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Interlude Reflection

​​Welcome to my Summer Language Abroad blog! To those who don’t know me, I am a Political Science and Psychology major with a minor in History attempting to become fluent in Spanish this summer. I have held off writing this first blog post until after completing final exams because I was too busy juggling my classes and end of the semester activities to genuinely reflect on my expectations and reservations about studying Spanish in Granada, Spain. Well, I completed my last final exam at 10:00 yesterday morning, so I have a two-week interlude until I board my flight to Granada, and I’m intimidated. This study abroad program will be my first time traveling solo internationally, so currently my largest challenge is arriving in one piece to my apartment in Granada. When I am intimidated by the prospect of navigating an airport and a foreign city with my lack of experience and directional challenges, I revisit the reason I chose to embark upon this language-learning experience.

It was May of 2018; I was traveling through Spain with my family. We began our vacation in Madrid, then traveled to Andalusia culminating with three days in Granada. Although we spent over 3 weeks in Spain, Portugal, and France, my siblings and I came to the unanimous conclusion that Granada was our favorite city. Not only was Granada a romantic city covered with beautiful Moorish architecture, but it was the most historically interesting city. Granada was the last stronghold of the Nasrid dynasty. In 1492, the city was surrendered to Ferdinand and Isabel, who would later that year fund Christopher Columbus’ voyages. Granada is a crossroads historically, culturally, and linguistically. The city’s name is translated from its original Arabic name: غرناطة (Ġarnāṭa). The cultural influences of the Islamic Moors are also evident in the Albaicín or Arab Quarter which overlooks the Alhambra fortress. The neighborhood is known for its beautiful tilework and plasterwork, which features floral motifs and abstract geometry. The Albaicín and Alhambra were my family’s favorite cites in Spain, because their existence is evidence of Spain’s history as a crossroads between Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. As an intercultural family, we appreciated this history despite its often-gruesome nature. As I returned home from that trip, I entered my freshman year of high school and although I had not even begun searching for colleges, I knew that any college I attended needed to offer a semester program in Granada.

As I am facing the logistical challenges of traveling, I am reminded that this experience is not just a bucket-list item, but also an investment into my future- an opportunity to develop my linguistic and cultural opportunities. It is an opportunity to learn about a city with a fascinating history and intercultural significance. I am confident that this program will be transformative, and I look forward to sharing my experiences with you on this blog. See you in Granada!

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Before Vienna

Though I’d never admit it, suffering as I am from a touch of the cynicism of its male lead, one of my favorite movies is Before Sunrise (1995). Ethan Hawke and Julie Delphy are firing on all cylinders, and Linklater’s ability to capture something essential about the rhythm of romantic conversations—especially the delicate entwinement of sincerity and subterfuge taking place during any first date—and the costars’ onscreen chemistry combine to create something deeply true. Céline reflects on this truth towards the end of the film:

“I believe if there’s any kind of God it wouldn’t be in any of us, not you or me but just this little space in between.”

It’s the little spaces that are sacralized by one’s attempts to truly know another. Yet if this is the case, these spaces must be just as important to the attempt of interpersonal understanding as the presence of the other person. Over the course of the film, as Céline and Jesse each negotiate their own cultural differences, this space becomes the city of Vienna; far from being a static setting, the city personifies itself in a million different little ways, from the record store where Jesse steals a furtive glance at Céline, who feigns a look away before returning the glance, only for him to look away in turn; or the winding cobblestone streets guiding their effortless conversations; or the people: the poet, the palm reader, the bartender, each an unwitting ambassador of Austrian culture for these two lovers.

In Vienna, I’ll be learning German for six weeks at the Internationales Kulturinstitut, so I think that before long I’ll also be able to engage in the conversations which were so integral to Before Sunrise. I hope to find the spaces that once briefly struck Céline as divine.

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Post1 – Pre Departure

Hi, I am Yingxin Liu and my English name is Cindy. I am originally from Beijing, China and it’s my first year living in South Bend and the U.S. as well. I am a really easygoing person and love to learn any different cultures and feel pretty happy if anyone of you guys wants to learn any Chinese or Chinese culture. I love music quite a lot, learning to play piano for a long time and a little bit of guitar. I am also pretty into anime which is one of the biggest reason why I want to learn Japanese in my college years and go to summer program. I am a huge tea lover which means I literally cannot leave tea for a day especially Chinese tea.

This summer I am going to Nanzan University’s Japanese Language Program. My goal of intercultural learning is to learn and understand Japanese cultural through immersive language learning and reflect on the cultural differences among the Chinese, Japanese and American cultures that I have experienced. I think through this learning and immersing process, I could also adapt to a new culture better and understand a new culture after living with a home stay family and studying at a Japanese University.