It is all about sizes. Exchange students coming and going to different parts of the earth want to be bigger, and to reduce distances between the places to make sure that in the end everything will seem smaller.
Take a risk, get on a plane and step forward into a new land. You will feel that people are very similar behind the clothes, the colors, the beliefs, or shapes. In spite of this apparent equality of the human race, we are born to be different. Everything that surrounds us, the weather, the soil, the vegetation, the flora and fauna influence us in distinct ways. The historical realities of our respective countries, the types of government, the wars, the arts… All are unique to every continent, every country, every state and every city. And these differences do not exist to drive us apart, but to make us globally precious.
Since the beginning of time, people have traveled and mixed their cultures, but today, because of technology, it is easier to stay home; this has paralyzed us. No one needs to travel to know what is happening on the other side of the world, but not directly experiencing culture is dangerous. The exchange programs that encourage teenagers to travel are helping them to run away from this “technology” that alienates them from the world, and it is also giving the students a way to get out from their “happy bubbles”. From these experiences they can see that the world is gigantic, but the distances between continents decrease when one has a wider perspective.
Living in a place that you do not know can be like using new shoes. You already know how to walk, but you have to get used to do it differently, and the first steps will be painful. It is complicated to find your own way and to express it to people that have preconceptions about you because of where you came from. Besides, the majority of the people are too involved in their own lives to start to know someone from zero. It takes a lot of energy and time, I guess.
It is really cool when someone says:
“Hi! How do you like Weston so far?”
But it is also really obvious and easy. What was the motivation of all these people to ask me the same question? I want to understand what they are offering me and what they want to exchange… What makes them interested? I do not know, but I would love to find out.
The exchange that I am interested in has to do with understanding and decreasing this huge distance between people that live almost in the same continent. This is why decided to live these months here and do not just stay home.
