Fisher Student Exchange – Madrid, Spain – AU16

Un Viaje para experimentar el mundo, globalización y la cultura mundial.

Mark Hertsgaard purported, “Travel is like knowledge. The more you see, the more you know you haven’t seen.” This statement had struck a cord within me, having travelled to various countries in the world, I recall a sensation both fulfillment but also an oscillating surge of eagerness to explore the multicolored eclectic sphere that we call Earth. Having a passion for business merged with the increasing prevalence of globalization of world culture and business, I found that the most fortuitous way to grow within the ubiquitous trend was to study abroad. Fortunately, The Fisher College of Business offers a semester long exchange program allowing a student to not only take business courses abroad that transfer but also explore and become immersed in a different and overall global culture. Working towards a dual major in business as well as a minor in Spanish, I chose to study abroad in Madrid, Spain through Fisher’s Student Semester Exchange Program to not only experience business and education through a different cultural lens but also to utilize and refine my Spanish speaking skills.

One of the main purposes of my voyage across the Atlantic was to explore the effects and the impact of globalization on world culture and on the world of business. Within business classes, students are always taught that the world is charging towards the precipice of becoming a unified cultural and economic body, however I myself was personally skeptical of the far-reaching “effects” of globalization. Upon spending 5 months in Europe not only were my initial skepticisms shaken to the core but also my appreciation of the impact of American culture worldwide or at least in Europe grew exponentially. 

Through a cornucopia of experiences did my initial doubts about globalization vanish, only to be replaced by the a new more globalized and enlightened worldview: through the prevalence of english, the music, and the food. A major aspect of studying abroad in a school in Europe, specifically in Spanish, I had assumed that the main mode of conversation and lecturing would have been conducted in -presumably- Spanish. Not only were the classes that I had taken taught in English but the main mode of conversation was surprisingly enough in “English”. The exchange student class -made up of students from all around Europe and the world – all spoke english; not only more fluently than Spanish but also with an impressive level of fluency. Upon asking my colleagues where they had learned english with such proficiency they had mentioned that their schools had mandated english since kindergarten. A sweeping commonality amongst European education system, with the reason being that english was the lengua franca of the world. A stark contrast to Americans who will have taken maybe 3-4 years of “foreign language” and still have no ability to actually communicate with that language.

Furthermore, the music played around Europe or rather the genre and origins of music played in Europe were surprisingly different than what I had initially envisioned. I had assumed that the music played in Spain would have been totally different than the music we hear in the United States with maybe some cross-overs in terms of some major hits but limited none the less. While Spaniards did listen to music that one would not hear in a common night out in the US -as style known as reggaeton- for every song in Spanish there were 4 songs in english.But not just in English all of the songs at were/are popular in the United States. This trend of the prevalence of American music in Europe was apparent in Spain, Wales, England, France, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. This -to say the least- definitely opened my eyes to the far-reaching influence of American culture as well as the interconnectedness of the world.

I, like most travelers, find that one the most invigorating aspects of traveling consists of sampling world cuisine. Naturally, I had researched the wide variety of cultural foods at each location that I had planned to visit. From Spanish tortillas to Danish Smørrebrød. I endeavored to sample everything. What I had not planned on seeing or eating until I returned was American food. I recall the day I moved in to my flat in Madrid, I had taken a stroll around the neighborhood only to find a “Mel’s American Restaurant” around the corner. Finding this funny and downplaying it as a stroke of coincidence, I continued exploring. Only to come across a “1960’s American Diner” a couple blocks down. Still incredulous I continued walking. The tipping point occurred when I walked down Gran Via- the Madrid equivalent to Times Square -to find another American restaurant but just an American restaurant a Nebraskan restaurant which served “Nebraskan Cuisine”. I found this trend of American restaurants in every country I visited, which not only shook my previous world paradigm of the lack of globalization but also strengthen my appreciation of the spread of American culture.

My new sense of the actual tide of globalization and the incredibly visible presence of American culture has led me to appreciate the United States in an entirely new dimension but also to be humbled by how worldly the rest of Europe is compared to Americans. Ask a European about who the President, the Vice-President and Secretary of State is in the United States and they would answer within a minute. Ask the same question to an American about the Spanish government and the answer would not come so easily. I have learned that we as Americans are privileged in hailing from a country that exports culture but however this privilege come across as ignorance when abroad as an American view of the world is actually a great deal smaller than a European point of view on the world. Academically, I wanted to delve more into world cultural studies, personally I aim to travel more to experience and learn more about the world and professionally, I would like to work abroad to further develop my business skills in a world that is clearly interconnected to a high degree. Mark Twain once said,” Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” I would like to continue to explore and develop myself as a professional individual and a citizen of the world.    

Garth Bennett// Madrid, Spain// STEP//AU16

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