So this is my first entry for this blog. I’m going to talk about my life before studying abroad; as it is right now before I leave for Salamanca this summer. First, I need to discuss my reasons for choosing Salamanca. My main reason for choosing Salamanca is that I wanted to study abroad as soon as possible upon arriving to Umass; I am a freshman this year. I wanted to do this because honestly I am not enjoying the Spanish Major whatsoever at this point in my college career. I am taking intermediate level classes that are taught completely in Spanish and expect me to participate completely in Spanish but I have little to no speaking skills. Not to mention that having to present in front of a class is already one of my biggest fears, doing it in a language that a struggle to formulate a normal sentence in isn’t exactly something I look forward to doing. Attending these classes where I am expected to speak and participate is difficult when I have such little skill in actually speaking Spanish. It’s difficult and embarrassing and leaves me rarely participating, even when I would like to. Though Salamanca is only a five-week program, something is better than nothing and hopefully I will return with a little more speaking skill.

My second reason for choosing Salamanca is because it is like a sample of what it’s like studying abroad for a semester or even a year. I can go to Salamanca for a shorter study abroad program and see my likes and dislikes about studying abroad. This way, when I plan my program junior year I can have a better idea of what I want to get out of the program and what kind of program and study abroad experience I would prefer. My final reason is plain and simple that it sounds like a fun and awesome trip! Kicking it in Spain for five weeks while getting to take classes to get a few credits out of the way over the summer and be able to explore a country that I have never been to before. What could be better than that?

Now that I have shared some of my reasons for studying abroad, here are some of my fears about studying abroad. Although I have a fear of having to speak Spanish and not being able to, or completely failing while attempting to do so, I also have a fear of being there and speaking English. I think this is actually one of my biggest fears about the whole trip; going to Spain and not using every opportunity to immerse myself in the culture and language. It is inevitable that I will speak English because I will be on a trip with fifty other American students, but if I speak mostly English while I am there, it will really defeat the purpose of the trip. I hope that while I am there I am able to get out of my comfort zone and really try to immerse myself as much as possible.

I also have a fear of how my cultural difference might affect a situation. This is a smaller fear but nonetheless something that I worry about. I know it happens sometimes that something completely acceptable in one culture is completely unacceptable in another. I don’t know all of these cultural differences so I hope I don’t accidentally offend someone along the way. Someone told me once that when I visit other countries I shouldn’t point because in some places pointing is offensive; and if I ever need to point I should use two fingers instead of one because it’s less offensive. It would have never crossed my mind that something so simple as pointing could be viewed as offensive to others of a different culture. Doing something like this on my trip abroad is something that I am kind of worried about doing.

Overall, this is where I am at with my thoughts before studying abroad. Soon I will be getting closer to when I leave and I will have a bunch of other thoughts and worries but right now this is mostly what I have on my mind in regards to my trip abroad this summer. Looking back over what I wrote it mostly seems like I’m worried but I am very excited to study abroad this summer and I think it will be and awesome and fun experience that I can’t wait to begin!