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I want to visit Durham

Sunderland itself isn’t much of a tourist destination. When I talked with my mentor, he confirmed this. However, he did mention that Durham is an interesting place to visit in the area. Durham is a city about thirty minutes away from Sunderland. It is an old, historical place that is rich with activities.

My mentor mentioned visiting the Durham Castle while abroad. He said that it felt like he was in Harry Potter. Part of the Harry Potter movies were actually filmed here (they used the courtyard of the castle for the Hogwarts courtyard). The castle is claimed as part of the University of Durham and is open to the public for tours on days that school is not in session. It costs five pounds for an adult ticket. Inside the castle there are dozens of artifacts, fine pieces of art, and architecture that is rarely seen in the modern day. It would be well worth the visit to learn more about this interesting castle.

Another interesting destination in Durham is the Beamish museum.

This interesting little museum takes you back to the early 1900′s in Northern England. You hop on a trolley and go to places that people would go to in the 1900′s. You can enjoy old-timey sweets from classic bakeries, go to the dentist, visit the chemist, and even go farther back into the 1800′s. It seems a lot like Naper Settlement! It is England’s largest open air museum. I think it would be so nifty to take a trip back in time an see what it was like during different eras. The entry fee is about 12 pounds.

These were the only two things I heard about from my mentor, so I took a little look on Trip Advisor to see what other options Durham offered. Durham has several parks and gardens to explore as well. Durham is a river city and has a beach with a lovely view that I could visit. I could also visit the gardens of Crook Hall with its classical, old time, English feel, or venture to the Durham University Gardens that are styled after zen gardens. For nightlife, they have a Shakespeare styled pub that looks utterly fascinating.

As for getting there, according to GoogleMaps, the fastest way to get there is to drive a personal vehicle there. To get there by public transport, it would take an hour. The only way there by public transport is by one bus.

I am excited to see what destinations my study abroad experience will bring me!

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The Bubonic Plague

The plague is a bacterial infection spread from bites from rodents or fleas who once bit the rodents. The symptoms include fever, chills and painful, tender lymph nodes called buboes. The plague first affected Europe in the 6th century. However, it did not cause an epidemic and remained rather contained. The horrible epidemic that is well known began in 1348 and spanned to 1350. 

It is believed to be carried from a rat on a ship from Africa to London. It started to begin affecting London in September of 1348. By 1349, it spread to Scotland and Ireland by the Spring of 1349. It is one of the most catastrophic events that has ever happened in British history. It began in Bristol, the second largest city in England. It was a port city, so it made sense that the plague traversed in through Bristol. Part of the reason the plague spread so quickly was the horrible living conditions of the time. People we packed on top of each other in tiny apartments and would empty chamber pots into the street. This would splash and spread the plague to people in the streets. It spread extremely rapidly.

At the time, people still believed in humoral medicine. Humoral medicine is believing that life is made up of a balance of four humors (fluids): yellow, green, black and red. People believed that the plague was an off balance of red humor, so a common treatment was bleeding patients. Other common treatments were lacing the buboes, eating foods that aren’t smelly, and witchcraft. The plague was thought to be a disease spread by smell, so that is why they shouldn’t eat smelly food.

It was said to be spread by “miasma”, which is bad air. The doctors which treat the plague look terrifying and haunting! But why do they wear that mask? It is said that the doctors who treated the plague wore the masks and stuffed them with flowers and spices to prevent the “bad air” from reaching them.

Overall, about 65% (1 in 3) people died of the plague during this historic, horrific outbreak. Small bouts of the plague have occurred since in the 1600′s and 1800′s, however, it is not seen widely anymore. There are from 1-17 cases of the plague every year.

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Letter to Myself

Dear future me,

Right now I have reservations about studying abroad. I am nervous that I won’t enjoy it to the fullest because of adapting to the culture. I’m nervous that I will just start to enjoy being there as I am preparing to leave. I’m nervous about making friends and finding my place. I am nervous about being away from my family, girlfriend and friends. Overall, I am quite anxious about a lot of things, but I am also very excited to study abroad.

