Returnee « OSU Abroad

Connie Lee is a senior at Oregon State University, majoring in Microbiology with a minor in Chemistry. Connie interned abroad at the Center for Social Medicine in India through IE3 Global Internships.

As I learn more about microorganisms, my interest in the medical field grew. The medical field can be broadly divided into two fields: clinical work or research work. I have researched in a laboratory setting as well as volunteered in a hospital. However, I have not been able to experience clinical work with doctors in order to gain a true feeling of what doctors do. Besides my background knowledge of medicine from science courses, I grew an interest in learning about cultural differences from my anthropology classes. Thus, in summer 2012, I participated in the public health and medical internship at Center for Social Medicine in Loni, India.

This internship was a great opportunity for me to experience the public health and medical fields in a completely different cultural setting. I participated in a huge variety of interesting programs, such as social programs for sex workers and mobile clinic services. However, the most life-changing experience occurred at the operation theaters, particularly the posting at the maternity ward.

To say the least, the experience at the maternity ward was very intense. I was already anxious about observing my first delivery. Half way through the delivery, I started to feel nauseous and dizzy to the point where I left the labor ward. However, I challenged myself to go back into the labor room and finish observing the entire birthing process. It was self-rewarding to return to the labor ward, because at that moment I grew personally.

The environment setting is very different for pregnant women in India compared to the United States. I noticed that the maternity ward was a lot more crowded, the resources were very limited, the deliveries were usually rushed due to the number of patients, and women did not normally receive individualized care during the actual labor. Ultimately, the standards in both of these countries are on completely different scales. However, I learned to respect that, although the delivery environment is very different through an outsiders’ lens, the system works for the local villagers. The services are provided with no charge to the patients, and babies are still born healthy. Although there are many differences, some even shocking, between the two medical systems, both strive for the same goal of providing health care to people in need.

Last but not least, my experience in the operation theater helped me confirm my interests in surgery medicine. I observed a variety of surgeries including, but not limited to, cataract surgeries, joint/hip replacements, medical termination of pregnancy, open/laparoscopic tubal ligations, kidney obstruction, hysterectomies and more. The experience was very eye-opening as I could never receive the same opportunity in the United States.

I enjoyed the environment in the operation theaters. It is a place where all doctors and anesthesiologist work together to help solve a patient’s problem. I saw how the surgeons work to find a solution, and their quick reactions to find alternative methods if the original method did not work. I found a passion for the human body; the human body consists of both delicate (eyes) and strong (bones) parts. Every part of the body works in harmony to allow an individual to function.

Erik Dove is a junior at Oregon State University, pursuing a degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry and Spanish. He is an International Ambassadors for the office of International Degree and Education Abroad. Erik studied abroad in Salamanca, Spain, through API.

I have many fond memories of the summer I spent studying in Spain: relaxing on the beaches of San Sebastian; enjoying tapas in La Plaza Mayor in Salamanca; hiking in the Pyrenees Mountains in the north of the country; my time in Spain was entirely unforgettable. However, I came back to the states with more than pictures, souvenirs, and memories; my experiences abroad contributed to an overall change in my academic and personal goals and gave me the opportunity to experience a culture much different than my own.

I chose to study abroad because I wanted to increase my Spanish language proficiency. Living with a host family not only gave me this opportunity, but also exposed me to various aspects of Spanish culture. I experienced the value placed on socializing through observing my host family’s nightly outings to enjoy food and drinks with their friends. I was exposed to differences like the size of meals (small breakfast, large lunch, late-night medium sized dinner) and enjoyed the food-induced lethargy of the afternoon siesta. These experiences accustomed me to the cultural differences between the United States and Spain, and I came to appreciate the distinct aspects of Spanish life.

Throughout my experiences in Spain, I couldn’t help but think about how culture-specific aspects of life function in cross-cultural communication. Since my goal is to become a physician, I was intrigued as to how aspects of different cultures come into play in doctor-patient interactions. My experiences abroad inspired me to incorporate elements of culture, language and communication to my existing goal of becoming a physician. When I returned to Oregon State, I applied to the International Degree program to add an international dimension to my studies of Biology and pre-medicine.

