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Blog #6: Trasformazione di sé

Before going to Siena, my expectations were to come back more confident and open. Although I certainly feel more confident and open in some ways, the most profound change was that I am now more patient with others as well as with myself. I attribute this primarily to the difficulty of learning a new language and the understanding it requires. I’ve found I am also more aware of the romanticization of other cultures. One of my discoveries was that what is exotic is determined by what you have or have not experienced in your life. For me, American culture, having grown up and experienced only this culture, is a known quantity. However, Italian culture, with its delicious food, beautiful language, and ancient architecture, has fascinated me for my whole life, especially the past few years. What I found funny, however, was that when I stayed with the host family in Siena they listened to more American music than I even did at home (and I listened to way more Italian music); the daughter even has a type of obsession with Harry Styles. For her, New York is wonderfully modern and sophisticated while Siena is traditional and perhaps even a bit closed minded. That being said, traveling to Siena made me realize that even the most beautiful places in the world, such as Siena, are filled with normal people with normal lives. I think I had thought that somehow being in Siena would cause all of my problems– albeit temporarily– to dissipate. And, although Siena was beautiful, being there was hard work and life there became a new normal, even for me.


Another aspect I hadn’t fully appreciated was how difficult it is, in our increasingly globalized world, to have a “perfect” immersion experience and also the guilt that comes along with practicing a language. If I didn’t speak Italian with my (American) friends I would feel guilty, but then when I tried to speak English with them it felt contrived or false. Towards the end I started to feel less guilty and just did what was most comfortable in the moment, but that residual feeling was still there. Then, whenever Italians would try to speak English with me, I would experience another group of emotions. On the one hand I would be slightly annoyed that I wasn’t able to take advantage of the opportunity to speak Italian with a native speaker, but then also understood that this person also wanted to work on his English, just like I wanted to work on my Italian. Again, everything on the trip required patience.


One final surprising experience being abroad and speaking a new language was that I felt transformed into a different person. I quickly realized that a language is not simple a perfect understanding of grammar, but so much more; it’s the gestures, the pronunciation, the peculiar expressions that you won’t find in your school textbook. Thus, especially when I was around the Italian family, I found myself taking on their mannerisms and mimicking their expressions, adapting to their normal, effortless nature. This transformation was the most beautiful experience I had in Siena, and it opened me up to the idea that there are other characters I might be able to take on in the future– perhaps I will learn French and “become” a Parisian woman in her 20s? Not only did a feel like a different person due to this change in language and environment, but also this limitation on my speaking abilities transformed my personality in Italy a well. At home I am usually very outgoing and talk frequently, but with this change I was limited and felt a bit more reserved. During awkward silences, where in the U.S. I usually would have filled the void with a new conversation, in Italy this proved far more difficult. I had to learn to embrace the silence and accept this Julia who was perhaps more shy and less grammatically correct.

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Blog #4 – DIVE into Reflection

Hi All,

For my fourth blog post from Leipzig, Germany, I’d like to write a little about one of my first experiences with native speakers and the language barrier in a D.I.V.E. analysis. After about two weeks of classes at the language school in Leipzig, I started to bond with the other kids in my class through our common interest in basketball. In our group of four, we had a kid from Russia, China, and Jordan, yet we all liked to play basketball and go to gyms to play when we could. One day after class, we decided to travel to the local university’s gym to play with whoever else was on the court at the time.

When we got there, there was a 6’10” man (Felix) who was shooting by himself. My friends, thinking I was the tallest guy they’ve ever met, immediately pressured me into a 1 on 1 against the taller guy. Despite the enormous height and weight difference, I was more worried about the language barrier and whether or not I could make a coherent invitation to play with the man. After a brief introduction and invitation, we walked to the top of the key and I said “Sind Sie bereit zu beginnen?” which directly means, “Are you ready to begin/start?”. Although it seems like such a basic question and anyone should understand what I meant when I said it, Felix stopped with a puzzled look and said “Wie bitte” (“Pardon?”). Immediately I was anxious and repeated myself, to which he said in perfect English, “I cannot understand you at all”.

Apparently, Germans don’t say that when they are asking for confirmation of the beginning of a game/task/etc. But the way Felix said it made it seem like I was an idiot for posing the question or saying it that way. In a 3rd person, explicit description of the scenario, Felix was simply telling me he didn’t understand what I said and needed clarification. But I, as a non-native German speaker, thought he was being a jerk who bluntly called out my poor German skills. My interpretation of Felix’s retort was completely negative, and although he said it as a pure fact, I believed it was meant to call me out for poor skills.

