Personal Reflection
12th - 19th March
Over the past few weeks many situations that I’ve found myself in have impacted me greatly and have made me reflect upon myself, one of these being a trip to Amsterdam during Carnival break. There is no way I could leave The Netherlands without having visited one of the most famous cities in the Europe so Christine and I went along with two of the American girls, Linz from Brighton and Ines who is from Portugal for the weekend. It was a great trip and in my eyes a very beautiful city seeped in cultural heritage. We also took a walk through the Red Light District which was most certainly an eye opener for me. Personally I felt very uncomfortable and uneasy walking down these streets yet they were swarming with people and there was real buzz with people sitting outside pubs enjoying the atmosphere and the sunshine.
Since being on the trip I also came to the conclusion that our cultures have a big impact on our personalities and the way we act. Now that I’ve got to know people better and am spending more time with them I can agree you do see their true colours! I’ve looked at myself in many situations and thought you just don’t do that. Many of these other Erasmus students are very forthright with their opinions to the point that they are self centred and aren’t really concerned about what others think. I’ve realised that people of the Irish culture are caring and concerning for others making sure that we all get to do what everybody wants and everybody is happy yet still being able to stay together in a group whereas the others just wandered off doing their own thing without any unease about splitting from the group in an unfamiliar city.
As Carl Jung once said, “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” Reflecting upon this I can agree that I will come away from this experience with a transformed attitude and personality having been in the company of others who are very different to what I am. I can also say there are certain features of people’s personalities where I think that would be unacceptable back home and is a very undesirable trait. Maybe these people who have experienced my personality would be able to take something from me too.
Kathryn
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