As a whole, studying abroad was an invaluable and life-changing experience that enhanced my academic goals and inspired me to pursue international education as a secondary academic focus. I developed an appreciation for differences in cultures and an interest in how these differences affect interactions between people of different backgrounds. My study abroad experience in Spain has become a foundation for my academic and career goals, and has given me the drive to develop cultural knowledge and language proficiency to internationalize my education.

Alfonc Rakaj is a senior at Oregon State University, majoring in Political Science and International Studies. Alfonc interned for the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland through IE3 Global Internships.

During spring ’12, I interned at the Scottish Parliament located in Edinburgh, Scotland. Although, I was only there for ten weeks, the amount of learning, self-discovery and experience complimented my studies and enriched my perspective of the world, which lead to a profound level of self-formation. An internship like the one at the Scottish Parliament is truly a learning process, whose essence can only be attained through experience.

Even though I was born and raised in Albania, the experience furthered my understanding of multiculturalism. What I have come to adopt as normal for Albanian culture and the American culture, which has become my own to a certain degree as well, was put to the test. While Scotland shared similar cultural attributes to other European countries and the United States, it was fascinating to discover how Scotland was very unique in its own way.

As an intern, I participated in various activities: exit polling in suburbs of Glasgow, (yes, there were times when I couldn’t understand a word they were saying), parliamentary sessions, meetings with various parliamentary committees and receptions. Also, I worked on some very interesting legislative topics. I conducted research on various topics from the history of the Sikh to complex topics, such as the regulations of the European Union on the licensing of Notified Bodies, who are responsible for conducting conformity assessments, directly linked to the products used for plastic surgeries. At other times, I read submissions of interest groups on specific pieces of legislation that was being considered, particularly health care reform. It was vital to stay informed about current events.

Overall, the research allowed me to better understand Scotland’s culture. The process helped me connect with the office staff that I was working with. I was struck by the sincerity and dedication they work with to represent the interests of the residents in Scotland. I found this particularly useful as I have encountered a multiple situations where people have prejudged me based on my field of interest. I now have personal evidence that there are good politicians in this world. The international internship not only encouraged my carrier goals to become a politician, but also revived my passion of why I originally wanted to be one.

The Scottish Parliament internship is unique in the opportunities it provides for professional and personal growth. It compliments one’s studies, while furthering one’s knowledge about the world around us and most importantly ourselves. As it was the case when I came to the United States from Albania, I grew to appreciate Oregon State and Corvallis more due to the distance. While costs, rightfully, may make a student hesitant to go abroad, it is important to remember that it is through traveling and experiences, such as an internship, that we become richer.

Denise Risdon is a senior at Oregon State University, studying Anthropology and History. Currently, Denise is interning for Heritage Malta in Malta through IE₃ Global Internships for six months. Below, Denise provides an update of her time abroad. (This blog was originally posted on the IE3 Field Note page).

After having some time to settle in to my host country of Malta, I have absolutely fallen in love with it. This little island is truly a hidden gem in the Mediterranean. The beauty can be found everywhere in this country, especially in the people, the architecture, the gardens and harbors. The capital city of Valletta is like an open air museum, full of history at every corner. It is this history that has brought me to Malta. I am interning with Heritage Malta, the National Agency for cultural heritage. I am placed at the National Archaeological Museum which is situated right in Valletta. At the museum, I am working in the section for Phoenician, Roman and Medieval archaeology and I could not ask for better curators in this department.

The work I have been doing is interesting. Before I learned of this internship, I must admit that I had little knowledge of this tiny little island and since my arrival I have basically had a giant history lesson on the entire country. The most exciting project I have been working on has been excavating the Roman Baths at Ghajn Tuffieha, which is located on the western side of the country next to two of Malta’s nicest beaches. This site is presumed to be dated from 50 – 100 AD and it was discovered in about 1929.

The site has been closed to the public due to the excavations going on. I feel enormously privileged to be working on a site like this. I have had the opportunity to take part in preserving history for future generations. The site consists of a number of rooms and many of them contained intricate geometrical patterned floor tiles made of marbles and stone. Sadly, the site is in pretty bad shape, and needs serious work, but I am proud to be a part of this project.

