Collaboration outside of the United States seems to work similarly to home. In coming here I’ve been able to witness the collaboration between EF tours, bus companies and tourist attractions , the Fund for Education Abroad, Palm Beach, State College, and two other colleges as well. Making sure that everyone is on the same page has the right directions and knows how to move forward is important when planning such a big ordeal. We have to navigate individual differences as well as communication styles. Making sure that everyone is on time has been the biggest obstacle. If one person is late, everything else gets pushed back and sometimes activities may be cut off. So it is important that we respect everybody’s time and make it as easy as possible to do all of the items on our itinerary. Overall, it has been challenging but rewarding and very fun.
My first host country, Germany did not seem to value conformity or individualism. I think that everyone is just very blunt there and it makes it difficult to tell when they are joking. When trying to speak their language we were told not to just to speak English and there was a lot of sarcasm. I’ve spent a year of my life trying to learn German to be respectful of the culture that I’m going to visit. When being a regular American it feels out of place. Italy, on the other hand has seemed to value conformity as well as individuality. Italy has been warm and encouraging. People seem to actually be interested in what we are doing while visiting and encourage us to enjoy their country. I haven’t been negatively affected by these experiences, but it has taught me how different other cultures are in such a close vicinity. Here it only takes a few hours to cross into another country with entirely different societal norms and cultural differences.
My roommate has been my friend for about 3 years and she has helped me get a better understanding of the European world. She is Spanish and has the ability to communicate because some Italians do speak Spanish as well. Additionally, my group Leaders have been explaining to me the things that are different here than the United States, such as tipping procedures, tax, local transportation and warn us about negative possibilities. I’m thankful to have met so many wonderful friends as well that are showing me their perspectives and giving me a deeper understanding of cultural differences.
We did have to find out for ourselves that if you ask for lemonade it is Sprite.