I have never been away from all people I know for this amount amount of time. When Christine (my girlfriend) studied abroad, I let her borrow a couple of my shirts to take with her. She said that it helped her a lot with adjusting because it was something familiar. One of my biggest goals is to enjoy it while I am there and to not have many lows. I am paying a lot of money to be there, so I don’t want to let low moments get to me. I know to expect them, but I want to muddle through them instead of wallowing.

I also want to adjust to classes and take what I can from them. I have heard from my mentor and other people I know that have studied abroad that classes are severely different than classes here. Since I am taking major classes abroad, I need to do well in order to keep my GPA up. So while I am abroad, I cannot get too caught up in being in another country and still make time for studying. I heard there is not much schoolwork, but there are still tests and essays. So I have to make sure I leave time to study between adventuring. DON’T PROCRASTINATE!

I hope you get the chance to travel. I have heard that Sunderland isn’t spectacular for tourism from my mentor. I hope I enjoy it. I think it’ll make things more relaxing in the long run. However, I want to go on a couple big trips and a bunch of little trips around England and Scotland. I have been saving up for two years now, so one of my major goals is to travel while I am abroad.

I hope you make the best of it and not to get in your head too often. Everything will be fine if you make it fine. Put yourself out there and try to live your life to the fullest.

Love,

Tori

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For the multicultural events, I went to the vegan food tasting in Jefferson Lounge. I love free food, so it was right up my alley! I loved the majority of the foods there besides the pea milk. The pea milk definitely tasted like pea juice. It was really weird.

My girlfriend and I loved the cinnamon sunflower dip. With pretzels it tasted like Teddy Grahams! The sunflower dip came in chocolate, unsweetened and cinnamon. The cinnamon was definitely the best!

I fell in love with one of the protein bars they were sampling. It was a vegan, chocolate, hemp, protein bar and it had one of the most unique textures I have ever had. But I asked for he price for a box of twelve, and it was $28!!!! I feel that if we are sampling foods for college students that the foods should be affordable for college students.

We also had a disaster. My girlfriend is highly allergic to cashews.... guess what vegan cheese is made of? Cashews. She popped the cheese in her mouth, looked at the package, and immediately spit it out, but it was too late. Her mouth and throat already begun to itch. We left and took care of it, but it was quite a scare!

Overall, it was a very interesting experience.

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Government Structures in England

There is one familiar face I know we all think of when we think of British government.....

It is Queen Elizabeth! There is a lot of news circulating the royal family that even Americans like to keep up on. We all know the royal family. However, what lies underneath the very public monarchy of England? 

British government is structured using the Westminster Model. Bervis and Rhodes describes the Westminster Model as “ The characteristics of the Westminster model … include: strong cabinet government based on majority rule; the importance attached to constitutional conventions; a two-party system based on single member constituencies; the assumption that minorities can find expression in one of the major parties; the concept of Her Majesty’s loyal opposition; and the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy, which takes precedence over popular sovereignty except during elections”. Basically, it lays out a two party system and structures the other aspects of the government, such as parliament and cabinet government, as well as implementing popular vote. So, apart from the overarching monarch and royal family which serves as the face of the country, the lawmaking branch is elected and very similar to the United States. The parties are similar too. Within parliament, there is a Conservative Party, Democratic Party, co-operative party, and many more. I have found that many of the parties are typically more liberal than the American’s Republican party. They seem more centerist than American Democrats though. There are also local councils that vary in size depending on the size of the city

Currently, England is preparing for an Election. I actually knew this because I saw an article about people throwing milkashakes on candidates heads. All of the candidates who got milkshaked support Brexit. Brexit is the exit of Britain from the European Union.

There is drama with the current elections. The EU is running elections as well as Britain, and EU members  are complaining that they cannot vote in the UK election. The Brexit party are leading the polls currently with a 30% vote. The parties supporting reuniting the the European Union are closely trailing the Brexit Party with a 28% vote currently. The election will wrap up in October. Brexit will severely affect the economy of England, greatly ruining trade relations and friendships between countries. The majority of liberals are against Brexit. However, this is the party that is leading, so it is causing drama amongst liberals and younger generations.

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Journal Week 9

As someone who has done an education abroad program in high school, I am well versed in culture shock. It is the type of thing that you don’t think will happen to you, and that everyone is just saying that. However, culture shock is very real and unavoidable.

