On and Off Campus Blog: A Door Into Another Culture: My Exchange Trip Experience
By: Ellis Wee ’27
A few weeks ago, I boarded a plane to Barcelona, joined by 19 other sophomores and juniors. I didn’t know it then, but in the next three weeks, I would embark on an experience that would change my life.
For the first three days, we stayed in a hotel in Barcelona. We attended activities like a cooking class, a walking tour in the rain, and a street art tour. However, those first few days were only the start. The rest of our time in Spain was spent in Madrid, where I stayed with my exchange student, Irene, and her family. With her, I really understood what daily life was like in Madrid. Armed with a much better understanding of the Spanish language than two years before when I visited Spain with my family, this second trip allowed me to get a glimpse of the daily life of a person who lives in Spain.
I came to realize that Irene’s day-to-day schedule was quite different from mine. One of the first things that came as a shock to me was how late her school started and ended. While school for us starts at 8:15 or, on Tuesdays 8:50, Irene’s school started at 9:00 and ended at 5:00.
Her mealtimes were around two to three hours later than mine. For example, lunch was usually around 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon, and dinner didn’t start until 9:00 or even 10:00 at night. At first, it was a bit difficult to adjust, as I usually eat lunch around noon and dinner by 6:30. Over time, however, I started to really enjoy the slower, more social approach to eating. Meals weren’t rushed. Instead, they were moments to relax, talk, and catch up with one’s family.
When I was staying with Irene and her family, I experienced what is known as “sink or swim” language immersion. This is when a language learner is put into an environment where they are surrounded by the language they are hoping to learn. They are then forced to figure out a way to communicate with their pre-existing knowledge. Because Irene’s family and many of her friends spoke minimal or no English, I experienced this myself. Although there are mixed opinions about this way of learning, I felt as I spent more time talking and interacting, my Spanish improved. As I started talking to Irene about more day-to-day things like makeup or her likes and dislikes, I found that I unconsciously started adopting the more colloquial phrases and expressions that she used.
I truly value this new experience that I was provided with on this exchange trip, and I hope that everyone is given the opportunity to be submerged in a culture as vibrant as that of Spain.
Meet the student authors of the On and Off Campus blog!
