Cross Cultural Experiences

Singapore Pen Pals (11/4/22, 11/11/22)

     Over the course of multiple days, I had the pleasure of talking with a group of five lovely girls. Two were from my school, the Academy of Notre Dame, and three were from our sister school in Singapore, St. Nick's. It was run through the head of our GCS Program, Mrs. Moffat, and her partner in Singapore, Mrs. Tham. They provided us with articles prior to each zoom meeting as a structure for our meetings that we could choose to follow, or create our own. The articles included topics from Gen Z slang, to growing up, to cultural appropriation, to 'cancel culture.'  These interactions are meant to provide a space where we can learn from one another based on our differences or similarities in culture, customs, thoughts, and ideas. 

     I enjoyed this opportunity immensely. I got to know my girls, Ashley, Faith, and Tan Zx very well, even though I missed the last meeting, in which they made it known that I was very much missed. Each of them made it very easy for me, and everyone, to just talk things through and share, which I appreciated very much. We ultimately talked about the differences in our everyday school routine and found few similarities. Something that one of the girls taught me through an exercise was that it is so easy to judge someone or something when you only have one very zoomed-in lens on that thing. I think that that is very important. We exchanged information after the first meeting and immediately started reaching out. Even when it was about the most random topics, I found myself laughing and waiting eagerly to share what I thought. I am looking forward to this same opportunity next year, and I will definitely be keeping in touch with all three of the amazing girls I had the pleasure of meeting!

Turkey (June 2023)

     In June of 2023, I had the privilege of taking a trip with my family to Italy, Greece, and Turkey. While in Italy and Greece, we spent time relaxing and enjoying good views and yummy food, but our day spent in Turkey was very immersed in Turkish culture, which is why it was one of my favorite days. The cities we visited were Kusadasi and Ephesus, within the boundaries of the Selcuk and Aydin districts. We got on the tour bus early in the morning, where we met our tour guide, Ahmet who grew up in Istanbul but was fluent in both Turkish and English. We headed straight to the house of the Virgin Mary, also known as her final resting place, and passed through neighborhoods. We could not talk or bring our phones into the house, and even while on the grounds we had to be silent. This religious site is a very important, sacred part of Turkey, and even our guide said after 30 years of bringing tours here, it never gets old. On our way out we filled up handmade vases with holy water from the fountain and added a wish to the wishing wall. Being Catholic and attending a Catholic school, this was a very unique and formative experience. Later we went to the ancient ruins of Ephesus and learned about the history, although 80 percent of it was reconstructed. Because of the heat, we did not stay too long. 

My favorite part of the day was when we got to walk around the city of Kusadasi where we stopped in a Turkish rug store. As soon as we walked in we were served Turkish apple tea, also called "Elma Cayi." We met one of the workers, a man named Efe, who had been working there since he was 15, so he had tons and tons of knowledge. He told us about his family from Bodrum, what it was like living in Turkey and working, taught us some Turkish sayings, and how he has always wanted to come to the States. The way Turkish rug places run is a woman can spend anywhere from 5 months to 5 years hand knotting a rug, and it is the men's job to sell them. There can never be a duplicate of any rug, which is one of the reasons they are so expensive. To close out the day, we ate at a local hotel/restaurant, recommended by Ahmet, where we ate a traditional Turkish lunch. The workers and chefs were so informative about their famous dishes, drinks, and desserts. Overall, all of the locals and natives we encountered throughout the day were so willing and happy to let us in on their lives and traditions. It was so interesting to even compare the lives and norms of the cities to what it is like here in the United States. This trip was so cool and I was so lucky to be able to travel and experience other countries and cultures with my family!

Singapore Pen Pals (10/30/23, 11/3/23, 11/7/23)

The St. Nicholas Girls' School in Singapore is one of the multiple sister schools of Notre Dame, and one that the Global Scholars program interacts with multiple times every year.  This was my second year participating, and it was just as enjoyable as the previous year. Over the course of three days on Zoom, we covered topics from healthcare to school life as a teen, to struggles we face within our own community. My favorite aspect of these discussions is that there isn't much structure at all. The moderators provide a safe environment to open up to these girls and share similarities and differences in our everyday lives. We start in the large room with all participants and then split into breakout rooms with about three girls from each school. We found ourselves sharing many more similarities than we thought. Despite all of the conflict in our world today, I appreciated being able to actively learn from these girls. Although action in our world is of utmost importance, this is one of the Global Scholars events that doesn't seek "solutions," but instead is a formative learning experience for all involved. 