I never thought that I would actually be able to work doing my dream job, but here I am, on the other side of the world, loving every moment of my adventure. Unlike most interns, I will be staying here in Malta for six months and I will be able to really see what life is like in this amazing little place. I will be able to dive deeper into this culture and embrace it. I await any opportunity that comes my way with an open mind and a smile.

Jordan Machtelinckx is an International Ambassador for the office of International Degree and Education Abroad. He is a student at Oregon State University, majoring in Civil Engineering. Jordan studied abroad in Cape Town, South Africa, through CIEE. Below, he provides a reflection of what he learned from his experience abroad.

Every day while I was studying at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and living with my host family, I was observing and learning. A foreign environment made my senses acute to absorb as much information as possible. Learning is inevitable in that context, but understanding the dynamics I was observing took time.

Throughout my life and over the course of my travels, I’ve learned that at least half of the lessons I learn come about after my return home. After cultural immersion in South Africa, I didn’t realize how much I had learned until I got back into a familiar environment that, for the most part, remained constant during my absence. My home culture in Oregon acted as a control to help me understand what I had learned in my absence and measure how I had changed.

The most obvious way I saw that South Africa had changed me was in the form of patience. Not just temporal patience, but particularly situational and interpersonal patience. After having my outlook and personality stretched and reshaped during my immersion in so many cultures over the course of six months, I noticed that I couldn’t really find anything in my daily life back in Oregon that bothered me anymore; personalities, attitudes and actions that I didn’t understand before and that I used to find irritating now seemed to float by me without effect and usually resulted in only a smile on my face whose source I couldn’t identify.

Stunned at first that just about nothing managed to annoy me, it stimulated me to figure out why. Where did this patience come from? What had happened in the last six months to make me reach some sort of peace that I could see only indirectly? Even as I write this, months after my return and having pondered the thought constantly, I can turn up only a basic, indefinite answer – one that provokes additional questions more than it provides an answer to the original one. That answer is simply that I have become closer with myself, better friends with myself, even.

Throwing myself into an experience in which I had to provide all of my own strength and motivation has resulted in better self-understanding and acceptance of who I am. That’s logical enough. And I could have guessed that would happen before I left. But I didn’t expect it to result in a fundamental change in my daily outlook upon my return to Oregon. I still have a lot of understanding to reach with my experience in Cape Town, and a lot more travel in the future to stimulate more of this personal philosophy. As usual, the disparity between the plethora of questions and the handful of poorly articulated answers will serve as motivation to continue to explore physically, metaphysically and philosophically. But for now, I am quite content with this newly found peace, this traveler’s Zen.

Larry Becker is an Associate Professor in Geography and Director of the Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Program at Oregon State University. He spent a sabbatical year, August 2010 – July 2011, at the University of Poitiers in west-central France as a visiting scholar. Below he shares a brief glimpse into his life abroad.

From our university apartment for visiting researchers, my wife (Oregon State Geography instructor Laurie Yokoyama Becker) and our 12-year old daughter (Malia) looked over rooftops, across the shallow Clain River to the Roman era city center of Poitiers.

Sunrises and sunsets reflected on the faces of the 900-year-old Notre Dame La Grande. This view resembled what the attacking Protestants would have seen in the late 16^th century depicted in a wall-sized painting from the 1620s in the city museum. A strong sense of place is ever-present!

Malia walked daily to school in the center—passing near the site of an enormous Roman amphitheater and a street that 800 years earlier was gated at night separating the Jewish residents from the surrounding Christian population.

The streets of today, though, caught her eye, with mouth-watering éclairs in windows and narrow passageways to share with cars. I walked away from the city center in the opposite direction past a prison where French resistance fighters died during the WWII German occupation, and Walmart-sized mega-stores to the 1960s-era campus. My colleagues in the Migration Studies Center where my office was located welcomed me and invited me to lunch for the best cafeteria food—choices of fresh fish, boeuf bourguignon, and salads.

For research, I traveled to Mali. I interviewed villagers outside the capital Bamako to understand changes in their livelihoods. The biggest change I found in a village where I lived 25 years ago, is that the sorghum and millet farmers are selling their ancestral land to urban speculators and those seeking a retirement home.

