Returnee « OSU Abroad

Amedee Ngarukiye is studying Public Health, focusing on Health Promotion and Health Behavior. During Fall term, he traveled to Nyon, Switzerland, through SIT Study Abroad programs. While in Switzerland, he focused on global health and development policy. In this article he reflects on how his trip abroad helped him enjoy the little things in life.

We arrived on a Thursday and on Sunday, the day before classes began, we met our host families. Immediately after walking into the hotel, the meeting spot for our host families, they recognized me (and I them). After a brief in-person introduction, we quickly left the premises. They gave me a tour of Nyon, where classes were held. They provided me with a thorough run-down of the train schedule, and many other things. Though they lived about 15 minutes from the hotel, it took us about 45 minutes to get home because they gave me a presidential tour. To my surprise, it felt like a mere 10 minutes because we were talking the entire time. From Olivier’s bad English, to my broken French, we often made up words to fill in the blanks during our conversation and if it had not been for his wife Caroline, who is much better at the whole English thing, we would have had an even harder time communicating. Upon arrival, I was led to my room and given yet another tour. After confessing my previous night’s activities that resulted in 2 hours of sleep, I excused myself to take a shower and a nap. I thought Olivier’s response to my request was priceless, he simply said, “Have a pleasure”.

Olivier would say “have a pleasure” every time I was about to do something, literally anything, regardless of what it was. “Okay, I am off to bed, bon nuit”, I would say and he would respond “have a pleasure” without hesitation. “Je veux prendre une douche” (I want to take a shower), Olivier would respond “have a pleasure!” or “je veux faire mon devoir” (I want to do my homework), again he’d say “have a pleasure”. It never failed, regardless of how innocuous the endeavor.

It was during my forth week that the meaning of Olivier’s words became clear. It was the Thursday of a week that had been both academically demanding and physically exhausting. As we sat down for supper that evening, we talked about how our week was going. That is when they proceeded to tell me stories about previous students they had hosted and encountered through other host families. They told me about the girl who got a bit overwhelmed and nostalgic while working on her Independent Study Project and subsequently left the country to visit her boyfriend in the U.S. which resulted in her academic dissatisfaction. They talked about a student who was robbed by some French hooligans in Lyon after a night out. They brilliantly conveyed the story of the girl who never left the house. They imparted tales of students from other host families who were expelled for academic dishonesty. I spent the rest of the night doing homework and reflecting on their tales and Olivier’s words.

The following morning, I had a hefty breakfast in preparation of a long day ahead. As I was on my way out to the train station, Olivier was in the backyard tending to his garden. Had it not been for the familiar wish of “have a pleasure” I would not have noticed him. Ironically, his words seem to sum up my time in that strangely exotic land. I indeed had a pleasure. I was bored so I went to France with a friend just to have lunch, we had a pleasure. It is easy to be overwhelmed, especially in a strange unfamiliar land. That night, I came to conclusion that Olivier’s words were literal, an indication that I should have a pleasure regardless of what I am doing. I decided not to be caught up in one thing so much that it becomes overwhelming. In doing so, I needed to find a balance between my priorities and extracurricular activities. I decided to have a pleasure.

That weekend, a couple of friends from the program and I, along with our academic director hiked the Jura Mountains; I had a pleasure. The following weekend, I returned to the Jura Mountains for the festival of the “Cattle Descent from des Alpes Pastures”. At the end of September, around 400 cows descend from the pastures of des Alpes after the summer months, adorned with flowers and ribbons. Accompanied by the farmers and their cowherds, they are welcomed back into the village of St. Cergue by spectators from near and far. This was by far the most “Swiss” experience during my time en Suisse, well, at least according to Olivier. Upon my return from the event, Olivier knighted me as Sir Amadeus of Génolier. It goes without saying, I had a pleasure!

The following weekend we visited a chocolate factory! I had a pleasure. I had my first reclete; I had a pleasure. I had a taste of my first crepe; I had a pleasure! I played footy with Olivier and his colleagues on top of a mountain overlooking lac Léman under the night sky with a cool rain showering down and the moonlight shining bright (where I made a successful slide tackle); I had a pleasure! I conducted my first qualitative research which immensely inspired me; I had a pleasure. I returned to my home university with a 4.0 GPA for the semester; I had a pleasure. I embarked for Excellency by interning with two NGOs on separate continents and, you guessed it, I had a pleasure. Dear Beaver Nation, Have a Pleasure!