Since I am going to England, I don’t think the culture shock will be too bad. It is still different, but I won’t have the issues that someone would if they were going to a country with a language that is foreign to them. In high school I went to Germany, and it was really shocking to suddenly be surrounded by a language that isn’t your own. You feel like you cannot really communicate with the others around you. I feel as though I never got past the conscious incompetence to conscious competence stage while I was in Germany (MSA, 105).

In England, I have slightly different expectation, because English is also my native language. Though the languages differ slightly in terms of spelling of words, meaning of words, and slang, it is less of a difference than a foreign language. However, it is still a completely different culture. Public transport is a big thing in the UK, and in the US we do not see public transport like that. I still am probably unaware of small cultural that I can only experience by living in the country itself. 

Culture shock usually comes in waves in my experience. Being abroad is euphoric in the beginning. It is a shiny new country. It is exciting. But after a few days to a few weeks, you start to miss home and feel like you don’t belong.

I am expecting tons of highs and lows. I know it will be exciting to be in a new country, make new friends, and experience events that I never would in the United States. I am excited to learn about a food culture I haven’t experienced, and maybe I will learn to like tea when I am there.

The lows I am expecting are missing my family. I will be missing a couple birthdays and holidays while I am abroad, so it will probably be a low for me. I’ll also miss my girlfriend and my friends. Adjusting to classes and public transport will also probably be hard at first. But we will all have to muscle through and make this the best experience we can!

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Week 8 Journal

This was about dating someone from a different culture. Personally, I am already in a relationship, so this will not apply to me. However, it may be important to understand advances from other people or how to act appropriately in a friend situation.

I feel some of the questions about intercultural dating apply to dating in general, like “What is considered a date?”. I feel like that differs from person to person, rather than culture to culture. For example, if I went to a movie alone with someone I have a crush on, I may consider it a date. However, if they do not have feelings for me, it may just be “hanging out” to them. Activities for a date differ from person to person too. For example, my girlfriend considers staying in and watching TV and cooking dinner a date. I consider going out somewhere that is not my home or her home a date. However, culture may play in to some extent like what kind of activities are offered or if it is a more formal or informal situation. In America, dating is typically more informal. I know in Japan it is considered a proper date if there is a plan and many locations in the itinerary. It is a more formal occurrence. 

There are also many stereotypes when it comes to dating, like “the guy has to pay”. First of all, there is no guy in my relationship. Second of all, my relationship may not even be accepted in other countries. There are still 73 countries where just being gay is illegal. So it is something to be aware of when travelling. I am thankful it is accepted in England.

I think it is important to consider how deeply you connect to the typical culture of your home country while either dating someone or becoming friends with someone, as well as being aware of their culture. Some cultures really clash. It may be of upmost importance to have an open mind when talking with someone from another culture so you do not have culture centered issues.

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Food

So, I have this nifty, little game called Personal Trainer: Cooking. It is a game for the Nintendo DS, and it gives recipes categorized by country. You can click on whatever country you like and be presented with a wide array of recipes from each popular country. There is a wide array of recipes ranging between appetizers to desserts. A common theme was meat. Most recipes included quite a large amount of meat and potatoes. However, I am a vegetarian, so I went with a dessert. I have actually made this recipe before. It tastes mildly licorice-like, but mostly sweet and caramel-y. I made sticky toffee pudding! It is a lovely cake made from brown sugar, molasses, dates, and I include nuts (this one did not include nuts because my girlfriend is allergic). For a basic sticky, reference this video.

I bake often, so this wasn’t outside of my wheelhouse. It is a basic cake with rehydrated dates folded in. It is baked in either ramekins or a large pan. Then a  caramel, molasses sauce is poured over the top while it is still warm to make it sticky.

As I said earlier, the majority of English foods revolve around meat. Here is a list of 23 typical English food. 18 out of the 23 recipes had meat (and the only ones that didn’t were desserts). I am mildly worried about continuing to be a vegetarian while I am abroad. I was a vegetarian when I traveled to Germany two years ago and was fine. However, Germany always had bread and cheese items that I could have and still have the full food experience. It seems like many of the cultural dishes in England are ones that I cannot eat.What makes me feel better about it is that there is a United Kingdom National Vegetarian Society. There are over three million vegetarians in the UK, so hopefully I can maintain my lifestyle while abroad.

