Reflecting on the cultural adjustment process, I feel like I haven’t experienced a full amount of culture shock, but I’m definitely in the honey moon phase of being in a new country and experiencing their beautiful architecture and scenery. I also have experienced some sleep deprivation, so I don’t think my brain has processed the cultural adjustment yet. 
Prior to leaving, I prepared for this by speaking to my family members at my graduation party about their experiences and receiving tips from those family members. This was a little over whelming receiving the tips as it felt like a lot of information at once, but I appreciated the tips as they were prevalent to the experience. 

Are there noticeable differences in headlines and the types of coverage compared to major U.S. news outlets? What local issues are you drawn to learn more about, and why?

Reflecting on Dutch media, I wanted to make a relation to something our class experienced today at the end of our group trip together. First, I wanted to share a quick summary of our day so I remember every stop! We started with an hour walk to the Rijksmuseum and experienced a split group tour during our walk there. We got to experience the beautiful art work at the Rijksmuseum and had the art work explained to us by our tour guide, Carol. We then took a break to eat lunch and explore the city before meeting outside of the Royal Palace of Amsterdam where we got to individually experience a personal, audio tour while we looked at the beautiful art work and architecture. To finish off the day, we took a ride on a canal and while we were on it, we heard loud music and yelling. We learned there was a protest going on relating to the war in Gaza. After doing research online after our canal ride, I found an article published by a Dutch media outlet called Reuters. The topics their posts were focused on was the protests about the war in Gaza. This article read, “Earlier in the day a crowd of several hundred had gathered, chanting slogans against the war in Gaza and denouncing Israel’s ongoing military operations. ‘Free, Free Palestine!’, protesters shouted. ‘The people united will never be defeated.’ Student protests over the war and academic ties with Israel have begun to spread across Europe but have remained much smaller in scale than those seen in the United States.” (Reuters, 2024). What I learned from this Dutch media outlet (which is linked below) is that we personally got to experience an active protest that was just recently the night before the same protest went on and it turned violent. It was a crazy realization that we experienced maybe 2 minutes of the outside view of the protest, but there was so much going on inside of the protest. 

The noticeable differences I see in Dutch media headlines versus United States headlines is they give more in depth descriptions of the events that are going on and that they discuss in their articles. I’m intrigued to learn more about how Amsterdam is impacted by the war in Gaza because I feel like this war is so current, I’m intrigued to see their side/story of why their country is involved and how they are supporting and bringing awareness to the issue. 

References:

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/dutch-police-end-pro-palestinian-demonstration-amsterdam-university-2024-05-07/

After learning more about the Dutch flower industry, I have learned multiple different facts regarding the tulips and the history behind them. I learned that there was illegal activities taking place in order to make the “black” tulip. This was done by mixing red and purple color in order to get this dark blackish color. I also learned that the practice of this was illegal. I then learned more at the tulip flower museum about the developmental process of tulips, as well as the care gardeners use when growing these tulips. 

Fun fact: Tulips are the most poisonous plants for cats. 

The elements of Dutch culture that I have most enjoyed is  how much they value certain things that developed their culture, such as clogs. Every where I have gone in Amsterdam including shops, gift stores, street stores, etc., there are clog trinkets everywhere. I enjoy seeing everyone in this country taking pride in their culture and the cultural elements that developed through history in the country. I have also enjoyed seeing how Dutch people interact with one another. I feel as if it gives me a deeper understanding on their communication habits and mannerisms while educating myself about the people and their ways of life versus my own and the American culture. 

I encountered a moment of miscommunication/misunderstanding today at the Kasteel de Harr and gardens. As my friends and I walked around the palace and were talking to the men who were in each room of the palace, one asked where we were from and we said America. After asking him where he was from, I asked him “Could you tell we were American?” And he nodded and giggled and said “You all talk too fast” and we laughed with him. After conversing some more, he told us he was worried about the US election and he said he was curious to see how it turns out because it affects them too. Then, Brent explained how the election will be interesting and a lot of Americans are wondering the same. After having this interaction, the three of us students that were speaking to him talked and realized he most likely did not understand us because we talk too fast and he realistically couldn’t understand the amount of information about a different country being explained so fast. This was an eye opener for me as I realized I do talk very fast, and the Dutch people here speak slower and explain things in a different way, so I understood why it could have been confusing for him. Although I am experiencing these interactions, I am thankful I get to experience them so I can educate myself on adjusting into Europe and their mannerisms and ways of life! 

