I say that this class made us all want to be travel writers at least a little bit. One thing that became clear to me while reading your post is how much WE have traveled together as a class through these texts. We've covered at least 6 continents, not to mention vastly different perspectives and priorirties from different writers in these various corners of the world. This and the multifaceted nature of our class demographic really makes me appreciate the cosmopolitanism of a class like this in a place like New York. And it's important that we all wrote continually throughout the experience, documenting our metaphorical travels. So I guess in a sense we all got to fulfill our wish of becoming travel writers, and I wish you the best of luck in continuing the skill! | |
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Taking the Cosmoroute by appleoh3 on 05/06/2012 - 03:39 |
Two points: It's interesting that you found Cortazar's disjointedness enjoyable--I actually found it quite difficult to follow at times, however I can see why someone else might like it. It does, for one, more accurately reflect what an actual travel experience is like than a more constructed narrative does like that of Bowles'. In that sense Cortazar's writing, in your words, can come close to being "a new manifestation of his journey." I totally agree with your point that being overwhelmed can be a necessary or beneficial part of travel. It's true that when we are put in unusual, especially unusually stimulating situations we remember a lot of what happened. I would go on to say that this feeling of being overwhelmed is what divides people who like to travel and don't: stay-at-home people seem to think that traveling is just too much, it's too out of routine for them--it is overwhelming, just as you've said. But that is also why curious or adventurous people like it. |
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The Duality of the Travel Experience by StacyH on 05/06/2012 - 03:28 |
Different people learning similar things: I agree with Kristy that taking this class as a way to study abroad sounds like it was really beneficial to you. I came into the class actually hoping that it would help me sort out my past travel experiences, which have ranged from first to third order tourism (in a rough sense), and I think it did that, however it sounds like this class helped you by being in the opposite situation, as someone who hasn't studied abroad. It's interesting that this class has been so helpful to different people in different ways. In particular, it sounds like the de Botton and Cortazar readings were probably very interesting to you, considering that they remind us that we can find joy and interest in even familiar surroundings. And it sounds like whenever and wherever you do decide to travel, if you do decide to go, you already know a lot about what you think is appropriate and not (for example that you wouldn't follow "first order tourist ways" so much). I'm glad you enjoyed the class so much! Best of luck to you. |
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New Perspectives! Also, I LOVE YOU GUYS by Eddie on 05/06/2012 - 02:01 |
Inspired: I loved everyone in this class too! I also found it so perfect and interesting that every student in the class had their own travel narrative. I really liked Theroux's piece as well. Reading about getting there, and how the act of traveling to a foreign destination is an act of travel in and of itself is just so interesting. I never thought of travel like that, and how travel is really all around us, even in our rooms if we don a pair of pajama pants. I have always been an independent and adventurous, and would also love to take a solo trip--and write about it of course. Living in New York City is essentially a trip for me--well, a very long one. I come from Florida, and attending school in NYC truly feels like its own travel experience. Maybe I will even write a piece about dorm travel.... Anways, I love your enthusiasm! This class was truly great, and was indeed full of intelligent students who care about learning and who love to learn. I hope you have a great future full of traveling! |
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A Final REFLECTion by PrincessLea on 05/06/2012 - 01:52 | A New Look on Travel: This was also the first time I took a Gallatin course, and also didn't know what to expect. I also loved this class, and was so glad I decided to enroll in it. I'm excited for you for your trip! I am also taking a huge trip relatively soon, in the winter to Greece to see my family, and I am very excited to use some of the techniques these travel writers utlized in writing about my own experiences and times in Greece, especially during their economic crisis. I also agree; it was refreshing to hear different perspectives on travel, and to see how each writer was implicated in their place of travel. I never realized how many aspects there were to travel, how it affects the examined and the examiner, and even how getting to the destination is a form of travel in and of itself. Travel is really all around us, and we could even done some pajama pants and travel in our room. I really did love this course, and I can tell you did to. You should start a blog during your time in Israel! | |
