Prior to this June, my only experience out of the United States was going to a strip club with my roommates and seeing the last half of a Mac Demarco concert in Vancouver, B.C., just a little over an hour away from Bellingham, Washington, where I go to school. This past summer, I took the opportunity to study conservation through environmental science and ecology in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, followed by a month-long, semi-solo adventure around Europe. Over my two months abroad, I experienced different ways of life and self-preservation, new people with new languages, and some of the most amazing landscapes imaginable.
Traveling taught me so much about the world and where I fit into the big picture; being alone taught me about myself and who I have become as an adult; coming home taught me about my home country, and coming back to the United States has been one of the most unique challenges I have faced this summer. Seeing my own life, my own friends, family, city, landscape, and day-to-day routine from unfamiliar critical eyes has given me the motivation to change my own path away from aspects about the United States I was not a fan of while giving me a fresh appreciation for all of the opportunities and privileges I have here at home.
In a new place, you look around, observe your surroundings, and notice how others are acting and communicating around you. Once I got to the United States, I was noticing new things I had never even thought to notice before, such as the amount of police I saw, how people acted while working, how many homeless people there were on the sidewalks, the way we dress as a culture, and the amount of coffee shops we have here in the PNW. These are just a few of the many things I have found interesting since being home that felt so normal to me before experiencing other countries.
One of the biggest privileges I discovered while abroad was having English as my native language. Being home and hearing English all around me feels overwhelming at times because I can understand what everyone around me is saying. When everyone around you is speaking Italian or Xhosa, it’s so easy to tune out the conversations going on. Coming home, I find myself getting distracted by all of the speaking going on around me because I can understand them if I want to, and it's hard to tune out words you can comprehend and understand without effort.
I am so grateful to have English as my first language; over my trip, it gave me the ability to talk to people from over a dozen countries and learn about their lives and travel experiences. It also showed me how hard it must be for non-English speakers to navigate the United States, since there are rarely translations on any signs or documents. Being neighbors with Mexico, it still puzzles me why we don’t have Spanish translations on important signs, such as one pointing in the direction of a hospital or airport. There was only one person I met on my trip who wasn’t from the United States and didn’t know at least two languages, if not more. Almost every other country in the world teaches English in school as a second language, and I think that we should be taught Spanish in schools to encourage cross-cultural interactions and communications between us and our neighbors to the south.
Physical communication -- especially the way people greet each other -- was an adjustment I had to make for each different country that I went to. In Spain, specifically, it is traditional to give two kisses on each cheek when greeting someone, sometimes on their actual cheek or kissing the air next to their cheek. Whoever you met, whether it was a friend, family member, or a complete stranger you talked to on the street, you touched faces and gave two kisses. In the Unites States, touching cheek to cheek is seen as intimate, and people don’t commonly greet each other with more than a hello, and maybe a handshake when meeting someone new. I am a hugger, as anyone who has met me would know, and I think acknowledging people is very important -- whether it be a hug or a 'hi,' people around you should be recognized. Seeing how many people at home don’t take the time to at least introduce themselves to new people, or hug close friends and family, has been intriguing to me -- and sometimes awkward when you accidentally kiss an acquaintance on both cheeks.
While abroad, one of the first questions I got after telling someone I was from the United States was about -- guess who? -- Donald Trump. Everyone was asking me questions about the election (normally followed by a sincere invitation to stay in their country to avoid being Trumpled). Being someone who is not voting for Trump, it was insane to me that barely anyone had heard of other people who were running, like Bernie Sanders, who was still in the mixwhile I was traveling. I’ve never talked about politics more in my life, and coming home to see Trump signs everywhere is just a reminder of one thing I am not a fan of in the United States. It's always a shock to see Trump stickers or signs in our liberal corner of the country, and it is scary because I am no longer in a different country talking about Trump; I am standing in front of a Trump sign that has been planted in my neighbors' yard. I wonder if Trump has ever really experienced a genuine cross-cultural connection besides his many immigrant wives.
Yet another difference: Growing up in the PNW, I have always been surrounded by the beautiful Salish Sea, the deciduous trees that keep our land green all year round, and the crisp fresh air. I visited one of my friends from home, Jenny, in Salamanca, Spain, and we both felt the huge adjustment from PNW air. The air in other countries doesn’t even compare to ours, as the amount of trees makes it cleaner for us to breathe, and the sea adds some needed moisture, in addition to the smaller percentage of people smoking cigarettes at every hour of every day. Our corner of the country is so unique and beautiful, and being away from it for so long just gave me a greater appreciation for the landscape we have here in Washington state.
Bouncing around from apartments in South Africa to air mattresses in Germany, cottages in Italy, and hostels in Spain, I developed a routine of moving. Moving beds, moving rooms, moving throughout countries by trains and planes and never fully unpacking all of my belongings. Once I got back to the United States, I felt so antsy staying in the same place for such a long period of time. After just two days of being home, I decided to go to Seattle, and then visited friends all over the Puget Sound, switching locations every night or two for a week and a half straight. Going from constantly moving to now living in a house has been a huge transition, and it hasn’t sunk in that I will be in one house for an entire year yet (my toothbrush isn’t even unpacked, and I have been living in this house for over a week). When you adjust to constant moving and being free to go wherever you want, coming home to dozens of commitments can be incredibly overwhelming.
Out of everything I learned over my time away, I wasn’t expecting to learn this much about my home when I returned. Overall, I am so thankful for the opportunities given to me both in and out of the country and all of the experiences I had that taught me about this world. The shock of different cultures wears off, but my memories of what I have done over this summer abroad will never go away.
