Amherst College Global Education Blog
Now that my time is ending in Spain, I thought I would share some of my thoughts about my various identities and traveling abroad in Spain and other countries in Europe. I will discuss my black, American, and New York City identities in hope to show how each one shifts my power and privilege in different contexts. Let’s start with
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Seeing the Stars Imagine you go outside after you’ve left your well-lit house. You look up and all you see is a black sky. However, your eyes start to adjust to the lack of surrounding light and your vision starts to change. Slowly, you observe these specks of light that become brighter as you stay outside. And finally, after a
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I said it in my first post, but this city really becomes something else at night. This might be my own biases coming out though. Some of my favorite memories from Shanghai will be associated with its nighttime, and the people I met while exploring the streets. That’s one of the most important parts of my experience, now that
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When many students go abroad I think there are a few things that they would typically be nervous about. They might ask things like, how will I adapt in a new culture and environment? Will I like my classes? Will there be a language barrier? Will I make friends? For me, however, and I bet a for a few other
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Let’s talk a bit more about this authenticity thing. This is something I touched on in my last blog post, but the questions authenticity creates have surrounded me daily while studying abroad in China. Take, for example, my most recent trip to Yunnan province. It’s pretty far from Shanghai, bordering a number of Southeast Asian countries and home to a
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“No way, I can’t go to the store by myself! My Spanish is not that good…no one will understand me! Please come with me!” I blurted this out to my friend Zaq in my hotel room before heading out to get some more toothpaste. He gave me a rosy smile and said “No, I know you can do it.” I
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More than halfway through the semester, my new life in Copenhagen is in full swing. With so many new things happening to me every day—eating new food, trying new types of transportation and activities, and new things to see—it does feel nice to have a set school routine with classes four days a week (and not to mention, classes that
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The study abroad program that I’m currently on has an independent travel week in early October. For the whole week, I was class-free and exploring the country. The only downside to it all was the rest of China, doing the exact same thing. The independent travel week coincided with one of China’s Golden Weeks – a holiday allowing Chinese citizens
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When I was deciding where to go to college, I had the choice between two schools. One place was my mom and sister’s alma mater; it was a place I had visited multiple times before and it was nearby Boston, a city I had always wanted to live in. The other place was a wildcard: no one in my family
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Granada is beautiful, yet it is a very strange place to me. I adore the sun that glows bright on Granada, the tall vibrant green trees, and the sandy orange-colored rooftops. Every day has felt like summer and I enjoy every minute of each day. However, as beautiful as Granada is I cannot shake how peculiar the city, people, and
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