Friday, October 28, 2011
Readings That Influence
Please feel free to share what readings you have done that helped you adjust to being abroad, gave you a new perspective, or encouraged you to travel. These readings can be essays, books, poetry, anything that you read at any time that helped you get along in this traveling process. Everyone should post at least once.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
One of the classes I am taking while in Copenhagen is an English class focusing on H.C. Andersen's fairy tales. A couple of weeks ago we read The Millennium. This fairy tale, oddly enough, is about how "the young citizens of America" will visit the "old Europe." Quite fitting that a group of young American students read this while studying abroad. Nonetheless, H.C. proceeds to poke fun at Americans' need to see all the highlights of Europe in one visit. It's an abridged visit to Europe—seeing only the big attractions.
ReplyDeleteI found this story very fun to read because it was way to familiar. H.C. Andersen wrote this story in 1852, how he could have predicted the fast-paced, go-getter tendencies of Americans, let alone air travel in itself, is remarkable. As I read the fairy tale, I had to remind myself that this story was written in 1852. Grasping this date made the story so much more fascinating.
While some Americans might be offended by reading this story, I found it to be refreshingly true. By expressing such a clear opinion through a fairy tale, it makes the social criticism less judgmental and more thought provoking. As you read along, you recognize each landmark that H.C. includes. And furthermore, you realize that those are all places that you want to visit while in Europe. By the end of the fairy tale, I was able to laugh at the American way of traveling, for I know I am guilty of it too.
It seems as if we feel that we have to see all of Europe in the short semester we are here. But the fact of the matter is, we don’t. We can always come back to Europe to see more. The Millenium really put this into perspective for me. While four months seems like a long time to travel through Europe, it really isn’t enough time to really enjoy many places. So with that, I have promised to give myself enough time in every place I travel to, to really enjoy it, not just check it off my list.
As I am taking all my classes in French and none of them are particularly geared towards Writing or English I think it's great that courses at Copenhagen incorporate the aspect of traveling even in something as innocuous as a class on H.C. Anderson's fairy tales. Carolyn I think you touched upon an excellent point that most Americans have this affliction of "wanting to see it all...at once." In doing so they not only get the sparknotes version of Europe and end up getting shortchanged on the less touristy attractions of a city but I also think it devalues the big attractions as well. I can think of tons of friends(I'm no stranger to it as well) who've gone to places like London only to take pictures outside of Westminster Abbey because they didn't want to wait in the cue or pay the entrance fee. They were happy enough to travel by plane/bus/train just to get a picture worthy of a facebook which is just so typically American. We seem to lose sight of the fact that Europe will still be here in 5, 10, 15 years and should we ever want to return like a really good meal it shouldn't be scarfed down in seconds but savored slowly.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to add a rather funny article I read in the Washington Post about an obstacle all study abroad students country hopping have encountered...checking in for a flight. What used to take 20 minutes tops, ever since 9/11, has turned into a test of wills. If you choose not to go to the airport and check in 2 hours in advance like you're now "strongly recommended" to do you take part in the dangerous game of making your flight. The game is complete with obstacles such as printing your boarding pass, checking your luggage, passing by the xray for carry on and who could ever forget the lovely TSA people? Everything from getting you're toothpaste confiscated for being in a container that's greater than 50 ml to getting patted down when there's no way anything could possibly be hidden in a pair of leggings and tank top it's just out right comical and Mr.Yonan covers the pain that air travel is perfectly!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/06/AR2010080602680_2.html
Thanks for that link, Valentina. Nice tone in there. Boarding a plane has become such a hassle for everyone. And Carolyn, I am looking up that Anderson story. Sounds so relevant for most traveling, even in America. I have an article about how to be a good tourist in your own town. It's short, but kind of the flip side of the Anderson piece. Find some stuff to do in your own hometown, even if it is touristy.
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.onetravel.com/travel/how-to-be-a-good-tourist-at-home.aspx
"Make It Mine"
ReplyDeleteI was having a tough time thinking of a reading I did that really had an impact on my trip thus far, but as I kept thinking I realized there was a song that has really influenced my journey and perspective of being abroad. Even though most times you listen to a song rather than read it, it is still considered a piece of writing and in my opinion poetry, so I thought it would still be appropriate to use as my example.
The song is performed and written by Jason Mraz, and it is called “Make It Mine”. The opening line is, “Wake up everyone. How can you sleep at a time like this?” This line I think is the best advice for anyone studying abroad, and it is something I think of most every day. It makes me appreciate the opportunity I have been afforded, and helps me realize how I have to be “awake” during this experience in order to take in and experience all there is to offer. I don’t want to just live here in Belgium, but I want to fully immerse myself and be completely conscious of the events, people, and culture around me.
The next line is by far one of my favorites and it is, “Listen to your voice—the one that tells you to taste past the tip of your tongue. Leap and the net will appear”. I take this to mean to trust yourself, and to also take as many chances as you can. It can be hard to get involved and to step outside your comfort zone, especially being in a new country and environment, but taking chances and experiencing new things will only help us grow in the end. I think it’s scary to many times leap into the unknown, but even though we might not see it at first or even until a few years down the road, “the net will appear”, and things will make sense and pay off in the end.