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The Duality of the Travel Experience by StacyH on 05/05/2012 - 20:45 | Studying Abroad Vicariously: Taking this course as a vicarious way of studying abroad was a great idea. I have also come to the realization (as I’m sure everyone in our class has!) that many travel for purposes other than recreation. I appreciated your perspective on understanding the art of travel in a more nuanced way – we definitely have that in common. It’s funny you mentioned Orwell first because he was one of my favorite authors. And I also believe this class helped me get away from being a first-order tourist. It increased my awareness of my actions abroad and what they mean to both me and others (natives, fellow travelers, etc.). | |
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Phillips Strikes A Chord by maria on 05/05/2012 - 17:14 | racism and perspective: I think you nailed it when you connect your own traveling experience to your openmindedness. Of course, I'm sure that you wouldn't be a racist no matter the circumstances, but whether it's in Scandinavia, Singapore, the US or any other part of the world, racism and intolerance in general often emerges in communities that lack outside or simply different perspectives. In thinking about my own family members, it is almost always those who have traveled least outside their own homes who retain the most prejudices. To associate racism with homogenous populations is buying into a different type of prejudice, but prejudices do seem to arise more frequently in the absence of a dissenting opinion. However, it's interesting to consider Richard Sennett's assertion that the very notion of a homogenous community is a fallacy, an illusion bought into out of fear of difference. He points out that even the most isolated, ethnically homogenous community will still be home to diverse sexual, moral, and even religious practices, and that the appearance of homogeneity is always masking diversity underneath. Given the resurgence of right-wing groups across Europe, it seems these dynamics are playing out on a national level, but hopefully the advent of digital communications and the ease of travel for most Europeans will expose them to diversity abroad, and thus make them more tolerant of diversity at home. | |
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This Has Been a Journey, This Had Been a Dream by Effie on 05/05/2012 - 17:04 | the uncanny/the dreaming: I really liked this post, especially your ruminations on the uncanny, travel and dreaming. It's interesting to contemplate Chatwin's Songlines in this context, given that the entire Australian is considered a "dreaming" by the Aboriginals. But it also speaks to Cortazar and de Maistre's notion of receptivity, noticing what we usually gloss over. In dreams, our subconscious supposedly addresses all those oddities and quirks of existence our active minds are simply too busy to notice. Perhaps the secret of being a traveler anywhere is attempting to achieve a sort of lucid dreaming state, encountering conscious existence with the openness of the unconscious mind. Bowles would certainly point us to the magic of drugs at this point, but I'm sure this could be achieved even without narcotic assistance. | |
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Hardly a Stranger by tugzwell on 05/05/2012 - 12:53 | Exactly the kind of experience I would like to have: Wow. I know other people have commented and said this, but this is so different from my experience, and while I have loved Florence, I wish I had experienced something like this before leaving. The only time I felt remotely close to this was when I stayed in a hostel in Budapest. The hostel owner was in his early twenties and had made it feel welcoming for particularly college students. There were big couches and a TV you could watch shows like the Office and How I Met Your Mother, providing some good down time in between exploring and going out at night. While I know my experience is nothing like yours, I understand how nice it is to be welcomed into a hostel, a place you expect to be kicked out of in the morning and greeted with bad bathrooms. It's so nice you got to experience not only a welcoming hostel environment, but also get to talk with someone of this relaxed, local nature. I'm quite jealous! | |
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The Hollywood Narrative by Abraham on 05/04/2012 - 15:40 | I found your perspective to: I found your perspective to be extremely interesting, since I had a different one reading it. But, first, I will say I always do love reading responses with different takes on pieces. If there aren’t multiple opinions, what’s the point at all? Anyway, your post raised a lot of questions for me to think about more. I think you are right in pointing out that countries continuously dominate each other. But, what strikes me is that there is something inherently different about the temporary domination between two superpowers and what England did with colonization. What I mean, (and maybe I’m asking) is, is there really not a difference between England’s domination of Antigua and Normday’s takeover of England? After all, there were so many extra components of colonization, not only the exploitation aspects, but the racial and religious undertones. Plus, is it really the same as the American Revolution, which — lets be honest — was all about America’s desire, and potential, to become a serious economic player. The English weren’t enslaving Americans (okay, colonists then) or raping them, or being truly, physically cruel. They just wanted to halt economic growth. Basically, what I wonder is whether the social aspects of colonization in other parts of the world (you know, white man’s burden and all) makes the history and present of those places inherently different. | |