Madelaine Corbin is an Applied Visual Arts major in the College of Liberal Arts at Oregon State University. During Summer of 2014, she spent two weeks in Athens, Greece, through AHA International. She delighted in taking in the surroundings, learning about art and even learning more about herself. Below is a continuation of her artwork, as in her previous entry, along with excerpts from her blog that she wrote while still in Greece.

“Jack Kerouac’s writing brilliantly inspires people to adventure. One of his writings states, ‘there was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep rolling under the stars.’ My goal in life is broad, but it is ultimately to go everywhere and do everything passionately with a fire inside.”

“The city of Athens is buzzing with life. Millions of people meander the streets and go about their days embracing the sun and smiles that saturate the air.”

“Remember, stay hungry, value each of your moments, and just keep rolling under the stars.”

Rhiannon Williams is a senior at Oregon State University. She is in the College of Liberal Arts studying Spanish with a minor in Psychology. She spent a semester with IFSA Butler in Valparaíso, Chile, improving her Spanish skills, taking literature, history and culture classes, and volunteering to care for animals affected by a forest fire. Here she tells us about her journey learning Spanish, and her path to realizing that fluency does not happen overnight.

Half way through my semester abroad in Valparaíso, Chile, I experienced an important turning point in my journey. My host mother sat me down and asked if I was happy with my living situation. I never felt completely comfortable living with my host parents during the first two months in Chile but I could not pinpoint the issue. My host mother helped me realize that I had been coming across as aloof. I knew I had been very reserved in the beginning as I became accustomed to the new culture. I realized that I had put up invisible walls and did not communicate enough with my host family. The issue was how to become accustomed to living at home with a family while going to university. I was very familiar with coming and going as I pleased at university in the U.S without having to answer to anyone. Even though I lost some independence that I had in the States, I gained two caring host parents.

After that moment, I interacted more with my host family which boosted my happiness and comfort. I know that my timidity is a part of who I am, and awkward silences are sometimes unavoidable. At first I was upset that I may have wasted the first two months of my study abroad journey. Then, I realized that it was an incredible learning experience. Since then, I have been living by this quote: “Optimist: someone who figures that taking a step backward after taking a step forward is not a disaster, it’s more like a cha-cha”.

My constant struggle with the language Castellano (Chilean Spanish) closely ties with this. I would be so concerned about what to talk about in Spanish with my host family during meals that I would sit silently with thoughts whirling around in my head. I learned to just talk and not worry so much about making grammatical errors. Some days were easier than others and I could tell that my Spanish improved when I decided to just let things be.

I also had an internal struggle with English. I would feel guilty for conversing in English with my friends instead of practicing Spanish. I would then silently fight with myself instead of interacting with my friends. I put so much pressure on myself to reach a high level of fluency in Spanish while abroad. I realized that I would not magically become fluent and I needed to make peace with this. Every day I spoke Spanish, as well as English occasionally with friends. Although it was often difficult to see, my Spanish improved tremendously over the five months. It is most important to view the improvement from when I arrived to when I returned to the United States rather than compare myself to others, or wish that I were closer to fluency. So many people told me as I left the States that I would come back fluent in Spanish. I returned improved and more confident which is more important to me than the end goal. The journey is more important than the destination.

Annie Kornberg, a senior studying Human Development and Family Sciences in the college of Public Health and Human Sciences, spent Winter and Spring term of her Junior year living in Salamanca, Spain. She studied through Academic Programs International. However small the city may be, she found herself wrapped up in its magic. Upon returning to Oregon State University, she added a Spanish minor, and has started to consider making travel part of her future career.

While getting ready to study abroad, I had a list of a few “must-sees” in Europe. I had a mediocre bucket list of things to do in Spain, a “Travel” Pinterest board, and even a journal entry describing what I wanted to experience while abroad. Within 10 minutes of actually being in Spain, I thought to myself: There goes the bucket list. It only took me that long to realize this adventure would be nothing like I had planned.

