Pre-Departure!

There are many factors that have led to my decision to study abroad. The following are my main three reasons for travel:

(1) I suppose I feel the need to contribute
in some way to the lives of others. In so doing, I will be learning a lot about myself. The hope is that the intersection of selflessness with selfishness will yield some kind of uber-productive energy I have yet to realize.

(2) I am currently a nominee for Peace Corps. I am slated to work in a primary education and teacher training program in the Pacific Islands. This abroad experience will vastly contribute not only to my general world, but to my pedagogy and Peace Corps. application.

(3) Lastly, I have an intense interest in world culture, social experience and social research. Assimilating into another culture via cross-cultural reflection is just plain fun. I want to sophisticate my cultural, linguistic and culinary palates.

Another exciting component of this experience has to do with the fact that I have little to no previous exposure to Central European ways of thinking, much less Slovenian. My only insights into Slovenian culture have been via the current exchange student named Alenka.

Though it seems far away, I predict that my experience in Slovenia will be quite the Western/modern experience. I will probably feel more at home there than would, say, if I were traveling to Gambia or Costa Rica--perhaps less so than Australia and New Zealand, though.

I have heard great things about the schools in Slovenia so far. So I hope that my teaching practice will be strengthened a great deal by great teachers, students and the academic community in general.

Perhaps the greatest struggle will be my sense of personal space. The American sense of space is much more vast given our general surplus of geographic area. Also, there will be a language barrier, especially away from the academic community, that I am itching to experience!