What would you do if you had a 10 hour layover in Munich, Germany? Would you go the hotel and rest after not sleeping much on your 8 ½ hour flight? Or stay in the safe confines of Munich airport and explore there? Or would you throw your bags in the hotel room and take a 40 minute train ride into city and experience German culture? If you know me, you then you already know what I chose.
Ten of us decided to take the train. It was a great experience in local food and culture. Eating wiener schnitzel while watching futball (soccer) was fantastic. I also loved walking around hearing the German language. I was also able to speak a little Turkish with a Turk on the train (Fun fact: Germany has the largest population of Turks outside of Turkey). Hearing all the languages reminds me of the need to learn a second (and third) language. Research clearly shows learning a second language greatly enhances job opportunities and salary amount. It also helps your math skills. What’s stopping you from improving your job prospects by learning another language? Tell me by clicking on this link.
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Five hours into the 8 ½ hour flight from Washington DC to Munich, Germany, I'm reminded of the downsides of travel. Specifically sleeping on an airplane. Or the lack of sleeping to be precise. I'm not sure if it's my long legs or my age. But I didn't sleep much. As the soreness in my legs slowly sharpens the excitement of going to Georgia dulls with it.
But thankfully I've done this a few times. I know that walking around a new place, hearing a new language, and drinking some coffee, definitely drinking some coffee, will renew my legs, mind, and excitement. #theothergeorgia #soworthit All right, I have a challenge for all the students following my travels on spring break. In the picture below, explain why the flight map on the screen in the seat in front of me says Munchen. Click here and send me your answer. First correct student gets some Georgian candy when I return. Last week, I went to Washington DC as a part of the Teachers for Global Classrooms (TGC) Fellowship. All fellows, which is over eighty teachers from all over the country spanning all K - 12 grades and content areas, attended the Global Education Symposium. Many of our breakout sessions were spent with the smaller group of people traveling to the same country.
I will be traveling to the Republic of Georgia with eleven other teachers. Other fellows will be traveling to Morocco, India, Philippines, Colombia, and Senegal. Meeting my travel partners was not what I expected. The symposium lasted less than two days and I thought we would spend some organized time getting to know one another. I quickly realized that organized “get-to-know-you” games or activities were unnecessary. Meeting my travel cohort genuinely felt like seeing someone with whom you grew up or already had several shared experiences. Conversations seemed to move quickly through the typical name, place of living and teaching, the weather-there to the sarcastic teasing of old childhood or college friends. I was surprised how easy it was to feel completely comfortable with these “strangers.” In some sense, I guess we did have the shared experiences of the rigorous online course last fall and our efforts to promote global education in our communities. This seemed enough to bond us instantly. It reminded me a great deal of many cross-cultural experiences I’ve had. I meet a person from a far off place (i.e. New Zealand or New Jersey, Morocco or Michigan) and in a short time despite the obvious differences or lack of time invested, we hit it off and become friends quickly. After meeting my travel partners, I’m even more excited about my trip to Georgia. I am fascinated by different cultures. I find it interesting how over centuries our food, communication, religious rituals, and every other preference we call “normal” became normal. In my travels on five continents I have had my sense of “normal” challenged and confirmed. Sometimes I leave an experience wishing my culture placed a higher importance on relationships rather than efficiency. And other times, I feel proud that second chances and forgiveness are normal and commonplace in America.
I love the paradox of complexity and simplicity that travel reveals to the traveler. Though people from different cultures are very different in many ways, in many other ways they are the same. I am enamored by both what makes us different and similar. It keeps me from taking myself too seriously and inspires me to empathize with and love liberally those I am supposed to see as “them.” This interest in the world and the people with who we share it led me to apply to the Teachers for Global Classrooms (TGC) Fellowship through the US State Department. I am honored to have been accepted into the program. Even if I hadn’t been, I would be so pleased that our State Dept. has such a program. It seeks to develop the skills needed for a better global community in teachers who can then help develop them in students. So far, it has been a great learning experience. After completing the first phase of the fellowship in the fall, an eight-week intensive online course, I head out for Washington DC this week for the second phase. I look forward to meeting the other TGC fellows and continuing this great learning experience. I know I join all of the other fellows in eagerly awaiting the international field experience phase. In March, I will travel with 11 other teachers to the Republic of Georgia to meet yet another “normal” that is different from mine, but not. I can’t wait to see what the paradox looks like this time. |
AuthorStephen Blan teaches US History at Fort Worth Country Day in Fort Worth, TX and is a 2015 Teachers for Global Classrooms Fellow. Archives
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