I think those are the two main categories need to be considered for traveling. We will soon be going to Milan for the Expo, and after that is the first independent study trip, which many people are already planning it. However, during the planning process many questions started to show up. Would you stay in a cheaper place in exchange with a longer transportation time to the destination? Or you'd rather book a place that is convenient for transportation, but cost a little more extra? Would you mind traveling to certain places even though you don't like your companions? And would you tag along someone's trip even though you don't really want to go to certain locations?
The constant struggles between time & money / location & people happen very often during the planning especially we are all college students with different background. I personally value time more than money. I think if you can use money to buy time in any form, it's a good deal since time is the most valuable thing in the Universe. I'd prefer to get to the destination quicker with reasonable extra cost. I had experience before that I stayed at a cheap place far away from the site, and ended up losing one day just trying to figure out my way to the site. For location & people it gets tricky. I think different companions are suitable for different locations depends on their personalities and also your objectives for the trip. Keep in mind if you put too much attention on the people, you will miss out the location, and vice versa. "There are three constants in life --- change, choice, and principles"- Stephen Covey
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La Mercè is the biggest annual festival in Barcelona. The week-long festival consists of many free concerts and several traditional events such as: Parade of giants, la Sardana dance, Correfoc (fire-run), and Castell (human tower). It starts on September 18th and ends on the 24th. The Correfoc is a one of the kind experience. The demons and dragons chasing after the crowd with firecrackers was definitely the highlight of the festival. There is a link of my video below documenting some of the moments of La Mercè 2015. According to Wikipedia: The celebration of la Mercè has religious origins, honoring the Virgin of Grace (Mare de Déu de la Mercè). In Catalan, the word mercè has meanings related to service, help, a sense of compassion, and loving mercy. The festival has been celebrated since the Middle Ages when, in 1687, Barcelona suffered a plague of locusts. To fight against insects, the Consell de Cent voted to ask the Virgin's assistance. When the city was delivered from the pestilence, she was named patroness of the city of Barcelona— although this was only recognized by the Pope in 1868. Since that time, an annual festival has been celebrated in the city in honor of the Virgin. I’ve never lived in a big city. The fast-paced lifestyle is a little bit overwhelming at the beginning, but after 2 weeks I started to get a hand of it. Many of my classmates seem to adapt quickly as well, everyone headed to different places right before the classes start, some went to Costa Brava up in the North, and some went to Valencia at the South to see Calatrava’s museums. I decided to explore Barcelona during that weekend since I don’t think I’ve seen everything Barcelona has to offer. I think it’s important to stay on that ‘tourist mode’ for the first couple weeks just to have the first level of exploration, and then build on that and go deeper into the culture. I also like to switch up the pace, sometimes travel with a large group, sometimes travel with couple friends, and sometimes alone. You will always see different things when travel with different pace.
“There is only one way to learn. It’s through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey.” – Paulo Coelho Catalan people’s pride towards their culture is far more passionate than I imagined. The 3-day orientation at UPC Campus Nord is a perfect demonstration for their pride. The orientation was like a Catalan 101 with total of 6 hours of Catalan language and 4 hours of culture background. I haven’t seen any school doing such organized event for the foreign students. UPC turned a boring welcoming event into a meaningful culture exchange. Throughout the lecture our professor Roger did a fantastic job introducing Catalan traditions. Perhaps this is something Taiwanese could learn from since the preservation of our very own culture is fading away from generation to generation. During September 11th, their National Holiday, people show their pride and perform tradition dance ‘Ball de Bastons’ and the world-wide famous human tower ‘castell’. For people to accept your culture, you need to recognize it yourself first. “It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson I don’t want to be an expert at traveling. It takes away the fun. The fun is to make mistakes, to get lost, and by doing so triggers one’s survival instinct---the very primal ability that helps us to get on the top of the food chain. Most people would pray for a smooth and safe travel, but that doesn’t do anything other than get you from location A to location B. Some of my classmates felt bad that I couldn't get to the school with all of them on the day of arrival, but that was actually an excellent opportunity for me to experience Barcelona. Instead I learned how taxi works in the Barcelona airport and how to communicate with the taxi driver. It is very interesting to see how my fellow classmates react to different things while studying abroad since I had experienced those mixed feelings before. Some can adapt and change quickly, some are struggling with it, and some are not even trying. I like to inspect people’s behaviors because they help me to understand my own. I might share some of these theories later on in my blog. You know it’s time to leave when you established a comfort zone.
After waiting for 2 years or so I’m finally heading to Spain for my senior year study abroad program. Instead of going with the group from Chicago, I’m heading there on my own from Taiwan. It’s going to take roughly about 17 hours, which is not that bad. Although this is my first time going to Spain, I’m not going to write about those before-flight-emotions since I’m familiar with studying abroad. So instead this article focuses on some reflections from the past and expectations for the following year. I’ve recently learned about the term ‘Third Culture Kids’ and began to study about it this summer. Third Culture kids meaning children who were raised in a culture outside of their parents' culture for a significant part of their development years. What surprised me was that although I’m not a typical TCK, a lot of my thoughts and behaviors are actually similar to theirs. After drifting around the world I’ve finally found a sense of belonging, a community I can somehow fit into. I am eager to experience Europe with a more developed personality compare to 7 years ago when I first moved to Honduras. Being a TCK can be quite brutal sometimes. I’ve trained myself not to attach to friendship too deeply just so it wouldn’t hurt that much when saying good-bye. Yes, that is messed up I know. However, this doesn’t mean I don’t make friends, I just choose them wisely. So, why study abroad again? Studying abroad is addictive. Every time I move to a new country, I develop a new way of thinking. It’s like leveling up or getting an upgrade in video game. It’s all about getting out of your comfort zone. You’ve probably seen a lot of inspiring quotes on Instagram or read some articles on Facebook about comfort zone, and yes, most of them are correct. That is why I am forcing myself to leave Champaign because I’ve established a comfort zone there already. My brain needs an upgrade. I’ve seen a lot of blogs talking about what they learned after the studying abroad experience, but not many talk about their goals and expectations before the trip. I think it’s important to list out several objectives beforehand just to keep myself in perspective while traveling. Here are couple things I would like to improve during this year: 1. Pushing my limit on multitasking: Life is simple in Champaign, it’s just studio and gym, but now I got a whole Europe to explore. Am I still able to produce those real hot projects? 2. Get better at writing: You can tell I possess no writing skill just from reading this blog. 3. Improve project thesis and concepts: This is the most important thing about a project, yet I just start to get the hang of it. Let’s see if I achieve these by the time I graduate. But still, you know it’s time to leave when you established a comfort zone. |
AboutThis blog was launched in August, 2015 during my 8th year of studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain. I decided to start this blog and record some of my thoughts and moments. This blog is also dedicate to Richard Fu, a good friend of mine who is now guarding me from above. He inspired me to get out of the comfort zone and be curious about the world. Amig@'s blogs
Check out my brother Will's blog (in Mandarin) to see what he's up to these days (Design, fashion, food, technology, music, film...etc) Check out Kris' website for some high quality photos around the world Archives
September 2023
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