Experiential Blog #9

The information that I gathered on this study abroad trip that was most meaningful to me was probably the information about how much the Gothic literature really affected the society everywhere all over the world. This could very well have changed some situations I experienced in the past because now knowing that the Gothic is everywhere I will look at things with a lot more understanding of architecture, literature, and all the more Gothic details of the stories I read. This new information can change my perceptions and interpretations by allowing me to fully understand that just because it isn't dark and looking Gothic doesn't mean it shouldn't have a Gothic interpretation because of the way the characters are treated and also how they live their life.

Experiential Blog #8 Some of what I learned

What I have learned in the Gothic class relates heavily to my daily life because as we learned in the class the Gothic is everywhere. It is in many of the things we read and watch on TV, it is in so many modern movies such as Hunger Games and Harry Potter, and it would be nearly impossible to name them all. I have learned that the Gothic is not just about horror and gore it’s about instilling a fear or intimidation into those around it. It is about the repressed desire, emotion, and experience coming out in the form of rebellion. The learning experience here is much more involved and individualized compared to the learning experience back home because we work closely with our professors and our peers. We utilized group projects and gatherings to collaborate ideas and communicate different understandings. One of the important bits of knowledge I acquired during my experience on this study abroad trip is that even though in this culture things are communicated, and for that matter done differently in general, we are all still human which means once the communication barrier is broken, it is not hard to merge with the second culture.

Experiential Blog #7 Peoples attitudes

People’s attitudes here about time are starting the day early and ending it early; people like to have as much of the day remaining as possible. People here talk quieter so the personal bubble becomes a bit smaller because you need to be able to hear what the person next to you is saying. Most people in the UK treat foreigners very well as if we belonged here; in some other countries the language barrier determined how much the citizens liked us. People respond somewhat neutrally to negative behavior because they aren’t really sure how to respond without escalating the situation, so instead they just apologize. The number one clue that helped me figure out the attitudes of the people in these different places was the loudness of their voice and the personal distance they allowed me. I always assumed we were loud in the US and we are, however the difference is not extreme to me. I now know that I need to be mindful of the personal distance and volume of the people around me and adjust correspondingly.