This experience so far has been nothing short of transformational already. I was really excited to visit Switzerland, which we got to see already. The one thing everyone noticed was the prices! After missing home, I decided to go to a McDonald’s and get a six piece chicken nuggets with a fries and it costed me over $16! Though I think visiting businesses is important, one thing I really like about this trip is that we are able to export culture more than anything. Being deeply integrated with the people her made me understand many things. Right now, the USA is extremely disliked by people around the globe! So far I am absolutely loving the program and I am learning so much about how other people think versus how we are taught to think in the US. A couple of things that I’ve taken away so far are the power of friendship and simply having a good time and being able to adapt to others, whether it’s roommates or new people. A couple things I want to take away are how money is spent here in these countries and how culture drives countries to make business decisions. There were also a couple of major differences I noted in the culture. In Europe, the culture is very less focused on strict work and the architecture here is very old yet renovated. I noted how industrial the US felt. But also, I noticed the benefits of tipping cultures when the servers take a long time to serve. I met a man who lived in the United States and he told me that he had to leave after a year because the United States is not for everyone. He told me how everyone there was too focused and quite rude relative to Italy which is why he moved back to start a coffee bar.
