By Justice Bufford, Abroad writer
I remember looking forward to this experience for the past two years. Susquehanna requires all undergraduates to go abroad during either a full semester or over the winter or summer break. I opted for the full semester. It is a nice change of pace from my home university and I do not have to stress too much over my grades.
I thought that I would have the time of my life while I was here. I always heard people say how great an experience it was and that they had so much fun. They would travel all throughout Europe or throughout the country and make friends quickly.
It was like a dream to me. An adventure that I could not wait to go on. It turns out that their words were tinged with hindsight.
I love Scotland. This is true. It is really green here even though spring has yet to appear. The air is clean, but I can not stand the wind. I am meeting different people and I have successfully blended to university life here.
I do not know if it is that I am unwilling to find something more exciting or what, but it is like I am just living my life here. I quite seriously think that is the point.
However, every student I talk with about their abroad experience, talk about how much they traveled while abroad.
I decided to stay in Scotland and experience where I am. That is really the only way to learn about a culture. You have to connect with it in genuine moments of human interactions. Anything outside of that is staged.
And while I think cultural festivals and the like have their place in the world, although I do not think that is experiencing another culture.
I am convinced that to actually experience a culture you have to live it. I have lived in Scotland for a few months now and I have acclimated to my surroundings. Sometimes I go shopping. I am planning on going to a Chinese restaurant within the week.
There is a coffee shop that I will probably go to again. The church in town has questionable doctrine but really awe- some tea. I have never liked partying or going out, so I am not inclined to pub crawl. It is like I live here.
At the end of the day, I am still me even if I’m in another country. My life and the interests and the culture that I am a part of are only as exciting as I perceive my own life.
The value of my experiences are dependent on what I put in, but I can not bring myself to change my mindset.
At that point, my time here would seem disingenuous to the intended purpose of experiencing a new culture.
I am sure there is a silver lining somewhere. What that is, I have yet to discover.