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Fixing Harsh Realities by PrincessLea on 05/04/2012 - 15:34 | I found your perspective to: I found your perspective to be extremely interesting, since I had a different one reading it. But, first, I will say I always do love reading responses with different takes on pieces. If there aren’t multiple opinions, what’s the point at all? Anyway, your post raised a lot of questions for me to think about more. I think you are right in pointing out that countries continuously dominate each other. But, what strikes me is that there is something inherently different about the temporary domination between two superpowers and what England did with colonization. What I mean, (and maybe I’m asking) is, is there really not a difference between England’s domination of Antigua and Normday’s takeover of England? After all, there were so many extra components of colonization, not only the exploitation aspects, but the racial and religious undertones. Plus, is it really the same as the American Revolution, which — lets be honest — was all about America’s desire, and potential, to become a serious economic player. The English weren’t enslaving Americans (okay, colonists then) or raping them, or being truly, physically cruel. They just wanted to halt economic growth. Basically, what I wonder is whether the social aspects of colonization in other parts of the world (you know, white man’s burden and all) makes the history and present of those places inherently different. | |
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The European Academy by JohnRussell on 05/04/2012 - 15:23 | I think you provide a: I think you provide a wonderful response to this reading. What struck me most about your blog, though, was your description of Phillips as “a unique and complex person,” relating to the fact that he is a Black Brit. I also felt that he provided an extremely unique perspective, as he was one of the few writers of color we read this semester. Which made me question why this was the case. I think our syllabus was designed in such as way that we got a broad and comprehensive introduction of travel narratives. It makes me wonder if writers like Phillips are so rare because, what you pointed out, there was (really, is) so much discrimination a person of color faces traveling in certain parts. Anyway, great job! | |
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All good things must come to an end... by appleoh3 on 05/04/2012 - 15:18 |
I really enjoyed how: I really enjoyed how positively you ended this post. I too have been thinking about how my time in New York will come to an end — though, unlike you, I still have another year. And when I think about having to go elsewhere, especially to the Midwest where my dream grad programs are, I become very nostalgic. I loved what you said about appreciating “the absurdity of the City,” and some days I feel like that too. You’re descriptions of talking more time to look at buildings has been very close to my experience, because when ever I think that I’ll have to leave eventually I walk slower to take it all in. I wonder if this is the common experience. If once one is aware of their finite time in a place, the place becomes endlessly revealing. Maybe this is the “state of mind” you were thinking of. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck after graduation! |
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Concerning Epiphanies by takers on 05/04/2012 - 05:47 | Where to next?: I love the idea of home within oneself. It's been weirdly easy to be myself in France and to make Paris feel like a home to me but at the same time I feel that I am no longer sure exactly where my actual "home" lies. I will be going back to California soon (where I am originally from) only to leave again for New York a few weeks later. It's weird to have New York as a final destination of sorts and to be leaving behind all my other "homes" for the moment. Finding a home within oneself is incredibly important and brave in the sense that, once you have one, you can go anywhere! I'm not sure I have reached that point yet but it is a worthy goal. | |
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If I Could Start Again by HaleyWho on 05/04/2012 - 05:25 | Frustrating: I so agree that I definitely could've pushed myself more while being in France. I too have not made any friends outside of the program and I'm very sad about that. The safety of things that we know can be so comforting sometimes that it is really hard to break out of it (as is never saying no!). But, as you were saying, it is always incredibly rewarding to have tried something new or to have gone out and been active during the day instead of staying inside. I know I always felt sad after having "wasted" a day. It does seem like you did have some pretty great experiences despite some time spent out of the heat. Your awesome photo is proff of that! | |
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Ghana go back home! by Maggie on 05/03/2012 - 21:40 | The transition: I was actually incredibly shocked to read that the NYU program in Accra has this "re-entry workshop" you've described. But at the same time, it makes total sense. You are in a place that is drastically different from home. I think it's nice that they have a sort of program like that for you, because I can't even imagine just what your transition will be like. Smooth, slow, and with thought, I sure hope! But before even coming to that part, it is important to focus on being where you are right now, and of course unfortunately having to say goodbye. And surely, as you said, one of the hardest parts about adjusting will be wanting to be able to be back again, and do everything you can like you have been throughout this semester. But I think there will come a time when you will return, and can do just that. I hope you have safe travels home and a good transition back to being in the states! | |
