Saturday, November 25, 2006
Just Thinking
So I know have less than one month before I come back to the States. It seems very odd to think how quickly this time has gone. I was after talking with Cara this week and she asked me whether or not I remembered going to dinner with her at Chipotle before I left. Of course I did. We talked alot about her experiences in the D.R. and I tried to understand, as best I could, because there is simply no way for someone who has not been abroad to understand what it is like. I do not think even know I could come any closer to understanding what it is like to spend a semester in the Dominican Republic. But I can certainly understand some of what it is like to be abroad.
What would the world be like if everyone had to spend one semester abroad? Well, first of all the number of Americans who had their passports would no longer be the vast minority. Think about that. As vast as America is, the majority of Americans will not leave the country. How little one can learn about oneself remaining in one place. Amy asked me the other night why she should study abroad. Well naturally this led to a long conversation about education and globalisation and a whole host of other topics not slightly related to study abroad, at least on the surface. Some of the things we talked about were as simple as education. We both want to be teachers and being over here has certainly changed my understanding of education. I would love to be in charge of a tutorial over here in any University; I don't know whether or not I would want to be a lecturer, just because I crave that one on one interaction with students. I love the dialogue that is found in academic discussions. Here a lecture is simply that. There is no discussion; it's more a class in stenography. I've learned about fair trade. Limerick is a certified fair trade city, meaning it very much pushes fair trade products. They are so readily available that it is simply something people do. Every one of my housemates knows about Fair Trade. They were almost shocked that it isn't a big deal in the States. O'Neills, an Irish clothing company, is all made in Ireland. O'Neills makes everything, too, from jersies for hurling clubs, to sweat pants, to track suits, to jumpers. It is unbelievable the amount of Fair Trade and Sweat Free products.
What would the world be like if everyone had to spend one semester abroad? Well, first of all the number of Americans who had their passports would no longer be the vast minority. Think about that. As vast as America is, the majority of Americans will not leave the country. How little one can learn about oneself remaining in one place. Amy asked me the other night why she should study abroad. Well naturally this led to a long conversation about education and globalisation and a whole host of other topics not slightly related to study abroad, at least on the surface. Some of the things we talked about were as simple as education. We both want to be teachers and being over here has certainly changed my understanding of education. I would love to be in charge of a tutorial over here in any University; I don't know whether or not I would want to be a lecturer, just because I crave that one on one interaction with students. I love the dialogue that is found in academic discussions. Here a lecture is simply that. There is no discussion; it's more a class in stenography. I've learned about fair trade. Limerick is a certified fair trade city, meaning it very much pushes fair trade products. They are so readily available that it is simply something people do. Every one of my housemates knows about Fair Trade. They were almost shocked that it isn't a big deal in the States. O'Neills, an Irish clothing company, is all made in Ireland. O'Neills makes everything, too, from jersies for hurling clubs, to sweat pants, to track suits, to jumpers. It is unbelievable the amount of Fair Trade and Sweat Free products.
# posted by Matt Reznicek @ 9:33 AM 