The icebreakers provided a firm foundation for conversations, making me eager to hit unmute. The three girls,  Jing Si, Bridgette, and Ming-Rui, all had the most infectious smiles and displayed such interest in our lives. It is rare to meet people who don't already know any bit about you, and show such curiosity and attentiveness toward you. Junior year is a very crucial time of a girl's high school career, and being able to share and swap experiences with these girls made it so natural and raw. The best part about this experience was that I will have the pleasure of meeting Jing Si, who is coming to the United States to visit our school in about three weeks time. Overall, I loved gaining knowledge from this very motivated group of girls, and walking away with a broader global perspective.

St. Nicholas Girls' School Singapore Visit (11/27/23)

I had the pleasure of meeting my pen pal Jing Si and all the girls of St. Nicholas from Singapore. I met her a few weeks prior, as well as 2 other girls, but only Jing Si visited. As soon as I met her over Zoom, I was looking forward to the day when I could share Notre Dame with her. There is something about showing someone a safe place where you spend most of your time and love so dearly that gets me so excited. The introduction included a music video about St. Nicks and the performance of their "Family Dance," which was so amusing to watch. I brought her a Philadelphia canvas bag with all of the key things that make this city unique. I also gave her Tastycakes, my favorite Philly-owned sweet treat. She got me a very nice wallet with all of the most famous Singapore tourist attractions. She was immediately so easy to talk to and although a bit shy, she instantly adapted. We participated in a Design Thinking challenge in order to collaborate and create and improve the everyday school backpack. We dispersed with our group (Me, Jing Si, Chloe, and Bridget) to give a tour of our campus and interview students for our challenge. I took Jing Si to my math class where they watched our lesson. After, we took them to the cafeteria to get a pasta lunch and introduced them to some American snacks that they hadn't tried before. She loved everything! Our group combined ideas and shared our school experiences to sketch an amazing backpack and won the challenge by a large vote, which added that much more to the day.

This opportunity was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. The day was certainly about showing them Notre Dame and its unique traits, but I also enjoyed listening to the adventures of their trip, as it was their last day in the States. Their trip also included New York and Washington DC, and they talked about all of the food they tried, like Chicfila and Wendy's, the things they bought on Black Friday, and compared and contrasted these cities to Singapore. They mainly said they loved all of the architecture in the US and that they didn't have much back at home. Although I mainly got to know Jing Si, two other girls, Chloe and Feronia stuck out to me and were so pleasant to talk to. Chloe gave me these snacks from Singapore that she brought for herself, but she said she had to have me try and take them and try them to share the enjoyment. It honestly warmed me so much how kind and excited all of the girls were. We all exchanged Instagrams and ensured that we would keep in touch. These are only a few highlights of the day, but it was very well-organized, including some structured time, and other time to just show them around and just talk. This was certainly a highlight of my entire high school career, seeing Jing Si on Zoom, and then 2 weeks later traveling all the way from Singapore and meeting in person. Being one of her many first impressions of the United States was so special and I cannot wait to see her life through email and Instagram. Maybe one day we will meet again!!:) 

New Orleans Service Trip (12/16-12/19/23)

While in New Orleans, I had the opportunity to serve at 3 different locations with 3 different organizations. The first was St. Margaret’s retirement home, in which we played bingo with the residents. We had the chance to talk to them, as most of them have been in New Orleans their whole lives and lived through the tragedy of Katrina. Next, we visited the Greater Arc of NOLA and sorted Mardi Gras beads with the workers. The environment was very welcoming and one where the workers with mental disabilities were treated as they should be just like anyone else. These beads were the ones thrown onto the street and the whole goal of starting this organization is to reduce the trash left. It was really cool to learn about Mardi Gras and the traditions that come with it. Lastly, we visited Common Grounds Relief who strive to preserve the wetlands of NOLA. After Katrina, their neighborhood was hit very hard and it is important to them to do so, so we helped with little tasks in order to reach the bigger goal. It was really inspiring to be able to help the environmental community of New Orleans.

New Orleans was a very special place to do service in and visit. We went in knowing we were not going to “save” the city, but rather provide help wherever needed. I learned that this city is extremely tight-knit, and after Katrina tore through their city, they didn’t want to leave, but instead, God brought them all together. The Common Grounds Relief was created in direct response to Katrina, and it was so evident that it helped so I credibly much. It was so fulfilling to know that we were a small portion of the help and enjoyment of the community. God’s work was certainly working! While serving at the Greater Arc of Nola, I learned a lot about the history of Mardi Gras. On the surface, it seems like a fun time full of partying and drinking, but that’s not the case. The crews involved with the parade have a history of insensitivity toward specific groups, which was really eye-opening to hear. We got the chance to attend a church in the suburbs of Nola, which was my favorite part. 

Overall, this trip was so special to me and my high school experience. Being able to hear from and learn from people's experiences and perspectives in a city not too far from me, yet so different in so many ways, culturally and structurally, was truly awesome!