Author: jlennon2

I am so pleased with my Summer Abroad. I believe I met the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the summer, and, while it’s hard to put my finger on it, I think I’ve changed.

My first goal was to improve in my Russian-language skills. I noticed the most improvement in my “passive skills,” like listening and reading. However, I am certain I improved in my active skills, like speaking. Near the end of the trip, I felt like I could understand almost everything people would say to me in Russian. Although, I still sometimes have trouble articulating my thoughts in Russian in real-time. At this time, I can get my main points across. That’s fine by me; language acquisition is a marathon, not a sprint, and I am in it for the long-haul.

My second goal was to gain a greater understanding of Armenian history and culture. I was able to use a little of the Armenian language I learned while I was broad. I could tell it was appreciated, and I think they found my poor pronunciation endearing. I read a lot about the history of the country and talked with my professors and housing staff about the last thirty years in Armenia. I went on many excursions to museums and cultural sites with my program, and I even did some independent traveling to other cities and historic sites outside of Yerevan. The layers of history in Armenia are incredible.

My final goal was to get used to direct speech. I enjoyed it and found it somewhat empowering to speak frankly with people. Admittedly, I never got comfortable with bartering. But seeing the same vendors and smiling at the old women who cut me a deal on peppers my first week made me happy and feel more at home.

Spending time abroad in Armenia further reinforced my desire to study the Russian language and post-soviet world in graduate school. I’m looking forward to hunkering down and focusing even harder on my Russian language and history courses this fall. I feel even more serious and focused on my goals after my time abroad. Something about seeing how other people live makes you reflect on how you choose to live, and what’s important to you. My family has acknowledged a change in me, and I feel different too.

As icing on the cake, I was able to see four Notre Dame students and my former Fullbright TA in Armenia, Georgia, and Poland this summer. I feel exceptionally lucky to attend such a solid university and to befriend such quality people. I’m grateful to ND for bringing us together, and grateful to SLA for making it possible for us to learn and grow together abroad.  

Armenia had much lower indulgence and individualism scores than the United States. Armenia’s individualism score was 22, and its indulgence score was 25. America’s scores were 91 and 68 for individualism and indulgence respectively.

While I didn’t have Hofstede’s framework for processing it, I first noticed Amenia’s more collective society through conversations with professors and noticing families on the street. Everyone seemed to highly value their families and would often talk about them in conversation. Conversations were less focused on one’s goals and successes, but on their community, friends, and family. They would go to lengths to make their friends and guests feel comfortable, even if it meant inconveniencing themselves. Families appeared to be multigenerational, a bit larger than most American families, and younger. The expectation is to marry younger than in America, and to start a family early.

Depending on one’s age or gender, there seemed to be clear expectations of what do to. Along these lines, I noticed work, and even school settings were gendered. We studied at a pedagogical institute, and the vast majority of students were women. Males and females fulfilled what we might consider stereotypical roles. Men are required to serve in the military after high school. In short, few individuals seemed to outwardly “break the mold.” Given the last 30 years in Armenia, many people have made or been expected to make tremendous sacrifices for their families and country.

Regarding indulgence, according to the Hofstede insights page, indulgence has to do with socialization. Armenia is identified as having a culture of restraint. As I mentioned above, few people outwardly “broke the mold.” That is perhaps because indulging in such behavior might be considered wrong. I noticed that the Armenians seemed more socially restrained than the Russians I met in Armenia. The Russian men and women seemed to go to bars more often, drink alcohol, and smoke more than the Armenians. Although Armenian males commonly smoked.  I noticed that fewer Armenian women would go to bars, drink, or smoke. I’ve even heard girls say that “Armenian women don’t smoke” as a point of pride. Interactions between men and women seemed more limited or regulated than in America. This sometimes led to miscommunications or barriers in meeting with our peer tutors for practice. In fact, it was sometimes difficult to meet with our peer tutors in cafes for practice… they disliked going to them!

In my estimate, Armenia’s lower individualism and indulgence scores make it a markedly more conservative society than the United States. The scores seem to reflect significant differences.

I think Hofstede’s model will be useful for future travel. I can try to use my experiences in countries with different scores to set expectations for interactions or modify my behavior. It may be useful to prepare for different situations (for instance being conscious of using formal/informal language with different people). I am looking forward to seeing the data on other countries I have been to!

