Week 8

By:

Alejandro Romero

Published:

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Week 8 was quite fruitful. It started off with an excursion to the old soviet government HQ, which has now been converted into a theater. There we saw the Swan lake Ballet. it was quite impress and very beautiful!  It amazes me how much appreciation Russians have for cultured events. Theaters here tend to be much cheaper then in the states, and performers tend to be appreciated more. Which is shown by the number of times they come out to bow, and the number of gifts they receive. I also went to a very entertaining play. It was the Russian version of Woody Allen’s “Bullets on Broadway” . Since some of my friends knew one of the actors, we got free front row tickets. it was an amazing experience!  Later on in the week I went to go volunteer at the American center. Since I arrived a few hours early, I decided to go check out the Japanese center. Ohh what a nostalgic feeling it was! immediately I went crazy looking for Japanese textbook I could check out so I wouldn’t lose my Japanese while here. I got my on Japanese/Russian library card, which for me was so exciting. I was also impressed by one women working there by the name of Irena. She spoke Japanese/English and Russian fluently. It was fun having conversation with her in all the languages. It was a fun experience and made me very happy. Saturday, we went to the state historical museum which was three huge floors of Awesomeness!  I love history and to be able to see the many artifacts and exhibits they had made me feel like a child in a candy shop. It was a great way to spend the morning of my B-day. I turned 20….I’m a little sad however, it means I am no longer a teenager, and I will probably miss that title very much. Towards the end of the night I went with a group of friends to have Pizza and Sushi. It was great! I had a great B-day, and a great week!

Alejandro Romero

My name is Alejandro Romero, but my friends call me Alex. I was born in Hialeah Miami, to a Costa Rican father and Puerto Rican mother. When I was young my parents divorced. I was raised primarily by my mother and my Irish-American step-father in Hollywood, FL. I have two younger siblings, a brother on my mother's side, and sister on my father's side. Growing up, English was my first language and Spanish was my secondary. In middle school, I had the wonderful opportunity of going to Costa Rica with my father. While I always had an interest in foreign languages and cultures ever since I was young, I was amazed with how different daily life was in another country. In high school, I became fascinated with the Japanese language and culture and started teaching myself before having the opportunity to take it as a class. I studied Japanese for 4 years before finally getting the opportunity to participate in a student exchange program in the summer of 2009. To this day, I say that was the greatest experience in my life, and it has allowed me to see the world in a different way. Recently I have fallen in love with the Russian language and culture and wish to pursue the same great experiences I had during my Japanese Studies. My goals in life are to use my skills of languages and cultures to help improve international relations, and change some of the misconceptions people have towards other cultures.