Postcards from London: Amanda Stahmann
Concordia
University Wisconsin junior Amanda Stahmann, who is a middle
blocker on the volleyball team, is studying abroad the next few
months in London, and will be sharing her experiences and thoughts
with CUWfalcons.com. The Business Honors Program major, emphasizing
in business management and business marketing as an undergraduate
student, and working towards a Master's Degree in international
business will be answering questions and telling stories about the
culture, her education and how this trip will change her life.
Hello again,
I hope everything back home is going well. As you can imagine I
have been busy with my internship, exploring my surroundings and
meeting many people from around the world.
Below I have answered a few more questions from CUWFalcons.com:
Talk about the people you have met and share a
story or two if you have any?
I've met so many people here. It's hard to pick which
people to talk about, but I'll try and mention a few. My neighbor
is from Austria and is one of the sweetest people I've ever met,
and she makes the most amazing desserts ever. She always has me try
it when she makes something new and I'm more than happy to be her
guinea pig. One of my British friends also loves to cook and she
makes floor meals all the time. I have become an honorary member of
their floor whenever she decides to cook, which as you can imagine
is great. Also I've met a girl from Holland who looks like the
European version of Emma Stone and a girl from Bulgaria who says
the most random funny phrases I've ever heard in my life. I also
have plans to see Wicked with my British friend who has one of the
best accents I have ever heard and is one of the friendliest people
you will ever meet. Of course there's tons of amazing Americans as
well in my building, however, they do choose to make fun of my
Wisconsin accent!
While I didn't get to mention everyone, there are so many more
great people I've met during my time here that I could go on for
pages. Now as for stories, I've been caught out in London in the
snow, when everything shuts down as soon as there's anything on the
ground, and barely made it home on the last tube. I recently saw
the Olympic Rings make their way down the Thames River looking out
the windown while at my internship. And recently I participated in
a traditional English Tea Party with my program at an amazing hotel
on the Strand.
What have you done recently that is exciting
or different?
Well, I just came back from a short weekend trip to
Ireland. We were there for about three days which wasn't nearly
enough time to see everything I wanted to, but it was still
amazing. We went to Dublin last Thursday night and went to a pub
where we got to listen and see some traditional Irish music and
dancing. Then we had a day trip tour to the Cliffs of Moher and
other sights along the coast. The Cliffs of Moher may be the most
amazing landscape I have even seen in my life. I could have
seriously spent all day there if the tour would have allowed. We
then went to Cork where we went in to Blarney Castle, which even
has a moat! The land surrounding it was amazing to see, especially
the waterfalls in the forest pathways. I even got to kiss the
Blarney Stone! A lot of traveling in three days but it was
definitely worth it.
What have you learned in the classroom that
you can bring back to the U.S.?
I think one thing I have definitely learned in a few of my
classes at Westminster is the impact that differences in culture
and time period have on the way people view the world. Each week in
my international marketing class we analyze a different country's
culture and how it impacts the way companies do business. My
internship class constantly compares the U.S. work culture to that
of London and how things are perceived differently. My art class
goes into depth about how different movements of art were
influenced by culture and events of each time period. The
discussions have made me realize just how unique each culture truly
is and why others perceive things differently. I now have a better
understanding of the concept of diversity and how much it impacts
our life in ways we don't even realize.
Any other story you may want to share with the
readers?
I guess I'd just like to say that if anyone is thinking
about studying abroad but they're a little nervous about it, just
do it anyway! It can be a very intimidating decision to make and
many people choose not to because of how much of a challenge it
appears to be. Honestly it is the craziest, scariest, and best
experience of my life and something that I will never regret. It's
so easy to make excuses as to why it does not make sense to stop
your life back home for a semester to study in another country.
However, so many people look back and wish they would have done it
while they had the chance; I have never met anyone that wishes they
hadn't.
If you have a question you would like answered or have always
wanted to know something about London or Europe please send an
e-mail to steven.schauer@cuw.edu and I will answer it next time I
write to everyone. Thanks.
Until next time,
Amanda Stahmann