British cuisine is a melting pot of different European cuisines, being influenced by the French, Romans and Vikings. They all share a similar spice profile of mace, nutmeg, sugar, and other spices. Tea was introduced during the British colonization of Asia. Tea was brought back along trade routes with the Indian Company in the 17th century. It has since been a staple in typical British diets.

Potatoes have been widely consumed because of the low cost and high availability. This stems back to depression era, when there was not much to eat and parents would always be out to find work. Dried meats and potatoes have always been available, but in the more recent years, there has been a wider expansion of variety in British diets.

I have made sticky toffee pudding multiple times, and I love it. But I am excited to see what other foods are available for me to eat in England.

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HARRY POTTA!!

Happy Harry Potter weekend!!! In my family, we always watch Harry Potter Weekend in my family, even if we just have it on for background noise. Most people are crazed over this beloved, new-age classic. For the sake of this review, I will be solely be reviewing the first film in the franchise: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

 Author J.K. Rowling was born on July 31st, 1965 (July 31st is also the “chosen ones”/ Harry Potter/ Neville Longbottom’s birthday).

Photography Debra Hurford Brown © J.K. Rowling 2018 

She conceived the idea for Harry Potter in 1990, and in 1997, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published. It was published in America by Scholastic Books, replacing Philosopher’s with Sorcerer’s in 1998. Each of the books gained incredible recognition in record breaking time.

On November 18th, 2001, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was released in both the United Kingdom and the United States. The movie was directed by Christopher Columbus (not the adventurer) and had a budget of $125,000,000, almost all of which it made back in the opening weekend (about $115,000,000).

Movie critic Roger Ebert sings the movie’s praises. Young Daniel Radcliffe portrayed the beloved, scrappy wizard from the books. He accurately and excellently presents Potter’s at first demure nature due to his abusive upbringing, but easily switches to Harry’s quippy, kind and sassy attitude with his friends, professors and rivals nearing the second half of the movie. Not to mention that Radcliffe looks uncannily similar to the Harry Potter that JK Rowling envisioned. Harry learns magic rapidly as he needs it to beat a giant, come face to face with a deadly tree, and look the dark lord in the eyes. Daniel Radcliffe does an amazing job portraying Harry’s dense of adventure and truly “Gryffindor” nature.

The movie would not be complete with Harry’s two best friends: the anxious and skeptical, but kind Ron Weasley (portrayed by Rupert Grint) and the sassy, know-it-all, yet gentle Hermione Granger (portrayed by Emma Wattson). Both young actors do a phenomenal job as Harry’s support, friends, adventure buddies, and quirky sidekicks. The rival is even amazing. He is so slimy and up to no good, you just have to hate him (Draco portrayed by Tom Felton)! The cast would of course not be complete without our cast of professors! We have the loving Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), the stern McGonnagal (Maggie Smith), the slick Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), and of course the all-knowing Dumbledore (Richard Harris) to round out our cast! 

The first movie in the series does a magnificent job of creating the magical world, evolving Harry into a wizard, and identifying a main conflict for the series, which is more than enough to keep the audience coming back for more! I won’t spoil any plot points, but there are magical twists and turns at every point including three-headed dogs, fairies, and a man who really didn’t think ahead. 

This series is a United Kingdom classic. The scenes were filmed all across the UK, the scenes in the courtyard being filmed only about 30 minutes from Sunderland in the Durham Cathedral! Overall, if you haven’t seen Harry Potter... what are you doing? Go watch it! 

Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatoes: 81%

                              Audience: 82%

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NEWS

For all of my sources, I used BBC (except April 28th because I forgot to look at the news that day because I had to attend a wake. That article is from the New York Times).

April 26th

On this day, the UK was prescribed with horrible storms and cold. Typical weather for England for this time of year! Gale force winds were expected to sweep the nation.

On this day an owl was also rescued from a tar pit. All of her feathers were soaked with tar and the professional said “She’s lucky to be alive”. She was given a deep clean and is expected to return to the wild next week.

April 27

The western portion of the UK is being hit with a massive storm, now called Storm Hannah. There are 60kmph winds and torrential downpour. Most of Northern Ireland has been left without power and the same is expected of Wales in the days to come.

