Saturday, July 2, 2011

Personal Connections

By Tiffany Hoffman

IN MY FIVE AND A HALF YEARS of living in Europe, experiencing cultural conflicts has become a way of life. Whether its trying to order the right pizza or communicating with the landlord over the broken door, these moments are the best forms of teaching and growing. One moment that has occurred recently has been the challenge that most students have had with that lack of technological accessibility, especially from the comfort of our rooms. The ability to be and stay in contact with work, family, or friends from long or short distances at any time of the day, is something that most Americans have grown accustom to having and wanting.

Not having access seems very foreign and peculiar to people. Yet being in a culture that prides itself on the face-to-face connections rather than the technological ones have made me reassess my reliance on such forms. While each form of connection is valuable and useful in its own context, this experience has help me see that sometimes the most important connections made are not through a computer or phone but rather through the day-to-day moments of the people you are with.

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