Spaces and exchanges : how traveling to a foreign country can broaden our horizons ?

The notion I’m going to deal with is “Spaces and exchanges”. To start with, I would like to give you a definition of the notion: an exchange is an act of giving and receiving something else in return. It the result of the interaction between people in geographical and symbolical places which are spaces. We may wonder how traveling to a foreign country can broaden our horizons ? My presentation will fall into 2 parts: first of all, I will concentrate on a document about Apple Greeters and then I will focuse on Gap year.

The first document is a text which comes from a British newspaper “The independent”, it was written by Richard Gilbert in 1994. It describes a program the Big Apple Greeter. this association is based in New York and more than 400 volunteers called Greeters offer a free walk in any of New York’s five boroughs for the tourists. Points out that volunteers have to be a specialist of the city . Besides, in many respects, the article is relevant as far as tourists and volunteers have an exchange: tourists and families will be glad to know more about the city for free and guides will enjoy the fact of explaining anecdotes about the empire State Building or the statue of liberty or to show them different areas like SoHo, Little Italy or Harlem. New York is the city the most visited by tourists with more than 10 millions per year, therefore, this kind of program is really appreciated by people as a consequence Big Apple Greeter is a perfect case to illustrate the question. Indeed, thanks to these volunteers and the fact it’s free, students can come and discover many things in another way and in result, they will broaden their horizons.

In order to continue to answer my question, I am going to present you a document which deals with Gap Year. It draws our attention to the fact that taking a gap year can be beneficial. The author sides with this idea and she will give us 6 reasons to take one: From her point of view, it enables people to have more time to figure out what they want to do in the future because nowadays it’s harsh for teenagers to have a precise idea of what they want to do in their life. On top of that, it will push them to be more independent because they will have to make decisions in their own way. What’s more, they will have the opportunity to earn money for instance: saving money for tuitions, it will teach them to work for others and to know the world of work. She also strongly believes that it enables people to gain a volunteer experience for instance: in a charity or in a program, they will also be able to live freely: they will have the chance to embrace their freedom, improve their skills in many fields and broaden their horizons. Her last reason, it’s they will come back with a uni feeling refreshed and they will be motivated to begin studies

In both documents, the idea put forward is traveling enables to broaden our horizons and to discover ourselves more. We must acknowledge the two authors suggest us to move, to come across other people and to share with them.

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