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Evan Sale
July 2013
Global Studies Experience Reflective Essay
I was extremely excited to find the UCBA Summer Study Abroad Program, because I
saw it as a way to explore interconnected passions‒ literature, history and architecture‒ and, I
hoped, to discover which was most important to me. While I had chosen to major in
architecture, I was considering redirecting my education toward the other two. The class I took
was a survey of Gothic literature, a genre about which I felt uninformed. Literature has steadily
become a larger part f my life over the last several years, and I wanted to broaden my knowledge
from the handful of Modern and Postmodern authors I knew well. Our destinations
corresponded to the literature we studied, but I also looked forward to learning the histories of
the places, something that has fascinated me as long as I have been in school. Studying history
always felt to me like getting to know people in the past who were facing the same problems that
we are now and seeing how they overcame them. This is especially true in architectural history,
something especially dear to me as an architecture student. The destinations included in the
program showcased some of the most spectacular architecture in the world, and I wanted the
chance to experience it. I also had wanted to return to Europe since first visiting several years
ago. That trip, which I took as part of my three years of high school German class, intensified
my desire to experience new ways of life.
Through my past classes and my readings leading up to the trip, I knew the essential
historical timelines of the former Hapsburg Empire and of the United Kingdom, and I was able
to place the literature and architecture I encountered in chronology. The beginning of the trip
featured destinations in the former Hapsburg Empire, where my literature course framed Gothic
literature as a response to imperial oppression. I had taken classes before that covered the
succession of emperors and changes in territory, but this class was different because it examined
the cultural legacy of empire, a legacy I was able to witness firsthand. My coursework naturally
focused on literary ramifications, like Kafka being inspired by a monolithic imperial bureaucracy
to write stories about conformity and transgression. However, the role of empire in society was
just as visible through architecture. Monumental palaces like Vienna’s Schӧnbrunn and the
Hofburg were symbols of state power, and the royalty that lived in them were expected to
personify the majesty of empire. For instance, Empress Elizabeth in Bavaria, called Sisi, is an
archetypical Gothic heroine because she was unable to conform to the expectations of her title or
to escape them, which led to her insanity and death. Schӧnbrunn, while opulent, offered Sisi
little privacy or freedom. This was just one place where our Gothic studies intersected both
European history and the ideologically-significant architecture I toured.
Much of the global literacy I gained came from simple observation of buildings, outdoor
spaces, and how people interact. The buildings in Vienna’s old town were all neoclassical and in
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pristine condition, befitting for an imperial capital. The people there were so quiet that our group
earned negative looks in subways and restaurants. In conversing with my professors, who were
already familiar with the somewhat restrictive social code, I realized why some Austrians
seeking more individual freedom move to the United States. While the empire itself is gone, the
values it instilled‒order and conformity‒still influence Viennese society. I had never tried to
formally analyze a culture in terms of its political past, but connections like this showed me how
governmental systems can shape culture.
I had hoped, in creating my blog, to better understand cultures by comparing and
contrasting them. I drew the most obvious contrasts between Vienna and Prague, the second city
we visited. Vienna represented order, while Prague was rustic and idiosyncratic. Dominated by
the Hapsburgs and later by the Soviets, Prague was too poor to afford the facelifts that Vienna
received. Its architecture, from the beautiful to the dilapidated, tells a fuller history from the
Middle Ages to today, rather than Vienna’s single story of cultural and political triumph. Both
cities came into sharper focus for me once I had experienced both.
I spent most of my trip in England, and the culture there was the one I best got to know. I
felt most at ease there, I think because the culture is similar to America’s and because Americans
have a fair amount of exposure to English culture through media. That is not to say English
people fell into our stereotypes: sure, they tended to be more reserved, and maybe a little testier,
than Americans, but many had a dry sense of humor that I did not notice in the other places I
visited. People were louder in public, and I stopped feeling the need to be inconspicuous. I
caught enough media, from the BBC to the infamous tabloids, and heard enough from locals to
get a little of the British worldview. Their politicians are walking the same line as ours between
stimulus and austerity; their culture is broadening through immigration, especially from Eastern
Europe; they worry about economic competition from China and other developing nations.
America faces similar issues, but the British have more of an international focus. For instance, I
never would have heard about flooding in Eastern Europe on American nightly news. No longer
an imperial superpower, the UK takes pride in its culture while accepting a smaller role in world
politics.
Constant traveling made me more familiar with the geography of these places as well. In
writing my blog, I thought more about planning: the serpentine streets of old cities and the new
suburbs sprawling beyond, the smaller scale of country villages and the rail network linking
them. However, on a larger scale, I grew to appreciate how Austria’s being landlocked, between
Eastern and Western Europe and between cultures, contributed to Vienna’s cosmopolitan
society. Geography directly affects architecture and social interactions too: Bath’s cohesiveness
comes largely from the local limestone used in the buildings, while England’s colder, wetter
climate means people gather in pubs instead of sidewalk cafes as they do in Vienna. Knowing
the physical footprints of these cultures helped me understand each of them as more than an
abstract “somewhere else” and to see that they have as much depth, variation, and complexity as
my own culture.