April 28

A body was found that police investigators belive to be football player Emiliano Sala. He died in a plane crash in January, and his body was never found. They pulled the body out of the English Channel early on the morning of April 28th. He was a respected athlete. Below is a picture of his memorial.

April 29th

Detective Superintendent Rick Hatton spoke about a case of sexual assaults that occurred in the 1960′s in the Church of England. Last year, Hatton had a hand in putting away Roy Griffiths, who taught at a school affiliated with the Church of England. He sexually abused six of his students. Hatton says this case is even more important than ones currently ongoing since the abuser had opportunities to commit more crimes.

April 30th

In the upcoming election to Parliament, the candidates will not include their addresses on the ballot for the first time. There have been several death threats from the public to politicians who oppose Brexit. There are even threats from fellow politicians who believe in Brexit. This includes candidate Lewis Young, who believe those who don’t believe Brexit should be “hanged”

May 1

Storm Hannah is clearing up, with some residual effects. There was also a knifepoint robbery in Cornwall at a St. Mary’s Premiere Express Store. He asked for cigarettes and money. No one was harmed, but the police are still looking for the culprit.

May 2nd

A lot of the crazy news I have been reading stems from Cornwall, and I think this one takes the cake. A teen threw a dog off a cliff in Cornwall today. The identity of the boy is kept secret because he was a minor. However, he posted this video on Snapchat and it was widely condemned by peers. It got to an animal non-profit and the police. The police are still investigating. The dog survived the attack and is in the care of the animal organization.

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Week 6 Journal

So, I often sit in Starbucks to do my homework, and it is a GREAT place to people watch. You see a wide variety of different people, talking or doing different things. Starbucks is not a quiet place at all. I usually go at about 8am on the days I do not have class until noon, and there is always the same group of four elderly men who sit tables apart and talk to each other from far away as they read the paper. They will be mostly silent, but if any of them see something they like, dislike, or find interesting in the newspaper, they shout to the other elderly men across the Starbucks. They barely make eye contact. They will respond about the topic brought up for a while, but then there will be another long bout of silence. It is one of the most bizarre social situations I have ever encountered.

This differs severely from the group of middle-aged moms who come to Starbucks every morning. They are non-stop talking. There is no semblance of silence, and often people are talking over each other. It's like a competition the entire time of who can talk more about their children’s accomplishments. They never break eye contact except when they sip their coffee. They use hand flipping hand gestures that just emphasize even further what they are saying. Sometimes they will playfully shove each other when someone says something funny. There is lots of laughing even when something isn’t really that funny and very loud when the other moms disagree with opinions. It is a very interconnected, personal, high-context communication.

The college students who are there in groups communicate differently as well. Usually there is little to no talking because they are working. It seems to be a very comfortable silence. They have their headphones in and typing away on their laptops. If one person would like to get the other person’s attention, they will wave and talk for a while in low tones. They will speak back and forth for a while and then go back to a comfortable silence.

I think it is a generalization to say that Americans are uncomfortable with silence. With strangers or different cases, I agree. We want to avoid silences at all costs. However, if we are with people, we are comfortable with, silence is ok. I feel that it depends on age, situation, and personalities. However, silence is probably less accepted here than in low-context societies. Low-context societies, there is a large emphasis on context clues within limited dialogue. So, there is a greater opportunity for silence and probably accepted as a norm.

I believe England is like how it is here. They are a high-context society. In the activity we did in the last class, there were many similarities between England and the USA in ways they communicated or acted, such as risk-taking. Therefore, I believe I will not have many issues in style of communication during my time abroad.

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Week 5 Journal

I think the concept of a high context society and a low context society is interesting. I do not typically think of my communication in terms of information assumed. I think it is a very unique way to think about communication, especially considering that we live in a high context society. Everything is explained to us and we do not need to look deeper into any hidden messages of communication. England is also very high context, so I am happy I will not have to try to adapt to different social cues. However, some people going to a low context society may struggle in adapting to their new surroundings and social interactions. In low context societies, meaning is not only drawn from verbal communication, but also from inferences by analyzing different social cues such as tone and body language. In fact, most communication may happen nonverbally in low context societies. I think it would be hard for me to adapt to a place with a low context communicating style, especially since I am very inquisitive and like to have a set explanation of how to do my tasks. I am very straightforward and horrible at understanding body language. I’m grateful England is also typically exhibits a high context communication style.

