Riding the Curve

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On the day after my arrival in London, we had an orientation during which an advisor pulled up an image of the “Study Abroad Emotional Curve.” It’s a model that I’m sure many-a-study abroad student has encountered– one that starts at a high, only to dip down to a lull of depression and homesickness, but then rise up again to familiarity. As I sat there taking it in, it dawned upon me that I had realized the entire path of this curve in just the first day of arriving in London. On the bus ride to the University, I didn’t have any worries. I was talking to people who could speak my language. And not only could I understand the English folk I had just met, but they were willing to joke about the differences between America and the UK, like our high school cheerleaders and pep rallies or their fries being chips (being crisps). At that point, it seemed like this would only be a slight adjustment for me, and only to largely silly or inconsequential things.

Further into the day, I realized there were in fact bigger hurdles to jump over. When I went to buy groceries, the cashier would not let me purchase my food because I didn’t have a signature on my card. When I finally got things sorted out, I got off on the wrong bus stop and had to walk twenty minutes with a week’s supply of food. So sure, there was a noticeable culture shock, but nothing to completely throw me off. It’s only when I arrived at my dorm that it set in– the depression phase. I hadn’t felt homesickness since my first week of boarding school as a high school freshman, so this completely threw me for a loop. I hadn’t gotten anyone’s number that I met that day. I had to come to grips with the fact that it doesn’t matter how big the city is or how many people you are surrounded by. You can be lonely anywhere.

I was about to take an early night that night, until my flat rep (that’s what they call RAs here) comes knocking on my door and invites me to come meet everyone else in the flat. From this small act of kindness, things started looking up. They only got better when I found a permanent group of about 6 other people who were willing to travel. This was a relief as I had been stressing about traveling alone. Since then, we have done several of day trips, visiting many hotspots, such as the London Tower and the Buckingham Palace. It is amazing that even flats on the side of the street have more architectural flair than most buildings in America. My personal favorite stop so far has been the British Museum, which has so many exhibits that it could be toured in several days. Not to mention it’s free! It was surreal to see ancient artifacts, such as the Rosetta Stone or the Shalmaneser’s Black Obelisk standing so casually in front of me. Pictured above is our trip to central London. From left to right, they are Truvail (from Chicago), Rajnah (from Sydney, Austrailia), Ehsan (from Fars, Iran), me, Anthony (from Sydney, Australia), Lunden (from Georgia, despite her namesake), and Hattie (from Michigan). It is refreshing to be traveling with people from various backgrounds, but also comforting to to be with fellow Americans who can relate to my experience.

I know that the rest of my trip won’t be complete smooth sailing from here on out. I have already faced a share of road bumps (that’s a mixed metaphor, I know). But I have made connections with people solid enough that I can share my faith comfortably. This is a real blessing, and in my estimation, a sign of a positive trajectory moving forward.

Blessings, Joe

Preparing for Takeoff with Ted Lasso

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In the past weeks, I’ve been binging Apple TV’s Ted Lasso. In many ways, it is a show that came to me at a perfect time. It follows the efforts of a happy-go-lucky American football coach with a southern twang as he ventures into the chaotic world of the British soccer– sorry, football– scene in London. While there are all sorts of messages to reap from the show, what stands out the most to me are its lessons on “expectations vs. reality.” Ted expects things to go his way through the sheer force of his optimism. He knows nothing about the rules of soccer and doesn’t look into them because he has the “right attitude.” And that’s enough, isn’t it?

I think I’m a lot like Ted. The obvious connection would be the fact that I am also an American who is flying off to London without many familiar faces by his side. However, I also share the spirit of Ted, for better or for worse. Last semester, Mrs. Kassuelke asked those of us who would be going abroad to fill out a “goals and expectations” sheet. It was at that point that I realized: I don’t really know what I expect. Sure, I want to go to London for broad reasons– to gain independence or a new perspective, to make new friends– but I never really thought about how that would realistically work out. I figured, the “right attitude” would get me through.

I came to understand the importance of specific and realistic goals for my trip. They will allow me to look back more objectively at the progress that I’ve made. For example, I know I want to hear the perspectives of people with different backgrounds than me, so I made a goal to meet five people, each from a different country, and hear their stories. To enrich my knowledge and understanding of these different cultures, I also made a goal to visit at least three countries outside of England. I’ve found it helps with motivation to have numerical goals, so that I made sure to do. I figured there is nothing wrong with throwing a couple of fun, personal goals in there too. I hope to take a rowboat ride in Venice and to taste fresh Parisian bread!

Aside from positive expectations, this activity forced me to acknowledge fears I might have going in. I honestly didn’t think I had many until considering the possibilities. Also like Ted Lasso, I tend to be someone who doesn’t even consider the worst case (or even just a bad case) scenario, until it hits me in the face and I’m not sure how to handle it. I came to realize that it isn’t being negative to acknowledge possible troubles, but instead, it is safe and healthy, because it allows you to be mentally prepared to deal with it.

One of my biggest fears is that I will say or do something that is normal in America, but when said or done in England, is insensitive. I would hate to be viewed as a rude, or even prejudiced person. To avoid this happening, it will be important for me to tread carefully in cultural waters that I am unfamiliar with. In other words, I plan to get familiar with the environment before getting too comfortable with it. And if I do make a mistake, which is inevitable, I hope to acknowledge it right away and make proper amends.

With my fears sorted out and my goals ahead of me, I eagerly anticipate my arrival in London in just one week. Until then, it’s on to Ted Lasso, Season 2!

-Joe Cloute

From the Dells to Deutschland

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This was my first time across the pond!
For some reason, I always make things more scary and harder in my mind. I thought it would be a huge monumental thing and difficult to get here. I’ll admit I was a little underwhelmed by how seemingly easy it was, just because I imagined things to be much harder in my mind. I suppose many others think the same way.
On the way, I kept forgetting that I was in Europe, especially when I was in the airports. Once you’ve been to a few airports in America, you pretty much get the gist of how things work in European airports, too. It sure makes traveling a lot less intimidating. I was sitting in the Paris airport and looking at the nice green hills. When the plane took off from Paris to Berlin I saw some nice towns and farm fields and churches, when it hit me that these were French towns and fields and churches! I was in Europe now!
The tricky part came when I landed in Berlin and had to find my host family since they could not come and pick me up. The train system was very intimidating, and I was operating off one hour of sleep, but I somehow I was able to get on the right train and made it to their house. My living situation is very nice, since I want to practice my German and I am living in my host family’s basement with a Polish lady who can only speak German and Polish, so I am getting lots of German practice!

I also am seeing many cool sights, which was one of my personal goals. (The German word for tourist attraction literally means, “place worthy of seeing”) I had a few free days before orientation started to I went and saw the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag, I also walked the entirety of Park Sanssouci the next day! For reference, that’s about the size of Central Park in NYC. I apologize, I am not the best at taking pictures but I also want to get better at that while I am abroad!

Something I that truly surprised me was the amount of time spent on trains. In the small community of the Wisconsin Dells area, there isn’t much in the way of public transportation. Now I spend around two hours a day on trains! After being here for a week and a half, trains aren’t so scary anymore, and I would rather sit on a train for an hour than drive an hour to go to school everyday.

Here are some photos of the places I saw, there should be more coming!