The beginning of the chorus is another section that perfectly encapsulates studying abroad and traveling, and it begins “I don't want to wake before the dream is over, I'm gonna make it mine.” In a sense this year so far has felt like a dream. I have been traveling to places that I never thought I would see, and I am meeting people from all over the world. Before this dream is over, and I return back home in the summer, I am going to fully immerse myself in this experience. I am here to grow as a person, and I am going to draw as much out of this journey as I can. This journey is what I make out of it, and I am going to “make it mine”.
here is a link to the song if you are interested in hearing it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmJoRguH8Oo
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOne poem that I came across during my study abroad experience in Leuven, Belgium is "Travel to the Place" by Divyesh Shah. The poem discusses more than the physical travel from one place to another, but the mental release that traveling brings. Personally, this study abroad experience has allowed me to mentally relax and be more open to trying new things. When you allow yourself to be a little more free, you can open yourself up to additional opportunities. As the first stanza describes, "Travel to the place/Where mind set to peace,/No one can see,/ Feel us free." The poem also describes how traveling can give us the opportunity to fulfill our hopes and dreams -- I know there are so many things that I have been able to check off my bucket list and have experienced things I never thought I would be able to do. "Fill our desire/ We wish, we aspire." Not only do we get to "check-off" things on our list, but I find that it has inspired me to dream even bigger about things I would like to do and see in my future travels. The final stanza says, "Travel to the place/ Where we can live/ Of joy and sprinkle its grace/ And do anything, anywhere." For this stanza, I think the "live" part is extremely important. Here in Belgium, I feel as though I am not a visitor, but a resident, living as a Belgian. While traveling to other countries is incredible, to never truly appreciate Leuven would be a shame. Here, I can befriend Belgians and other internationals, be on a first name basis with the sandwich maker down the street, and discover the secrets of the town that only a Leuvenite would know. As Katie said, this experience is what we make of it, and as the author also says, we can "do anything, anywhere." We may be able to come back to Europe at another time in our lives as Carolyn said, but the fact is, I don't know when that will be. It will be at a completely different time in my life, that's for sure. But I'm here now and want to do as much as I possibly can because, well, you just never know. One of my favorite quotes, by Chad Sugg, I think is also very appropriate: "Enjoy your youth. You'll never be younger than you are at this very moment." So I will do as Divyesh Shah advises and "Travel to the place/ Where we spread love,/ Freedom to serve/ And land to move."
ReplyDeletehttp://www.poemhunter.com/poem/travel-to-the-place/
I'm so glad to see the music and poetry inclusions. Yes, anything we read/hear is influential in our travel. Music is poetry and/or stories, and certainly starts with writing, even if it's just notes. Thank you for such creative responses and some great links!
ReplyDeleteWhile I was traveling I began reading Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. Now, this book obviously connected to traveling in a rather cliché manner, as most simply put it’s about man and his travels. However, there was a certain aspect of the story that I felt I could relate to on a deeper level. As the protagonist, Sal, travels across the U.S there are many places that become his new home, and many people who become his new family. For me, this aspect of traveling has been the most fascinating; that home is not really this childhood place we’ve known and loved, but rather it’s a state of mind, and it travels with us, building its self wherever it is we settle. I saw this with Sal, as he moved between Denver, New York and California, at each stop creating a new life, new family and a new home. This same phenomenon has occurred through my travels. It surprised me that my home could transform so quickly and become not something I missed and felt nostalgic for, but something like a comfort that followed me and set its self up wherever I landed. I found, like Sal, that home became based in the people around me, the experiences I had in that place, and the memories I created from that. For a while I struggled with a word to define this moving home phenomenon, and I guess in the end I decided it was simply adaptability; just that something which was once foreign could become familiar by acclimating, adjusting and accepting the change in front of me. It seemed to me that this adaptability is exactly the kind of freedom Sal was searching for throughout the book. It is the ability to take what used to ground you and carry it wherever you may choose. This freedom of adaptability is a treasure which Sal and I have both discovered and I hope everyone else has too!
ReplyDeleteIt's weird, this is the first time in my entire 13 years of schooling that I have not had an English class and I think it’s making me dumber. This semester in Rome, aside from Travel Writing I am taking two Italian courses, an Art and Architecture History course and a Philosophy of Art course. I’m starting to believe that the lack of English and literature in my life is causing my vocabulary to dull and my overall work ethic to slow. English has always been my thing; I’m convinced I was born without the left side of my brain. I love to read, especially fiction, and obviously I know that reading directly correlates with intelligence; however, I haven’t experienced its downside until this semester. I do little reading for any of my classes, and the works that I do read are either in Italian, about ruins and rocks, or relating to philosophical ideals in art which continue to confuse and bore me on a weekly basis. As a result of my disinterest, I have become a scholar at slacking. However, my procrastination eventually led me to the discovery of a quote by Oscar Wilde that I fell in love with, in the only book I actually enjoyed reading this semester, The Best of Outside: The First Twenty Years: “The difference between journalism and literature is that journalism is unreadable and literature is not read.” His words truly touched home to me. When I accidentally stumbled upon them, my immediate interpretation was journalism must evoke emotion and a sense of placement within a particular event, and literature for damn sure is not being read here. Therefore, I came to the conclusion that as a travel writer in this very Travel Writing course, to make up for the lack of interesting literature in my life, I must channel my emotions and experiences here into my journalism. This quote brought me to realize that travel writing is much more then a documentation of my time abroad; rather, it is a mission to recruit my readers and take them with me throughout my journeys. This quote gave life to my academically dull experience abroad.
ReplyDelete