For the activity on pages 130 to 132, I did not know how to figure out what communication styles my host country prefers, but I was able to understand what communication style I prefer. Typically, I am a direct and linear communicator. I do not like there to be any grey area and I do not like to beat around the bush to state my point. I feel in general this is really to my advantage. People are rarely confused about my motivations and intentions when I speak. Indirect communication is a fine way of communicating and often used in tandem with direct communication. However, there are more opportunities for misinterpretation, so I do not typically communicate indirectly. I would also classify myself as a linear communicator, because I like to build up and get straight to the point. I feel like circular communication is good for stories, and I use circular communication when it comes to telling stories. But I feel like using that type of language all the time can get exhausting and confusing. On the spectrum of detached to attached communication, I am relatively in the middle but closer to the detached side. I try to stay calm and objective when talking about touchy subjects, because it makes for a more mature conversation. However, my emotions do get the best of me sometimes. It is hard to keep your emotions in check all the time, but I strive to be a more detached communicator. Between Idea-oriented and relationship-oriented, I would say I am both. I want to do what is best to preserve my relationships and listen and compromise, but I will not let my ideas and feelings be dissipated in the process.

It will be interesting to see how the communication styles differ in England!

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Light bulb Man!

eFor this post, I knew absolutely zero famous people from Sunderland. I hadn’t even heard of Sunderland until this study abroad opportunity. So I checked out a list of famous people from Sunderland and actually recognized a name: Joseph Swan, inventor of the light bulb used in cameras and film (he was the only name I recognized).

1828- Early Years

Joseph Swan was born on October 31st, 1928 to Isabella Cameron and John Swan in Sunderland, United Kingdom. He was an inquisitive kid who enjoyed studying and reading. As an adolescent he was an apprentice for a pharmacist at the local apothecary. One of his earliest business endeavors was with a chemist (his Friend John Mawson) in a manufacturing firm in Newcastle. Working with these materials gave him inspiration for his later inventions. He also developed a love of photography while he worked for Mawson. Swan and Mawson created a chemical called the “Mawson Collodate”, which was used in wet plate photography. It became very popular.

1850- Beginning to Experiment

In 1850, Swan began to experiment with electricity and carbon filaments. That same year he started to develop his light bulb. He began to use the instruments and materials from the chemical manufacturing business and his interest in photography to discover a way to make photography more functional. He ended up making a lightbulb that would evolve to be the lights we use in film and photography today.

1860-1879- Patenting

Swan tinkered with his light bulb for ten years before he was ready to present a prototype. He demonstrated his working device and even managed to receive a patent for it. However, Swan needed equipment to create a vacuum within the bulb. His bulb overall was inferior. He kept working a making changes to the bulb. In 1875, he had a better working bulb, but not one that was highly efficient. In 1979, Thomas Edison created the longest lasting light bulb, using thin carbon filaments that Swan did not use. He also improved the vacuum technique. This gave Thomas Edison the noteriety for making the first light bulb. However, Swan had a patent for the light bulbs and had previously. Edison did not want to lose the lawsuit, so he thought smarter, not harder.

1980- Hot Shots 

After writing to each other, Edison and Swan decided to team up to make the Edison and Swan Electric Company. They practically had a monopoly on the electric business. During this time, Swan branched out and made printing an easier process with carbon paper. He also made improvements within the textile industry. In 1881, he joined the Institution of Electrical Engineers.

1894-Death

 In 1894, Swan was named an Honorary Member of the Royal Society (a powerful British Institution of Science). In 1898, Swan became president of the IEE. In 1904, he was knighted for his work in making grand industrial improvements. He died in Surrey, England in 1914 at the age of 85.

Source

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This is a picture of Winston Dunsworth from Fairly Odd Parents. He is supposed to represent the stereotypical English person talking about “the hunt!” and always drinking tea. He has a thick accent, is scrawny, light hair, light skin, crooked teeth, and scholarly looking. Media has influenced and implanted the ideas of stereotypes in the heads of many. Stereotypes linger as the main thoughts we have pertaining to other cultures. Page 58 of the Maximizing Study Abroad book offers an activity to better understand similarities within a culture and how to take stereotypes and turn them into generalizations.