My host family was one of a kind. I lived in a three story upright apartment, with my “grandma” and “sister” on the first floor, my “aunt” and “cousins” on the second, and my “brother” and I on the third. We were the definition of unconventional, and I loved every second of it. Between family nap-times, and three hour lunches where we laughed until we cried, I felt right at home. Instead of my perfect, list-oriented plan for my study abroad experience, I spent my days wandering from one interest to another. I would walk down the streets of Salamanca, Spain hopping in and out of every store, making small talk with every store clerk who seemed friendly enough to struggle through my broken Spanish. I spent my weekends taking nearly unplanned trips with friends to different countries, getting lost and following every recommendation of restaurant or sight to see. On one particular weekend, four friends and I traveled to the southeast of Spain, to a town called Valencia. Originally, we had no plans, except to see the festival called “Las Fallas”. On a whim, and also because it sounded so cool, we spent the night in a glass tunnel that cut through the middle of a shark tank. That definitely was not on my bucket list; however the experience and excitement of it all made me feel more alive than anything I had pinned to a Pinterest board or planned in advance.

The rest of my trip was pretty much the same; I traveled from one place to another seeing what I could see, and experiencing what I could experience. Somewhere in my five months abroad, I heard the quote “The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see” by Gilbert K. Chesterton. I realized that not only was I learning about culture, people, and practicing a new language, I was learning to be a traveler and not a tourist. No, that does not mean when I visited France, I avoided the Eiffel Tower, or that I never stepped foot in the Coliseum while in Rome. In fact, I loved visiting those places! Learning to be a traveler meant taking my time visiting a place and seeing what I could see, planned or unplanned. I learned to embrace cultures fully, to try new things and to be comfortable in new or unusual situations. Traveling the world does not stop when you’ve come home, either. Sometimes I still find myself wandering around Corvallis, seeing what I can see.

My advice to you? Never stop traveling.

Isaac Soper, is an Oregon State University student with a Natural Resources major in the College of Forestry. He spent two weeks last summer in Queensland, Australia. While traveling through the College of Forestry’s study abroad program focusing on managing forest resources and ecosystem services, he found many similarities between Australia and his homeland.

Though the flight from Los Angeles to Sydney may be one of the longest flights in the world (clocking in at approximately 15 hours non-stop), Australia is similar in many ways to the US, and is also one of the safest and friendliest places to travel in the world.

Traveling with three professors and nine students, we hopped the pond over to the slightly strange and delightful country of Australia. Over the duration of two weeks, we toured the state of Queensland in northeastern Australia, so as to gain an understanding of the various aspects of ecological management in the country. Focusing on both nature-based recreation and wood science, we took numerous enjoyable and educational excursions. Ranging from an off-road bus tour of Fraser Island (the world’s largest sand island) to a recycled hardwood mill, we were able to grasp that although Australia may be the country which is farthest from North America and has many unique aspects, the management of its precious resources are very similar to those used in the United States.

Thanks to our in-depth look at the natural resource management strategies in Oz (as Australians often call their home), we gained a greater understanding as to how we might manage our ecosystems in our later careers. After returning home to Oregon, I for one cannot wait to travel back to Australia again, as two weeks, though completely worthwhile, is not nearly enough time to explore the amazing Australian continent.

For students seeking to understand some of the management strategies regarding recreation and timber harvest, this College of Forestry study abroad is a fantastic opportunity. Being a short-term study abroad program, Managing Forest Resources and Ecosystem Services in Australia is a great program for College of Forestry students who are seeking to study abroad and still be able to take classes on campus during the summer. It is also a great program for those who have summer jobs or internships lined up for later in the summer.

Kristyn Decker is a Junior studying Biology in the College of Science at Oregon State University. She spent an academic year studying at Bangor University in Wales, through OSU’s exchange program. The experience challenged her to push herself out of her comfort zone, and take risks. Studying abroad has inspired her to travel more, and next she is hoping to travel to Africa to research endangered species.

“Alright, mate?” is a common greeting that at first completely confused me, but quickly became part of my daily vocabulary upon living in Wales. Before I left for my year abroad in Bangor, Wales, I knew that I would be lost in a world of words I wouldn’t understand, but I assumed it would be the Welsh language that tripped me up, not the English slang like this greeting. Walking around the small town I saw the intimidating Welsh words full of consonants written above their English translation, and heard obscure slang in numerous accents all around me. It truly was a new world. My “new world” consisted of narrow streets, beautiful green fields, castles, and a surprising number of sheep. One of my favorite running routes started at the small town of Bangor, went over the Menai Straight, through fields, and into a nearby town, that even many local Welsh citizens have a hard time pronouncing (a word so long it gets its own line);
“Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.”

