It’s been a few years now since I moved to United states of America, and my parents were always telling me that I would somehow have to face new experiences and have difficult moments such as: losing my french, losing my spanish and to fit into a new culture. But, living in the USA helped me not only to understand, but also have a different perspective on the American Culture and a different perspective on the world. And after listening, talking and even discussing with my parents, I was not able to not only find out why, but also how to fit in a new environment.…
Moving away from family and friends was very tough when I was young. I learned that this world is full of opportunities and I just have to make decisions and go out to look for them. I also learned how to accommodate to a new life. This was an opportunity that changed my life as a person. It taught me how to take over and adjust throughout the time.…
The accelerating pace of international trade is one of the most dominating, and important features, of contemporary life. Globalization is creating widespread changes for societies, economics, and governments. Since the invention of the steam engine, transportation and communication limits have faded away and, with the development of the Internet, practically disappeared. A case can be made for the proposition that trade, throughout history, has been the main engine for the development of the world as we know it today. In his book, A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World, William J. Bernstein makes this case.…
A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World. Bernstein, William J. New York: Grove Press, 2008. 467 pp.…
You’ve heard the phrase “worth your weight in gold.” Well how about, worth your weight in silver instead? Their once was a time when the world trade depended heavily on silver. Chinese ports would accept nothing but silver, and they had the luxury trade goods and commodities that European countries enjoyed and needed. In one fell swoop China had dramatically changed global economies as well as social standards.…
It wasn’t that easy as I thought for to be an exchange student. I think it was so much work for it. I had to take tests, to interview, to do my portfolio, to write essays, to write a letter to my host family and especially to pay a lot of money. My parents are not rich so we had little trouble about that.…
It is no exaggeration to say that the foundations of the modern globalized world were made of sugar. In the 15th century Europeans first encountered its sweet delights and by the late 1600s sugar growing had taken firm hold in the Caribbean. There are a few factors behind how this product became so popular. These factors are consumer demand, labor, and land.…
“Give me some sugar!” When most people hear that phrase, it usually means someone wants a kiss. But in the late 1600s and early 1700s, people want to plant sugar. True, it started some 9000 years ago in New Guinea, but it took a while before the rest of the world caught on. During this time, there was a movement called the sugar trade. Although there were many forces driving the sugar trade, what mainly drove it were the ideal land masses for sugar production, the amount of slaves needed, and the demand for it.…
Many things helped drive the sugar trade. Demand, slavery, and climate played a major role in the driving of the sugar trade. Demand was greatly increasing throughout the years. The climate of the caribbean islands where cane sugar was grown. Slavery provided “free” work to produce sugar which in turn increased profits for the farmers.…
This experience taught me numerous new things that shaped who I was and altered the way I returned to my community, Los Angeles. The most important thing I learned at this internship was the ability to “fit into” this new way of life. While studying abroad, I believe that this skill I gained from my internship will allow me accommodate and adapt easily to the new culture. I also learned from this internship how to properly communicate with new people in general, but also with people who may not be familiar with my own culture and lifestyle. This new skill will also allow me to communicate and connect with other students while abroad by expressing an interest in who they are. I will also be able to grow a connection with my peers by showing them a bit of my culture and help them learn a new way of life.…
Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Do what you can with what you have, where you are.” For the British this meant using islands such as Jamaica and Barbados to produce, process, and sell sugar. Sugar cane thrives in hot humid, tropical climates. The British used sugar for things such as rum, molasses, and other auxiliaries. The sugar trade grew and thrived for three specific reasons: the perfect climate was available; sugar was new to Britain so people wanted it, and the use of free labor supported by slavery.…
Back home, I was 'adventurous,' a 'risk-taker,' so I had figured that spending a year abroad would be no problem. But now, with homesickness seeping into my mind, I realized my hubris – I hadn't understood what being completely immersed in a different culture would entail. Perhaps I was not as brave and independent as I had convinced myself I was. The dislocation had exposed my faults: my introverted behavior and my inability to pick up a language. Conversing with my peers was torture, as I spewed out nonsensical German phrases. School was just as brutal; I sat in class analyzing the movements of my…
Grace, you are right when you say that as we become an adult, the way we define family changes. For me as a child, I thought family meant only people who shared my blood. However, as I became an adult, I have friends that became my family. As for the exchange theory, I feel that it is the reality that exist in our society now. People who are married or cohabiting are with each other because it benefits them. If this was not the case, than we would not have people breaking up or divorcing. Everyone has to be getting what they need in order for the family to stay intact.…
Imagine everything you know about America today. Think of the foods, the animals, the annoying sickness we all get come wintertime - and then imagine knowing that most of those things were not supposed to be on this land. Because of The Columbian Exchange, America and Europe were able to transfer good, and bad, commonalities amongst each other, and the end result was both unifying, and catastrophic.…
Change can be difficult part of a person’s life, oftentimes quite harrowing. Some may find change to be a good thing. I, on the other hand, find it to be more than former. This great change in my life was when my family was forced to move to a new city when I was fourteen. Not only, was I facing a great change, but it would be a change that would affect me for the rest of my life. When I found out that we were moving, I was frightened. I was going to lose all of my friends. I was going to have to start over. That was scary. Being the new kid in school is awful and upsetting, and I was not looking forward to that at all. Already being a shy person who has trouble connecting with new people, being forced to start at a new school was absolutely terrifying.…