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Traveling in Our World by menglijun on 05/03/2012 - 18:33 | I can tell you really learned: I can tell you really learned a lot from this class, and this is a very thoughtful post. I like your ending line, that travelers should have the "desire to learna bout and be taught by others." This is crucial. Kincaid seemed to want understanding; she talked about how the tourists in Antigua were ignorant. They were not aware of the devastating effects that their activities had on her, and colonial and white, first-worldinstitutions in general looked upon Antigua with a superior attitude. It would be much differnet, I think, if everyone traveled to Antigua wanting to "be taught by others." With this mindset, a traveler recognizes his/her ignorance and is looking to grow and expand and learn. This traveler is actually putting him/herself in an inferior position, allowing the place to consume the traveler as opposed to the travler consuming the place. Just because we are lucky enough to have the freedom to travel abroad does not mean we are superior human beings. We do not have more to teach others; having the freedom to travel is actually having the opportunity and the freedom to learn. This freedom should not be taken for granted, and having the mindset of maintaining a "respectful curiosity" and a "desire to learn" helps us use our freedom to travel abroad in the best way possible for ourselves and those we come into contact with. | |
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Don't Fall into the Tourist Trap by Bianca on 05/03/2012 - 17:09 | Pilgrimage: It is interesting to think that I could have chosen a city that is primarily known as a "pilgrimage" site and had a completely different experience. Your site seems to have more of a tourist presence in a "religious" sense, where people come to view socially "worshipped" items that are highly esteemed world wide. Whereas Berlin has more of a fundamentally historical place in history that merits pilgrimage, I have gathered that the main tourists that do come here are here to experience less tangible things, like the music scene, the up and coming art scene, and the grunge nature. I find your account fascinating simply because it gives me insight to how my experience is similar to others, and allows me to see studying abroad from a different perspective. | |
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Avant-Garde Argentina by meglius on 05/03/2012 - 16:56 | Foreign vs. Native: I love how eloquent your description of what it means to be Argentine and your experiences with how they (and you) perceive themselves in the world that they exist in. It seems as though literature from the past allows one to get more of an insight to a world beyond the knowledge that an individual has in their time period and follows the evolution of thought through the time periods to the current position of the self in the world today. I wonder how your perspective on what it means to be a native in your city to the concept of being a native "Berliner" is, simply because Berlin is a rather new entity in its own right. Fascinating post. | |
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Piazze Italiane by Bianca on 05/03/2012 - 15:18 | All The Worlds A Stage: People watching has been one of my favorite hobbies even when I was in the States. Various discrepancies on social interactions in different places even in the US can tell you a lot about the mindset, values, and culture that a certain collective group holds. What is most interesting in your post is that the social interactions of any given individual can be measured according to the given place designated for these happenings: the piazza. It is, in my opinion, supremely unfortunate that Americans have lost the ideal public space, because I believe it is for this reason the Italians (and really, all European cities in general) have such a vibrant social structure that is allowed to grow in these designated spaces. It is cool to read your post on it! | |
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Automatic Trust by Bianca on 05/03/2012 - 14:36 | Homestays and Family: I'm so happy you had this experience with a home stay, I can imagine it gave you a stable place to come back to where there was more or less a familial atmosphere to your home. I wish I had the same type of experience, but in Berlin you are given your own studio apartments, so making connections outside your own insular bubble is more difficult. In fact, I cannot say that I have had enough experiences with native Germans than I would have liked: the culture lends itself to a more withdrawn introverted atmosphere. Regardless, I can tell you had a great experience! | |
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Forced Reflections by takers on 05/03/2012 - 11:23 |
