My Latest Art Project

I’m sure some of you don’t really care that much, but I felt like sharing this. If you haven’t already guessed, I’m obsessed with traveling and everything related to it. This is one of my favorite quotes of all time, “The world only exists in your eyes. You can make it as big or as small as you want.” This was from F. Scott Fitzgerald, and I’m just obsessed. This was just a fun little art project, which from far away just looks like a pale blue canvas with a map on the bottom, but as you get closer you can see the quote. The map was also done by me, first drawn on with pencil, then filled in with paint, I used two different world map drawings to base this off. I really enjoyed making this and thought my little audience would like it too (I hope you do!).

Why YOU Should Travel

This blog post is inspired by this article, which was posted by the study abroad office of my school. (Sorry no pictures, just my wonderfully written words.)

I’m currently a junior in college, I’m at a prime age to travel. I don’t really have any commitments to one location right now (aka no job yet…eek!), and I’m young enough to do more adventurous things that when older I won’t be able to do. Sure, just like every college student I have no money, but traveling is cheap (after you get the plane ticket!), and this is one expense that will be worth it.

There are lots of ways to save money while travelling abroad. Take a week off during the fall or winter (pretty low travel season), instead of trying for the warmer (and tourist-filled) summer. Stay in a hostel, it’s pretty cheap and there’s usually a kitchen (and/or free wifi!). Eat street food, take walks instead of going to museums or travel in a group. There’s too many reasons why it can work, and not enough reasons why you can’t make it work.

When you travel, you scare yourself. When I went to the Great Wall of China, they made me go up in a cable car, this tiny, rickety little box that shook every time it went by a support beam. It was terrifying, but it was worth it once I stepped foot on that wall and could see for miles. It was terrifying going to South Korea to study abroad. I took a year of Korean, but barely used it, and I only barely knew one person on the trip. I was afraid I wouldn’t make friends, I wouldn’t know where to go. I brought up all the courage I had in me and the first day I made friends with probably 10 people and we stayed friends the whole trip, doing everything together. Scaring yourself really opens your eyes (literally…science!) and while it’s scary going somewhere new, you just have to get some courage and do it. You won’t regret it.

Seeing my pictures and hearing my stories are nothing compared to what it’s like to be immersed in the culture. Seeing me eat crème brûlée is nothing compared to smelling it, feeling the crunchy top fold in, hearing the sounds of the French language around me, seeing the funny looking cars drive by. The feeling in the air is indescribable, and that’s what I remember most. (Just writing this is making me drool!) You have to experience the sights, sounds, smells and tastes to really experience it. Reading someone else’s blog or article isn’t enough to know. You have to write your own book.

One of my favorite quotes is, “The world is a book, and if you don’t travel you will only read one page.” I just love this book, and it couldn’t be more true. Seeing small children in France chase each other and yell “Arrêt!” (Stop in French) was so cute, I was bewildered. These children have more French knowledge than I ever will. I knew it before, but never really experienced the fact that I grew up learning English, and others grow up learning other languages. But it’s such a weird feeling being somewhere and not knowing a lick of what’s going on, but loving it every step of the way.

Just because a place is famous for something (like the Louvre for famous art…Mona Lisa anyone?), doesn’t mean when you go there you have to experience that. If you want, you can just sit at a café all day and drink coffee. You will probably experience more of the real culture there than at any tourist-filled area (not saying the tourist-y areas aren’t great…a lot of them are still amazing!).

I am very sick…with the travel bug. I got it in high school and fortunately, I’ll have it for life. Once you travel you will probably have the same feeling as me, when you see a movie filmed in a different country, when you see pictures from friends who have traveled, you’ll get sick again and there will be an itch you can’t scratch until you step foot in another country, another culture. By traveling, I have opened my eyes to new experiences, new ways of life, and new ideas. Before I went abroad I wasn’t really interested in religion (I really had no part of it), then I learned about the catholic churches in France, then in China and Korea I saw the Buddhist temples and in Turkey the Muslim mosques, and now I just love researching and learning more about different religions. I’ve opened up my taste buds too, I always liked “Chinese food” in America, then in China, it was a different world. It was fresh and not at all greasy; it was amazing. I love trying the flavors from different regions, the spices they use, the cooking methods, and learning from them (and trying to incorporate them into my own cooking).

Sure on my trips I’ve had low times (like when I cried in Turkey because no one spoke English which was incredibly frustrating and exhausting), but overall my experiences have made me a stronger woman and made me want to make everyone else travel so they could feel as good as I do. I don’t regret anything that happened during or after my traveling, but I just wish I could have been traveling every summer, even before I first went before my senior year in high school. It has been four years, and I’ve traveled to four countries. It has been such an amazing experience, I just wish I could do it all over again… and I will, for many more years.

The main point is this: If you’ve ever seriously considered traveling (looking up pictures of what you’d want to see, or little “cultural” events that you want do be  a part of in a certain country), do it. I’m not saying drop everything and just go, you can still plan your trip, but if you don’t start now (at whatever age you are), there will ALWAYS be something else holding you back, there will always be excuses. If you go, you will not regret it (I promise), but if you don’t go, you will probably regret not going. So just go. I promise, you’ll like something about traveling!

Turkish Consul to Chicago Visit

The Turkish Consul of Chicago,Fatih Yıldız, visited my school (University of Iowa) on Monday to talk about relations between Turkey and the US (Iowa especially).

He really stressed relationships between not only governments, but the people. And travelling to Turkey, seeing the people and culture will help solidify those relationships. Meeting with the people changes your stereotypes about them and help you to understand what it’s like in their shoes.

I have to admit when I was in Turkey I was a little scared at first because of the relationship that Muslims have with the US (Turkey is 99% Muslim), and unsure how they would feel toward me being American. But after getting to know the culture a little bit, and seeing the people there, I’ve never met a more thoughtful and helpful people. If the Turks see you in need they will help, always. And no one that I met with cared that I was American, they were just impressed that I knew English, which most of them were too embarrassed to speak in front of me. They were so excited to show me their culture too, and asked me what I’d seen, and most of them were impressed with my Turkish (even if I wasn’t impressed with myself!). And even when we didn’t speak the same language, I always felt welcomed and it always felt warm, like they really truly cared.

Just because society says, “All Muslims are terrorists,” or “You’re only beautiful if you’re a size 2 with perfectly tanned skin,” doesn’t mean it’s true. A very slim majority of Muslims are terrorists, and there are plenty of white Christian terrorists too. And just because many of the Muslims are “stereotypical Middle Eastern looking” doesn’t mean they hate you just because you’re American.

I’m really glad I went to this lecture because it opened my eyes up even more, that just because I don’t have these bad feelings toward other cultures, some people do, and I need to be an advocate to show how great these cultures really are. Making connections between the real people of the countries is what will lead the example to make connections on a bigger scale. This will not only help Turkey and the US, but any other place you visit. We all have a part in this world, and if it’s making peace with one person at a time, I won’t stop.

The article about his visit is here.