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Question: Describe a friendship you have made with a local student (from your host country), or someone who is a resident. How has this relationship influenced your experience? How do you communicate, and are there are any language barriers? Have they spoken about any things that surprised them about America’s customs?
Written by: Doug Lajoie
University College Dublin, just like Bentley, uses group work as a chance for students to learn to work together and meet new people.
In one of these groups, I am the only American with five other Irish students. Although there is no true language barrier besides a couple of phrases, there are some glaring differences between the cultures of my two schools.
Some group members have different standards when it comes to punctuality and attendance. One of the girls in my group has changed the way I view some Irish students.
Before I left for Ireland, I had many preconceived notions of Irish students as partiers who didn’t truly care for their studies. Although half of my group seems to fulfill this notion, Sylvia breaks the mold. Sylvia is an Irish girl in my group for an entrepreneurship class. She travels two hours to class every day and works on the weekends. Her dedication to school and classes far exceeded my expectations.
My group has also influenced my experience for the better. Having grown up around Dublin, they are all filled with information on places to visit during the day and places to go out at night.
It surprised me that nearly all of them had been to America. They had visited New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and Orlando. To them, America consists of huge cities, and they knew nothing of small-town America.
It was even more surprising that, as an American, they expected me to be brash, uneducated, and exceedingly rude.
Working in this group has been good for both myself as well as the Irish students. Although we all came in with mostly negative stereotypes about each other, we have quickly become friends.
I have learned a lot about Irish culture from this group. Not only have they made my experience better, but I have also come to value my friendships with them.
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