Best Experience!: I couldn't agree more with your post. I find it so interesting that all of our experiences are unique and we live in different cities, however we are walking away with the same gratitude. My time abroad has aloud me to gain my independence in college. Studying abroad does put you into a new world and a new state of being. The values and customs I learned in Italy are now combined with my previous ones from home. I believe that your time in Berlin has now prepared to adjust to any living situation. I hope your experience stays with you forever and you can share it with others in the future. |
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If I Could Start Again by HaleyWho on 05/03/2012 - 10:51 |
Never Say No: Reading about your experience about not taking on certain opportunities seemed as if you were writing about my very own experience, in an entirely different continent. Thus I must also agree that the willingness to see and experience everything in one's location is a wonderful generalization that can be applied to any study abroad location. I seriously wish times that I let school get the best (and by that I think I really mean the worst) of me would not have happened… the times where my shyness and lack of confidence in speaking a different language disallowed me from interacting with locals… the times when I stayed inside in my comfortable room in a comfortable home because I could… some things surely feel like wasted time, but then the other things (the things in the 'real world') perhaps seem even more special. Going out all the time must be exhausting (and expensive) at some point, so I think a balance between the two must be found, which is something I think I failed to do. Thank you for this post, for making me realize just that. |
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Ghana go back home! by Maggie on 05/03/2012 - 04:39 | Leaving can be the best help: When I left East Africa this summer after spending 9 weeks working there with the NGO I founded, Trail of Seeds, and researching for a paper, I remember the exact same thought that you are having "I am leaving a place that needs so much help, for one that doesn't." But then I told myself that I was leaving to get a better education so that one day I could come back and make a bigger impact. I've thought a lot about that while in Abu Dhabi too. If you would have asked me in January where I would be applying when I graduate, I would have said, "Nairobi." But now I'm thinking Abu Dhabi for sure - for a student of Culturally Sustainable Development, the Emirates may seem like a strange choice. But what I have and will learn here and the people I will meet will give me the skill-sets and the ability to help in various other ways. In the end, you have to leave, just like I had to leave East Africa- but it doesn't mean you won't continue to help. | |
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Reflections on this Class before my Vacation to Antigua (JK LOL) by ANTHONY on 05/03/2012 - 01:43 | Using Travel as a Tool: Nice end of the class post! Your discussion of how the ideas of travel has “turned on themselves” by the end of the course is interesting and a feeling that I share. In the beginning of class, it felt as though the idea of a travel narrative was the writings about an exotic foreign place—the prose would mimic the wide-eyes of the traveler, absorbing everything, constantly finger-pointing or camera-pointing. Then travel was redefined, ironically, with a meaning that was its primary definition—the actual transition from one place to another. Travel was not destination but transportation. And by now, it seems as if travel is yet again redefined. It does not necessarily entail physical transportation but rather a mental one. And that is, as you have mentioned, the most exciting part, as that it opens the world of travel up to as close as a few feet left of our desks. | |
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The Hometown Traveller by KRenee on 05/02/2012 - 16:44 | Static Illusion: I can definitely sympathize with the feeling that your hometown will never change, and that you will never miss it. However, these are two separate notions, albeit connected; I feel like as soon as your hometown does change, you may end up missing whatever was lost in that change. I have never been to Tampa and obviously have not lived your life, so this is mere speculation, and please pardon any false assumption on my part, but for me the sensation of permanence in a place is heavily rooted in the people I know there as well as its physical and atmospheric aspects. I wonder if this bears on your feeling that Tampa will never change at all? Also, it would be interesting to try some of the things we mentioned in class, like showing someone from out of town around or setting weird rules for yourself a la Cortazar, to see if that shook up your fixed notions of Tampa at all. A lost cause, perhaps, but it would be an interesting experiment! | |
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Taking the Cosmoroute by appleoh3 on 05/02/2012 - 16:34 | Ways of being overwhelmed: I greatly enjoyed this post and the post you make about travel being as much an exercise of the imagination as of the physical body. Your post also reminded me a lot of what Baudelaire says about the convalescent's gaze, that is, how a sick man who has healed and finally emerged from the hospital sees the whole world in a new and enthusiastic light. Given the fact that both Cortazar and his wife were quite ill at the time of this journey, it makes sense that his already incredible imagination was so active in rendering the mundane fantastic. | |