This negative evaluation and negative feeling made me go to my roommate and ask him if ; 1) If I was in the wrong for asking the question in that specific way; and 2) If all Germans are mean to foreigners who don’t speak German as their mother-language. Because I didn’t want to believe all Germans were like this, I sought verification from my roommate. He ensured me not everyone is like this, but many are straight to the point and see things are more factual. He encouraged me to try and take the emotion out of it and not see it as an embarrassment, but rather a cultural misunderstanding.

After a DIVE evaluation of this situation, I think that I am able to see it in a new light and be thankful for this experience, which, although negative in my opinion, served as a reminder to not feel embarrassed when testing my skills and making mistakes. The DIVE method of slowing down and decompressing helps when feeling overwhelmed in any scenario, and I will make use of it in the future.

Till next time, John Hammerschmitt

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What do Jordanians think?

If I have learned anything about Jordanian culture during my time here, it is how fundamentally different it is from American culture. So, when I was asked to seek out the opinions of Jordanians on stereotypes that they typically hold about Americans, I was intrigued to see what I would find. I initially suspected that Jordanians would have rather negative stereotypes about Americans, and unfortunately, I was correct. My professor gave me a brief synopsis of the stereotypes Jordanians have about American family structure, culture, and other customs. 

My professor started the conversation with the stereotype that American families are not united. In Jordan, you live with your family until you get married and often grow up with your grandparents living in your house as well. This familial structure is the backbone of Jordanian society. So my professor found it shocking that Americans typically leave the house at the age of 18 and do not return. The Jordanian family unit sticks together until a new family is formed, so the American way of leaving at 18 may lead Jordanians to believe that there is a lack of unity within American families. My professor went on to say that Jordanian families “all help each other” while American families do not. I do believe this stereotype is highly dependent on individual families, but I do see the willingness of Jordanian families to help each other. My professor calls us her “little ducklings” in Arabic, insinuating that we are also her children. Some Thursdays after class she makes us a meal and we eat it as if we were family. I have not had many experiences like this in the United States and it is very refreshing to feel welcomed in this way when I am so far away from my own family. 

Furthermore, my professor commented on cultural stereotypes. She stated that Americans often have stereotypes about other cultures like how Americans think that Arabs “just ride camels”. She blames this on Americans’ lack of understanding of other cultures except for the stereotypes of these cultures. I would say this is true as I had my preconceived notions about Jordan and the middle east before I arrived here. While some of these were proven true, some were proven wildly wrong.

Finally, my professor commented on the food. She said, “Americans eat fast food.” This is true, however, the most crowded restaurants I have seen here have been American fast-food chains which I found to be ironic. I have seen lines out the door for KFC, Popeyes, and McDonald’s (McArabia), while the adjacent Jordanian restaurant lies empty. 

All things considered, I found these conversations with my professor to be very eye-opening and productive. I have heard stereotypes about Americans. I have heard that we are stupid, fat, and loud, however, it is fascinating to hear about the more nuanced stereotypes related to family structure and cultural issues. Seeing others’ stereotypes has made me more aware of the stereotypes I have and how I construct them. 

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Do Cheerleaders Really Exist?

I interviewed my friend Sara, who is from Spain, but now lives in France. Sara and I get along well in part because we are both Spanish speakers and also because she, like many people who are language teachers, is fascinated by my ability to speak English and Spanish in a way that feels natural. Our teacher on one of our first days even pointed out how she has visited my hometown and it was the first time, even as a European, she had seen people who were equally comfortable in both languages. As Sara puts it: “Your body language is the same! It’s so strange!”

         When I told her about this assignment, she was excited to talk about it because she wanted to ask me questions that she says she would have otherwise withheld. Sara’s number 1 question about Notre Dame was “Do the cheerleaders really exist?” She had seen them on movies and TV but could not actually believe that there were, as she put it, “women who wore short skirts and cheered men on.” I of course slightly corrected the idea that cheerleading was just a supporting sport and not, in its own right, a sport and an art, but that was not relevant to her question because she had only seen cheerleaders on TV at football games. Her number 1 stereotype of American universities, and in fact, in particular Notre Dame, was that all men play football and all women are cheerleaders. Of course, cheerleaders do exist, I explained, but the vast majority of people are only spectators in these sporting events.

         Sara also explained that she has the idea or perhaps stereotype that people who get to go as far as I have in the American academy are wealthy. She is from Spain but went to France to do a second Master’s in language acquisition and fell in love with the city and stayed. As she saw it, the American system was difficult and only the wealthy could crack into it. This she had from her own personal experience where she said that it was not the most intelligent, but the wealthiest of her classmates who went on to study at Harvard, MIT, and Duke. For her, the American university system is based more on wealth than on merit. As someone who has come to the PhD on full rides since beginning college, I know this is not fair to say about everyone. However, I cannot fault her for thinking this and I myself share the sentiment that elite schools in the US are run by economics more than genuine search for truth and the common good.