These two articles discuss important ideas and theories concerning the “foreign experience,” that is, that which encompasses an experience abroad, and the repercussions that ensue as a result of this experience. Additionally, the articles, in some way or another, refer to identity and the importance of one\u2019s culture. The article by Bennett discusses cultural levels, along with the ways in which various individuals either separate themselves from or include themselves thoroughly within their national cultures. I find myself more attached to my ethnic makeup as opposed to my nationality as an American. This is perhaps due to this essence of independence present in the U.S.; the country is quite literally a melting pot of cultures, and thus, different traditions and mannerisms are omnipresent. The article by Vande Berg discusses study abroad in radically different terms; in some sense, the piece criticizes present-day travel and analyzes the shallowness of it all. It questions the motives of students, and determines the ineffectiveness of specific programs that deemphasize \u201cauthentic experiences,\u201d in which young people gallivant around cities with nothing to gain. The author frequently uses the word \u201ctransformed,\u201d as a way to highlight an ideal that, evidently, is rather unattainable by most students. It is important to learn and educate oneself, especially when abroad. However, it is unreasonable to expect that a student might return home a different, more culturally aware version of him or herself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
These two articles discuss important ideas and theories concerning the “foreign experience,” that is, that which encompasses an experience abroad, and the repercussions that ensue as a result of this experience. Additionally, the articles, in some way or another, refer to identity and the importance of one\u2019s culture. The article by Bennett discusses cultural levels, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":914,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-assignment-1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/becoming-foreign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/becoming-foreign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/becoming-foreign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/becoming-foreign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/914"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/becoming-foreign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/becoming-foreign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":415,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/becoming-foreign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions\/415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/becoming-foreign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/becoming-foreign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/becoming-foreign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}