Spaces and exchanges : Are countries turning into a world village ?

Spaces and exchanges

How can cultural exchanged help one broaden its horizons

Are countries turning into a world village ?

USA migration

UK London today

Canada webquest a multicultural society

Gap year

The world at home        

challenges

All societies are somehow defined by the geographical and symbolic spaces they occupy and how they open up these spaces to what lies farther away. Nowadays, our world has never seemed to be smaller as the rhythm of exchanges between different areas accelerated. So new spaces, such as global citie are emerging, redefining our conception of spaces. How can cultural exchange help one broaden its horizons?

A gap year is is a chance for a student to pursue a series of life experiences before going to college. It generally involves a combination of volunteering, working, and studying abroad. The gap year allows exploring the world outside the “comfort zone” to not only learn about different cultures but also learn about ourselves. Doing a gap year is also an opportunity to earn a Global Citizenship. In fact, Gap alums report that benefits include gaining an in-depth awareness of how people live in other cultures, , the impact of globalization, seeing one’s own country from the perspective of others, and discovering what we have in common with other countries, regardless of culture.

Furthermore, studying abroad can also be a great opportunity to enlarge one’s horizons. Although there may be difficulties like the one that described Vikram Seth in his novel “two lives”. The Indian author won a scholarship to study in a prestigious school in England and wrote about his arrival in this new environment, far away from his home country, India. He was unaware of the customs and specific manners proper to the country. But we can deny that our hero will surely experience a new social atmosphere chance to experience different styles of education and understand more the county’s people, traditions, and culture but more importantly polish his language skill as he will be totally immersed in the host country.

But to discover the world and broaden one’s horizon, travelling is not a must, and that thanks to international and cultural festivals. “The world… at home” is an assemblage of documents that present 2 cultural festivals: London mela and carnaval de pueblo. The first one celebrates South Asian culture with its music, traditional food and dance. The other is the Europe’s largest outdoor Latin festival and brings out the essence of the South American culture. These sort of festival allow people to discover foreign cultures, and as they are set annually, to familiarize with it too and accept the others more simply.

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