I thought it was interesting on how the book distinguishes a stereotype from a generalization. A stereotype is an automatic application about information about a culture. A generalization is about using initial information to form hypotheses about a culture. A hypothesis leaves open the opportunity to be wrong. So, instead of assuming that all British people are like Winston Dunsworth from Fairly Odd Parents and giving into a stereotype, we could make generalizations. For example, instead of “All British people are pale” we can say “Many British people seem to have lighter skin”. Then we can hypothesize “Do British people have pale skin because the weather is mostly cloudy?” or “Do they think pale skin is attractive so they don’t actively tan like some Americans?”. I think using stereotypes can get dangerous. People can be offended by negative stereotypes. Some people may even be offended of the stereotype that British people are pale. However, using generalizations leaves the option to be wrong and to be corrected. I thought this was a really interesting way to attack the issue of stereotypes.

I also have not thought about classifying certain values as cultural, universal, or personal. I think it is easy to assume that many of your own values are universal, especially when visiting another country. Assuming all of your own beliefs and practices are universal can potentially offend natives or draw unwanted attention to yourself. Understanding the differences between a cultural, personal and universal belief could be important when adapting to a new culture. On page 53 or Maximizing Study Abroad, they have an activity where you can identify which beliefs and practices are cultural, personal, or universal. They use different examples of beliefs and actions from different cultures for you to identify. However, I think it would be useful to apply the same technique to your own beliefs and practices. Which beliefs are personal to you? Which ones are specific to your own culture? Which one do you truly believe are universal? I feel like it would be more useful to look at yourself, like we listened about in the TED talk last week. We cannot change someone else. However, we can look at our own beliefs and practices and adapt them to the new culture when we are abroad. I feel like it would be easiest on ourselves to assimilate our behaviors in some capacity instead of trying to change our surroundings and being met with failure.

Overall, I thought they were very interesting tools and concepts. I don’t think I will face many challenges in utilizing these tools. I could face challenges when overcoming stereotypes and creating generalizations instead, because it is a new concept to me. I just need to keep on practicing, so I can assimilate in a new culture easily!

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I don’t listen to many popular artists, so this assignment got me outside of my indie music comfort zone. Since I was really unfamiliar with popular English music, I looked up a list of the top ten artists from the past ten years. I saw some familiar faces, like the Arctic Monkeys and Mumford and Sons. However, I chose to listen to Florence and the Machine, because many of my friends listen to her and have recommended her music to me. Also, I really like her style, being a fellow redhead and also really enjoying her sort of woodsy, fantasy-like style. I’m referring to the lead singer, Florence Welch. The band is comprised of two women: Florence Welch and Isabella “the Machine” Summers. Summers a keyboardist. They created the band back in 2007, releasing their first single in 2008 called “Kiss with a Fist” with Moshi Moshi Records. Their first Album, Lungs, quickly rose to the top 40 albums in England in 2009. One particular song, “Dog Days are Over”, rose to the number 21 spot on the charts. They quickly became a popular and mainstream band.

I have listened to a few songs by Florence and the Machine before. I have listened to “Dog Days are Over” (I actually hear it in the Cage today), and my high school choir sang their song “Shake it Out” when I was a senior. I already had an idea what she sounded like, but I wanted to listen to some of her less mainstream songs. To make this more fun, I gathered my pals to work on some homework and listen to Florence and the Machine (here they are so you can picture the scene).

We just typed Florence and the Machine in Spotify and hit shuffle. We ended up listening to “Shake it Out” and “Dog Days are Over” again, but we also listened to songs like “Sky Full of Song”, “Hunger”, “Spectrum” and a few more in the mix (we spaced out a little into our homework and ended up listening to Florence for over two hours. Oops). Their music has some reoccurring themes of love and lust, as well as deep and emotional songs about coping with mental illness, recovery, losing loved ones, and heartbreak. Florence has an extremely unique, raspy, alto voice that makes this band so distinct. I cannot think of another artist who would have a similar voice to Florence. The style also swings wildly. They have many soulful, pop songs highlighting the eerie nature of Florence’s voice. They also have very preppy, upbeat songs, as well as a couple of high-energy dance tunes. They also have a  great cover of “Stand By Me” thrown in there. I overall really enjoyed the music and the ethereal tone in Florence Welch’s voice. They have a very unique style of music that caters to many audiences. It’s very understandable why they became popular so fast. Both women are very talented, and it is also not often you come across a group completely comprised of women that creates such empowering music. I would wholeheartedly listen to Florence and the Machine again.

