Class Reflection #3

Although I have never been to Asia before, I have been lucky enough to have international experience traveling across Europe during my study abroad semester in Milan, Italy. While I may feel like a seasoned traveler, I have been reflecting on the fact that there are many things I do not know about international travel since Asia is such a different place than Europe. This motivated me to research about the differences between traveling in Europe and traveling in China and Asia so I can be more prepared. One difference I noted in my research was that Europe can be considered to be more traditionally “touristy”. I definitely experienced this during my time in Europe, so I was not surprised by this. Another thing commonly noted in my research is that the infrastructure in Asian countries is often much more underdeveloped than in Europe. This means that it can often be more difficult to get around in Asia compared to Europe. The good news is that most of our transportation has already been arranged for the trip, and we have all been debriefed on the importance of using DiDi instead of taxis if we need to go anywhere else. Food is another large difference. In Europe, people will mostly eat off of their own plates. In places like China, my research says it is common to have several main dishes and serve what you would like from that plate. I think that through this research and reflecting on my own travel experiences, it is important for me to acknowledge that I am not an expert in traveling because the experience in Asia is likely to be vastly different. I will definitely need to learn to adapt to an entirely new culture.