On the summer of 2018, I joined over 20 students and faculty from the Music Department at Minnesota State University Mankato on a two-week study abroad trip to London and Berlin. This trip was titled “Music Travel Tour” and it was offered as an extension of my upper level music history classes which I took over the previous academic year. The purpose of this trip was to create real-life connections between the events we discussed in class and the places in which these events occurred which we visited during our stay in these countries. It was also intended to expose students to different perspectives and worldviews of the music industry in current days. During our stay in these cities, we visited major historical and musical sites such as Abbey Road Studios, Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), and Neumann. We also did some independent traveling during our free time to smaller, nearby cities such as Brighton, England and Oranienburg, Germany.

 

Going on this trip allowed me to meet Levels 3 & 4 of the Self-Awareness section in the Global Citizenship competency, because it made me aware of the ideas and biases that I had towards people in these countries as a member of my culture. As mentioned in the attached reflection, I was very surprised to find out I had many preconceived ideas of the United Kingdom and Germany, which were mostly erroneous. For example, I was surprised to find out London’s population was very diverse. It might have been because of how I had seen this city portrayed in media before, but I was unconsciously expecting everyone to fit a certain stereotypical image of a British person: white, well-dressed, and proper. It was a huge culture shock for me when I realized Britain’s population also consisted of many immigrants just like in the United States. Especially in a big, international city like London, it was very usual to see a conglomerate of ethnicities and cultures. Therefore, I soon realized there wasn’t one “standard image” of a London resident. Although most of these biases were not necessarily harmful to my interaction with people of these countries, it was hard to see past these habits of mind, because they had been engrained in my mind for so long. Just like everyone else, I grew up believing my lifestyle was the norm. Therefore, I never questioned whether my views on the world were right or reflected on how I could change them if they were wrong. Besides increasing my cultural self-awareness, this trip also allowed me to expand my knowledge and understanding of other cultures. One of the most influential experiences I had was learning about World War II and the Holocaust from Germany’s perspective. Through our visits to historical sites like the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, and Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg, I was able to hear the German’s version of this story. As hard as it was to believe, I learned that not everyone from this period was aware of the crimes happening in their surroundings. There were many who participated in these acts of violence, but there were also others who risked their lives to defy Adolf Hitler’s regime and fascist ideas. Despite the situation, Germany is not proud of its hateful past and it has made a commitment to keep these historical places open as a memorial for those who died because of it. They are hoping this serves as a living lesson to future generations so that history does not repeat itself. 

 

Although my cultural self-awareness and understanding has expanded because of this trip, I acknowledge that my view is still limited, because these are many other cultures in the world I do not know about. Regardless, I know this experience will help me become more open-minded when interacting with people from different countries whether it’s in the United States or abroad.

 

In the following reflection, I talk about this experience in more depth expanding on the culture shock that I experienced as well as the lessons that I learned from being immersed in a different culture for two weeks. Below is a complementary picture of the group I traveled with posing in front of Stonehenge in the United Kingdom.