[studyabroadtosunderland]

Journal Week 3

I would describe myself as a “scientific” type learner. I learn in the way you would expect most science majors to learn. I'm not a very conceptual or metaphorical learner. Grasping onto abstract ideas is not my strong suit. According to pages 10 to 19 in Maximizing Study Abroad, I am an auditory learner, which I knew about myself. I can sit and listen to a lecture and pick everything up. Visual learning is my weakest point. I am also more introverted than extraverted, which makes a classroom, lecture setting ideal for me. The rest of the points of the learning style quiz, I can summarize as very in the now, analytical, and everything that you would expect a “science person” to be.

I already knew many of these traits about myself. Studying by reading has always been hard for me, so a past teacher made me take a very similar quiz to discover my preferred way of learning. I think it benefits me that I’m going to an English-speaking country because of how I learn. When I went to Germany on an exchange, it was extremely difficult for me to adjust to the new language, even though I had been learning it for four years. I think studying in an English-speaking country was the best option for me.

I think these traits coincides with the Cultural Learning Styles survey that I too. I am very task oriented when it comes to adjusting to new cultures. I want a physical list of pros and cons, values of my values against a different culture. When I am away, I preferred to stay physically healthy and fit to keep my wits abroad. I think all the coping strategies mentioned would be helpful to maintaining your mental and physical health abroad. I plan on joining clubs to help integrate me into the university life abroad and the social scene. I have trouble going out and making new friends without some sort of common ground, so I think joining clubs will be helpful to me adjusting to life abroad. The one that I rated very low was keeping a journal and a diary. I have tried journaling time and time again. Many people have suggested me to keep a journal for my dreams, accomplishing goals, creative writing, and anything under the sun. So, I will start journaling. I will be good for a few days, but on the fourth or fifth day, I take a break. I never return to the journal again.

I feel that instead of reflecting on what I have done, I want to look ahead and be active with my experience. I am a present-oriented person. I want to be as involved as I can with the culture. I hope to meet and befriend people of the host culture. I want to face things as they arise in an analytical and practical way. I have done an exchange program before and the best thing to do is fully immerse yourself in the culture. That is what I plan to do when I arrive in Sunderland.

[studyabroadtosunderland]

Economy of England.

England uses the pound and pence as a monetary unit. England is a relatively well off nation, earning an average gross domestic product of about 500,000 pounds a month, which has grown steadily through the past couple of decades. There unemployment rate has severely dropped in recent years as well because of increased self-employment, flexible pays, and other reasons. They are also big trade partners with the rest of the European Union as well as the United States. This is surprising considering that the United Kingdom left the European Union a couple years ago. This was called Brexit. Though the United Kingdom (including England) left the European Union, about 48% of all goods manufactured in England still are traded to countries in the European Union. Other major trade partners of England include Scotland, Ireland, and India.

In the late 1800′s, factories started to be built all around Britain. It began with the manufacturing of cloth. later on steel became a major product of England. Steel allowed new machines to be built, requiring more steel factories to be built, leading to the Industrial revolution. This made Britain a hub for business, a major trade partner, extremely powerful, and increased the gross domestic product. The effects of the Industrial Revolution continue on today, maintaining Britain as one of the wealthiest countries in the world. They also still majorly trade manufactured goods, chemicals, food, beverages and chemicals.

Overall, it is an economy that is highly similar to the United States. Even the pound roughly translates to the value of a dollar. They have similar trade partners and are extremely monetarily powerful nations.

Personally, I am not interested in the economy of a country. Economics do not really spark joy within me. I could just be happy knowing that they use the pound and how to buy reasonably priced goods. Economics is like a foreign language to me, so I will probably not be doing any further research on this topic.

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