I chose to delve even deeper into the unknown by joining the women’s field hockey team. I had never played before, let alone seen a match, but this was one of the highlights of my time abroad. My teammates were very supportive and welcomed me fondly. Through practices, matches, and weekly socials I quickly became close friends with many of them. The socials always had themes, so every week I would end up walking through town with a group of teammates dressed in costume or “fancy dress” as they called it. The costumes varied widely; from golf players and Pokémon to a three legged race team. At the end of the year we went on a hockey tour to Spain. We spent a full day on a bus driving through Wales, England, France, and finally to a town near Barcelona where we spent five days playing hockey, sun bathing, and experiencing Spanish culture. If I had never chosen to go abroad or join the field hockey team I would never have had this amazing experience.

Every day that I was there felt like a new adventure. I was in a world where I was learning new things daily, and by the end of my 9 months there I felt at home. I knew the quickest way to walk to class, I was no longer afraid of the Welsh language, I knew the rules of hockey (even if I couldn’t play very well), and even began to drink tea, watch footie, and knew to refuse when someone offered me black pudding. Each day that passed, and all the experiences I was having, added together and slowly changed my view of the world and my aspirations. Everything I learned and underwent in that year will remain a treasured memory of an incredible experience. The country’s motto couldn’t be any truer: Cymru am Byth, Wales is forever.

Hannah Goelzer, a third year Biochemistry and Biophysics major, spent five weeks of her summer exploring Paris, France. Upon returning to Oregon State, she decided to add on an International Degree in hopes of working abroad in the future. Here, she tells us about her study abroad experience with Academic Programs International.

Adrenaline rushed through me as I boarded my flight for Paris, France. I was so excited to cross the Atlantic Ocean for the first time that I sat at the edge of my seat for the first few hours of the flight. However, as you may know, the daunting and lengthy flight to Europe from the west coast of the United States cannot be simplified as “a flight over the big blue ocean.” After many hours of layovers and airplane food, I was just ready to lie down on any flat horizontal surface and take a nap. When the airline attendant let us know that we were preparing for descent into the Charles de Gaulle Airport, I was over-joyed with excitement until it truly hit me: I was about to live in a country whose language I had never even heard spoken before.

Many people choose to go abroad to immerse themselves into a language or culture that they have studied throughout their educational career; however, I took on the challenge of going to France completely blind. I met the other American students who would be in the program with me, they had all studied French for 3-7 years, and they commended my adventurous nature in taking on this challenge. The first thing we all did after landing in Paris and meeting our program leaders was have a huge Parisian dinner, which typically consists of up to seven courses and lasts a couple of hours. My peers thought it would help give me practice if I tried to order in French. I started to think they just wanted a good laugh, considering we had been traveling for the last 20 hours. The waiter found humor in my terrible accent, and soon just told me what I was trying to say. At this point, I could not wait to start my French intensive language course.

In my beginner French class there were many students from all over the world. This meant that the instructor could not speak any English because it was not assumed that we all have English as a common language. Learning how to speak French in a class where the instructor only speaks French may sound very difficult and, to be honest, it was intimidating on the first day. However, after the first week of class, my learning took off and improved exponentially. By never translating any word into English, I was able to learn the French words not by translation but by context. I had a different understanding of every word I learned that, in a way, my peers did not have. After the intensive language course was over, I had better listening skills than the other American students because I never had the crutch of an instructor with an American accent. It changed my perspective on both language and culture. There are many words that do not have an English translation, and that is what makes it so beautiful.

Speaking French is like singing a song. It is poetic in its nature, and the French love to remind everyone of its beauty. Sometimes in the language there will appear to be a random letter in between two words, and that is because there is. The French have worked very intentionally to create a language that flows with a beautiful rhythm. I will never lose the passion I have gained for the language. Still, to this day, I like to sit with an espresso, croissant, and orange juice for breakfast and email all of my French friends as if I were back in Paris.

OSU Abroad

knowledge without borders

Category Archives: Returnee

Have a Pleasure!

Art in Athens: Part Two

Turning Point: Learning to Cha-Cha

Learning to Travel

Managing Forest Resources and Ecosystem Services in Australia

Cymru Am Byth: Wales is Forever

Lost in Translation in Paris

Contact Info