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The professors who led my program encouraged us to experience places as locals do,
rather than just look for landmarks. As I navigated the subways and sidewalks of Vienna, I was
pleasantly surprised at how helpful many people were, especially given my non-fluency in
German. Prague was much more intimidating because I spoke no Czech, though struggling to
communicate left me with a greater appreciation of the language barriers many people face and
made me more perceptive of body language. I feel that being able to communicate freely in the
United Kingdom contributed to my perception of the culture as being more relaxed. Even so, I
was careful to be courteous toward the people I met, as my accent made me, for them, a
representative of American culture.
The first time I visited Europe, I thought a lot about facets of my own culture I wished I
could change, like America’s lack of emphasis on planning, mass transit, and architectural
preservation. Some of the people I traveled with this time were so convinced of Europe’s
cultural superiority that they could not fairly evaluate different lifestyles. I had started to
understand, however, that taking sides is not the role of a global citizen. In my blog, I examined
cultural differences and tried to analyze their causes, but I did not try to make judgments on the
inherent correctness of values or practices. I quickly learned not to attempt to rationalize
unfamiliar customs, such as the expectation that one should pay with exact change in the Czech
Republic. I realized that my frustration at that practice was equivalent to me judging another
culture in terms of my own, which I had no right to do. Some of my most dramatic growth was
in learning to accept cultures on their own merits.
I created my blog around my theory that cultures express their values through
architecture, and my analysis has made me even more confident that buildings are living
artifacts. I have become better at reading the emotional impact of spaces, which is crucial
element of design. Characterizing cultures based on their buildings has also made me see the
ideological implications of design. I can no longer see a Gothic Revival building without
thinking of England reasserting its national identity after Napoleon, or look at a neoclassical
palace without thinking of absolutism. This awareness will be important for my career as an
architect because any design project is, to some degree, a statement of one’s worldview.
My global studies experience has left me much more confident in my ability to manage
my time and to create projects that allow me to pursue the questions that matter to me. I pay
more attention to social cues when I encounter unfamiliar situations, which will help me to show
respect for different customs. Traveling, especially when alone, has also made me more skilled
at navigating my physical surroundings and more willing to rely on strangers for help. Traveling
lightly showed me how little I truly need from day to day, and I now equate a small suitcase with
careful prioritization. Setting priorities was very important as I kept my first blog, because I had
to maintain a balance between reflective time and the active experience that would fuel my
writing. Combing through everyday events to decide what is significant, distilling my
experiences down to the lessons that stay with me, is practice that will serve me whether or not
writing becomes a large part of my career. That experience felt especially hard-earned because
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revelations never seemed to arrive on schedule, when I thought I needed something to say. In
the Gothic literature class, we discussed Freud’s idea of the subconscious analyzing the sensory
input that never enters working memory, and this helped me accept that a step back is sometimes
what I need to make sense of things. I am more patient, and I try not to take sudden intuition for
granted.
My largest single realization was that we are numb to the beauty that is familiar to us.
The cultures that fascinated and excited me seem commonplace to many that live in them. My
architectural treasure-trove is their normal scenery, while the history that fascinates Americans
can feel oppressive to people living in countries that are thousands of years old. From the
acquaintance of my professor who left the social strictures of Vienna for Cincinnati, to the young
men in Grantham, Lincolnshire who tried to convince me their town was nothing special to see,
we all tend to elevate what we do not have. It was easy for me to notice what I thought the locals
were missing, but what is more important is learning to appreciate the parts of my own culture to
which I have become numb. I was thrilled to go to Europe, and I was thrilled to come home to
cookouts, backyard pools, and long, sunny summer days. Our tendency to always see the grass
as greener even gave me a little insight as I try to decide what I want to do after college. The
work that most appeals to me at a given moment usually is not the work that I am doing. Late
nights in architecture studio make me want to reflect and think linearly, while a lot of analytical
work leaves me needing a creative outlet. I have decided to continue majoring in architecture,
but I am trying to remember the importance of different kinds of fulfillment.
Because of my global studies experience, I know more about other cultures and their
people, and I recognize my place as a global citizen. I also better understand architecture and my
creative process. I hope that, by presenting to Gateway to Honors, I can encourage other
students to study abroad and to embrace new ways of life. Like any Gothic protagonist, we are
limited by fear; when we expose ourselves to our fears, they disappear. I am already planning to
return to Europe in December through A Global History of World War II: Ideology, Culture,
Politics, and I know I will continue traveling for life. I am still amazed by the richness of
cultures familiar and foreign, the beauty of what I have seen, and the promise of what I have yet
to discover.