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The tourist must go! by Abraham on 05/02/2012 - 16:25 | St. Mark's in every city: I totally agree with your point about the touristic economy becoming an increasingly inevitable and predictable aspect of travel. In my own travels I have noticed that in cities from Istanbul to Caracas, as well as many of our own US cities, there exists a sort of "main drag" in the central business district crammed with touristic novelties, t-shirts, sunglasses, and what have you. While you can't blame the natives of any given city for capitalizing on a prevalent and profitable source of income, it does sadden me how the goods on sale become increasingly homogenous from year to year. In particular with "famous" bazaars, markets, and so on, the places are often capitalizing on a reputation established decades or even centuries ago. In Poland, when I was little, my family used to go the "rynek" or outdoor market every weekend and it was totally surreal, still kind of medieval with livestock everywhere, butchers slaughtering on the spot, grannies selling the berries and mushrooms they had picked in the forest or the honey they collected themselves. Now, it's where you go if you want a pair of fake Ray-Bans or a shirt with your favorite TV character on it, as well as "authentic Polish handicrafts" mass-produced by a single company, Cepelia. Inevitable, perhaps, but also sad enough to be worth mentioning. | |
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The Soul Traveler by Abraham on 05/02/2012 - 16:15 | An evolving definition of home: I definitely agree that Phillips seems to be a "natural" at traveling and with the suggestion that this is at least partially based in his own rootlessness. As we touched on briefly in class, I feel as if the paradigm of having multiple homes, or no homes at all, that Phillips embodies is becoming increasingly common. Obviously this transition is in large part due to rising global communication and travel, but this goes beyond simply being able to travel more places and talk to more people. While it seems like increased exposure to other cultures would result in more openness and receptivity, a la de Maistre and Cortazar, the tribalism Phillips observes is equally possible. Those afforded access to the digital world carefully curate their virtual identities, ommitting what they deem unsuitable for a given online community while highlighting and augmenting their pertinent attributes. Thus an illusion of cohesion and "common ground" is perpetuated across different online communities, albeit perhaps not within a nationalistic or racial context; the homogenization and polarization of communities is still very much a problem even for those privileged to access the digital world. Nevertheless, as physical global movement becomes more prevalent and possible, more and more people will consider multiple and vastly disparate places home, and I believe this can only contribute positively to global open mindedness. Nevertheless it is important to remember how much of a privilege it is both to access digital means of communication and, indeed, to travel anywhere at all. | |
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The World Is Our Playground by Abraham on 05/02/2012 - 14:04 |
Playground: Great post. I read your comment on my post as well as this post, and I realize that I am not alone in my wish that I had explored more. I definitely experienced that sense of the world shrinking, as you mentioned. I guess our discussion last class made me notice how little of NYU, and the city in general, that I've explored. I've never even been inside half of the NYU buildings, nor have I explored all of the great resources that this school has offered us. I guess I kept thinking that I had all the time in the world, when really, I don't. It's funny how you mentioned buildings, because just the other day I noticed this huge open structure on the roof of the apartment building across from mine for the first time. I wonder how many times I had walked past that on my way home... and never noticed. I am glad that you found a way to relate to the class, and subconsciously integrate it into the way you see the city. Although maybe it didn't change your life (nor mine), I think it is a good reminder that we aren't alone in this feeling of guilt for not doing enough--I think that is always a travelers burden. However, thankfully, this class has also taught me that there is a journey to be sought everywhere, and while perhaps I won't be in New York, there is still the potential to explore. Hope you have a good rest of your semester, and have fun in Israel! |
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Hardly a Stranger by tugzwell on 05/02/2012 - 09:16 | Thank you!: Thank you for your kind comments! The funny thing is, I can be outgoing and social sometimes and completely antisocial at other times. When it comes to traveling alone though, I really just go with the flow. Also, the people here are super friendly, which isn't the case with people from some different cultures. One thing though, for every 3 great people you meet, you usually meet one rude/cynical/creepy one, haha. | |
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Hardly a Stranger by tugzwell on 05/02/2012 - 09:12 | Not the only one!: I just wanted to say, you are not alone when it comes to having problems making friends with Germans. My brother and his girlfriend lived in Berlin for a year (she was studying photo abroad and he worked as a baker), came hardly knowing any German, and struggled for a long time. By the end, they did have a few German friends, but they had way more foreign friends. I've never heard that term before, but oh my god does it hit the nail on the head. That's so great; I'm definitely going to tell my brother about it! | |