I flew to the north on the edge of the Sahara to visit Timbuktu with a German aid agency that invited me to visit a rice farming project. Laurie remained in Poitiers teaching Oregon State E-campus courses from our apartment. Returning to France, my family and I traveled by train to Toulouse, the Italian coast, Rome, Naples, and the Carnival in Venice.

Quelle année! We met Oregon State students on a study abroad in Poitiers. This is an experience for Oregon State students and faculty alike.

Elizabeth O’Casey is a graduate student in Public Policy and an International Ambassadors for International Degree and Education Abroad office. She recently returned from Thailand working for the Peace Corps as a Teacher Collaborator and Community Outreach Organizer. Below, she shares an entertaining experience that gives insight into a completely different culture.

My Peace Corps friend, Todd, recently moved into his own house. He’d been living with a host family for the previous months and he was excited to have a space of his own. Eying the growing basket of laundry, he resolved to do laundry the next day.

A new day dawned and he got to scrubbing his sweaty, dusty clothes. In Thailand, many rural folks do laundry by hand, in a big black bucket out behind their house. It’s a process that stretches on for hours. So Todd was feeling pretty good about himself, hand washing the whole lot. He had rung the jeans, shirts, and underwear out with a Mr. Clean-like fervor.

He walked out onto his front porch and looked around. Where to hang the laundry? He spotted a white cloth rope that was tied to the perimeter of the house. Perfect. He began hanging his clothes on the rope. He knew socks are generally despised in Thailand. So, he hung them far away from his shirts and pants. The Thais see the feet as dirty and go so far as to wash socks separately to make sure the filth of the socks doesn’t mix with the other clothing. There is a strong concept that the head is (sacred) and foot (dirty) in Thailand. So, my friend considerately hung his socks in a separate area of the cord.

Seconds later, a neighbor came running up to him frantically, and began tearing off his underwear (from the line he hung it on, not the ones he was wearing, don’t worry!), jeans, and shirts. She pointed horrified to the socks, and motioned for him to take them down. He followed her request, incredibly confused. He stared as his pile of freshly-washed laundry lie in a heap at his feet. She returned minutes later, offering him a pole from which he could hang his clothes, explaining his mistake.

What happened? Well, Buddhists believe the white cord is a sacred Buddhist instrument. It’s used in every religious ceremony. Sometimes, the white cord will be tied around the wrists of people attending the ceremony to ward off the bad luck and spirits, and to protect the wearer. Sometimes, the white cord is held when the monks are chanting. Other times, the white cord is tied around the entire house, blessing the occupants, warding off evil spirits, protecting the house from ghosts. The cord is blessed by the monks. And my friend was hanging his socks and undies on this sacred cord.

It would be rather like a Thai exchange student coming to the states and using the church cross as a place to hang his underwear. Funny, but also sacrilegious; no doubt any number of little old ladies from within the church building would take up their crochet needles and go after that ‘crazy Thai kid’. So, the white cord is kind of like that. Sacred. Blessed. And an important Buddhist symbol.

Here’s the thing about living abroad: you get the best stories. Go to a place you know nothing about, and you’ll come home full of tales about this once far away land. Before I went to Thailand, I knew three things: It was hot, the beaches were beautiful, and the food was spicy. I came with suitcases full of hilarious, and at times, unbelievable stories. I encountered stories of embarrassment, like hanging undies on Buddha’s spirit. I had stories of unexplainable oddity, like the school closing early because elephants were loose in the village, and I had stories of heart, like when I walked into a classroom of 10 first graders who ran up to me holding hand-picked bouquets of flowers.

You may leave the states with a suitcase full of clothes, but I can promise you this: You’ll return home full of incredible stories that are a direct result of you living out your wildest dreams.

OSU Abroad

knowledge without borders

Category Archives: Returnee

A Mishap in the Maternity Ward

A Reflection on Study Abroad Experience in Salamanca, Spain

From Albania to Corvallis…to Scottish Parliament

IE3: The Hidden Gem of the Mediterranean

CIEE: Cape Town, Africa

France: University of Poitiers

Peace Corps: Thailand

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