Country comparison tool (hofstede-insights.com)

My first week in Yerevan, I was approached by a young man speaking English. While I normally try to avoid strangers approaching me in foreign cities, his English caught my attention and I stopped. I evidently underestimated the amount of English I thought I would hear in Yerevan. He asked if I spoke English. I answered that I did and presumed that he was a tourist asking for directions. He proceeded to tell me his (sob) story about being stuck in the city with no money and asked for cash. It seemed I encountered a “Moshenik” –- a scammer! I declined to give him any and quickly cut off the conversation. Some of my classmates encountered this guy in the same spot, and I even saw him multiple times in the same spot (asking tourists if they knew English) over my two months in Yerevan. He must have been lost in the city with no money for months!😉

While my story is uneventful and could have happened in any city, I found using the DIVE method to analyze it interesting. It is interesting to see how quickly our brains attach significance to the raw inputs we receive through our senses. I am very confident my reading on this situation was accurate, but I could see how this method could help clear up ambiguity or clarify situations where one’s interpretation of the situation was off.

I think D.I.V.E. could be useful when recalling uncomfortable or strange interactions in my daily life. Like most students, I’ve had plenty of awkward interactions with professors and students over my four semesters. I usually find them humorous, but it is easy to read into those encounters and start to believe that there is static between yourself and the other person. Nine out of ten times it just comes down to poor communication. Most of the time one can just forget about their awkward interactions, but for those circumstances one feels like they need to process, D.I.V.E might be useful.

My Scenario:

D: A thin, decently dressed young man wearing converse approached me and asked if I spoke English.

I: He might be another American tourist in the city asking for directions. After her gave me his story, I thought he was a “Moshenik.”

V: Other friends were approached by the same man on the same street and asked similar questions. I saw him in the same location doing the same thing around 2-3 weeks later.

E: I evaluated that he probably was a scammer or panhandler. His story was unbelievable, and we were near many tourist locations.

I have serious allergies, so I am a bit neurotic (justifiably) about what I eat and drink. I was offered a home-made liquor and was hesitant to try it until I knew everything in it. I didn’t want to be rude and refuse the drink, and I wanted to try it, but only once I was one-hundred percent sure it wouldn’t make me sick. After trying it. I apologized for my neuroticism with a joke and my hosts laughed. They didn’t take offense and responded saying this was typical for Americans. They shared some (admittedly) funny stories of tourists acting like menaces to service workers. My hesitancy to try their home-brew was nothing in comparison to what they’ve seen before.

In hindsight, these miscommunications and confrontations with tourists likely stemmed from differing expectations. In America, and I would argue touristy locations in Western Europe, we have expectations when we dine out. The customer is king! I found the cafes in Yerevan, while still full-service, were much more low-key and slow-moving. I consider myself patient and polite, but I sometimes found myself frustrated with “the quality of service.” I digress. I was surprised that American tourists had the reputation for being particular. I was expecting to hear other common stereotypes of Americans. Unfortunately, we don’t always have the best reputation abroad. I was told by my hosts the English are worse!

The autostereotype I hold of American students is that they are idealistic and overconfident. Loud too. This I think fits under the generally stereotype of American tourists being obtuse and acting like rubes abroad. I was pleasantly surprised that this stereotype didn’t surface much in Armenia. I was surprised that we had the reputation for being particular and neurotic. Especially since we as Americans often pride ourselves on our rough-and-tumble “can do anything” attitude and adventurous spirit.  

Reflecting on this heterostereotype doesn’t bother me, although I do get frustrated with the “allergies are a lifestyle not an illness” approach. Admittedly, I agree that’s the case with some, but that’s another topic for my future crackpot blog.  As someone with real, serious, allergies, the lack of understanding puts me in uncomfortable situations. Emphasizing a heterostereotype can overlook real differences or nuances of a group of people. Yes, some Americans have strange psychosomatic allergies or intolerances, but many have medical conditions like celiac disease or food allergies which require caution. I’m sure others have similar experiences when others emphasize a partially true stereotype to the detriment of grasping the nuances of a belief, behavior, or attitude of a group.