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More Tips Than You Can Handle by tugzwell on 05/02/2012 - 08:49 | Just from reading your post I: Just from reading your post I feel like I now know so much more about Argentina than I did before. I have never really thought about it until now but you are completely right—how much do I actually know about Argentina? It sounds like your experience has been exciting, as you have completely immersed yourself in a foreign culture. One of my good friends is studying in Buenos Aires in the fall and I am definitely going to give her a few tips from your blog, like to make sure she brings warm clothes, etc. I know she is planning on doing a home-stay so she’ll probably be relieved to know that if she’s unhappy she can always switch to a different house. Thanks! | |
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Hardly a Stranger by tugzwell on 05/02/2012 - 04:41 | Courage to Meet People: Wow wow wow! Your travels sound so colorful and very different from my own! Honestly, I'm generally not as open to meeting new people as it seems like you are. I wish I was! In many cases and places it is the local people who are able to make an experience truly great. I admire your courage! It's pretty amazing that you were made to feel at home just by the hospitality and kindness of another person. Very cool! | |
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Farewells. by Elena on 05/02/2012 - 04:16 | Same sentiments: I completely agree with what you said about the blogging class. I think that being forced to write about my experience to others was a great way for me to sit down every week and assess my time here. It gave me an outlet to look at things differently and to think about my time spent here. I too wish I had been more diligent on getting the assignments up on time. However, being in Ghana sometimes the internet would be down or so incredibly slow that I couldn’t even load the travel studies web page. I would give up and just post then later when the internet was faster. I still have another 2 ½ weeks here and when I think about New York and home I miss it so much. I’m excited to wrap things up, but it’s going to be hard saying goodbye. | |
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Don't Cry for Me, Argentina by Gabrielle on 05/02/2012 - 04:08 | struggles: I think that study abroad has definitely taught me that I need to relax more and not take things so serious. Being so removed from New York has given me this different outlook and I must say it's really refreshing. The pace of life here in Ghana is so incredibly slow that I had to change in order to fit in. My patience is much stronger and my tolerance for miscommunication, lack of communication, absences, and late arrivals has risen. While these might not be traits to take back to New York City, they're definitely traits that helped me keep my sanity while being here. I realized that I need to not take myself so seriously and sometimes the Ghanaian "go with the flow" mentality isn't such a bad thing. | |
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In Between and in Plain Sight by stircrazy on 05/01/2012 - 22:50 | Details: I enjoyed reading your post and especially liked what you descried as a “nonplace” and “nontime.” The idea that traveling can be contained within the actual transportation is a new idea to me that seems to be one of the themes in this course (although thinking about traveling outside its conventional definition is basically what the course is about). The “nonplace” and “nontime” in the context of our conventionally defined and kept lives thus become objects that we approach from a different angle, as if it were strange. But what interests me is that it is not just careful attention placed on the familiar that ties together the two travel writers we read, but also, specifically, it is an attention to detail within the familiar. Detail is what sharpens our eyes; details are the pinholes through which we can look at our homes differently. | |
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All good things must come to an end... by appleoh3 on 05/01/2012 - 21:21 |
Our perspective is everything: Let's clink some glasses indeed. We've had quite the run here in New York and like you; this class has inspired me, only now, to begin exploring it. I also wonder sometimes if I'm a New Yorker and of course it's all our perspective. Before this class, I did think of myself as a New Yorker despite not being here for even 2 years. Part of that is the cities diversity, never giving it a single face, but the larger part was simply arrogance and that's where this class came in. To show you how many treasures every inch of this world has to offer and how little of it we've really seen. But you are right, like many things, as we've learned in this class; it's all about perspective. I'm going to miss this class and this school, as I can tell you will as well, but we've both gotten so much invaluable lessons that will never leave us. And perhaps the most important one that we've especially learned in this class, is so much of life is about our perspective, making good observations and being confident to act and to try things. Anyways! I loved the post, and I wish you the best of luck. Cheers!! |