Want some food for thought? Read this short article:

https://daily.jstor.org/food-and-culture/

 

Bonjour! Today we explored Musèe D’Orsay and Musee du Parfum! We started off at the Musèe D’Orsay where we were guided by our tour guide and was able to listen to her through a head set while she explained the art in the museum. I appreciated that we were able to tour this museum because the art was so intricate and detailed and there were separate rooms for certain artists and their work. While we were there, Brinna and I stopped for a coffee at the cafe once we had free time and boy did I need that coffee! I experienced a lot of aches in my legs and exhaustion this morning which made it really difficult to stand through the tour, but I still enjoyed it. One thing Brinna and I talked about while sitting in that cafe is how strong the coffee is no matter how creamy and light it looks. It took around 5 minutes for that coffee to hit my system and I was wired. Brinna experienced the same thing. We discussed how in French culture, they have very strong coffee no matter where we go. Even in Amsterdam it was like that. This was a moment where we were able to reflect on French culture and food as they are very different from the U.S., even though a majority of the coffees have the same name. For example, a caramel macchiato. It has the same generic name, but it does not taste the same at all. After that, we had free time and were able to go on our own for lunch. A couple of us ate at a restaurant outside and I ordered the chicken ceaser salad. This meal was very similar to the ones I have ate in the U.S., but the dressing tasted slightly different. I can’t say that I had different experience with this salad because it was so similar besides the dressing. After we ate there, we went to the Musèe du Parfum. We had a full tour of the museum and got to learn about the history for perfume! I learned there are only 40 people in the world who make perfume and the different plants that go into making the perfume. I bought 5 different perfumes which I’m extremely excited to gift to people when I’m home. After this we went home and were able to go to dinner by ourselves. At this restaurant I had a burger (classic American lol) and it was very good! I also had fries on the side. The fries were not salty at all which our table had a conversation about the sodium difference in American food versus French food. In French culture, food is not very salty whatsoever, so that’s was a weird difference to taste basically just potato! My friends at the restaurant tried escargot. I personally am not a fan, so I did not eat it, but I have learned how much French culture loves and values the art and culture of escargot. Almost every restaurant in Paris that we have walked by has escargot on the menus. I wanted to submit a picture of the coffee so I can show how creamy the coffee looked and how off putting it is once you take a sip, and it tastes like straight espresso! 

The role that Versailles plays in French culture today is a landmark of the French royalty. Using Versailles as a landmark of Paris gives both the French and visitors to experience what life was like during the royal times. Showcasing the history, royalty, thousands of acres of beautiful land, the historic furniture, architecture, and art work, gives a glimpse into what life was like in Versailles while representing the opulence of the bygone French Monarchy. This landmark means a lot to the French culture as it shows their rich history of the past. This communicates the dissonance of France’s past and present as they showcase what their lives were like in the past, how the kings treated the people they ruled, the family ties that were created and bonded, the illnesses that occurred, and the thousands of people who put the effort into creating Versailles. In present terms, it gives it gives France the opportunity to put themselves into the past culture of France that is still extremely important to them to maintain. 

So far during my time in Europe, I have already experienced seeing a protest 3 times. I have also seen “Free Palestine” spray painted across multiple different parts of both Amsterdam and Paris, as well as posters hung up that state the same. The first experience I had with a protest in Amsterdam was when we were on the canal ride. We went right by it, but we did not actively go into the protest or see it directly. Once this happened, I looked up multiple articles regarding the protests in Europe. The second time I had an experience with the protests was the day after. While we were still in Amsterdam and had free time to spare a group of about 8 of us went shopping and ate at a restaurant. As we were leaving the shopping centers, we walked right next to a protest. In this moment, there were hundreds of people both bystanders and active protesters who filled the street which resulted in blocking the transit of buses. We saw at least 50 police in the area with shields and guns. In this situation I felt really uneasy and knew we needed to get out of the area, but it wasn’t bad until the police started to “charge” at the crowd with their shields and started to drive into the actual protest to clear people out of the way. Once that happened, our group decided to run away as fast as we could, so we went into the shopping center again to get away. This was such a weird moment for me. I knew that there were protests that were occurring in our area, but I was frighted for our group to be accidently caught into the “fire” of the protest, so I made sure to emphasize to them that we needed to leave. After experiencing both of these protests a day apart, I started to think often about it and I want to learn more information regarding how the Palestine war is affecting Europe, as well as the U.S. I also thought about how if protests like that were to happen in South Dakota, I feel like the situation regarding police would be A LOT different. The police use essentially “power washers” to spray the crowds if it comes down to having to use it. I feel like this is completely different than how the U.S. would handle it. The last protest I have seen was today. Today, after we explored the church, Brinna and I shopped around and then took the transit home. As we got off the subway, we heard loud yelling which turned out to be a protest. The streets and area around that protest was covered in police. I did not want to get caught up in this protest like the last one, so we decided to leave once we looked at the protest for a minute. After this, Brent, Mickey, Brinna, and I went to a soccer game which was Paris Saint-Germain F.C. versus Toulouse F.C. I had SO much fun at this game. I used to play soccer until high school, so this was a very fun and familiar experience! So far, I have loved Paris.

- Additional: In addition to your prompt for today please add at least one take away from Omar’s talk and how it can apply to your work as a young professional.

Transportation impacts communication in urban settings as there are multiple different parts and routes to transit here. There are buses, trains, subways, taxis, bikes, personal vehicles, etc., that ensure the people of the city are properly transported. In London, I feel as though it’s a little more confusing than the last two places because they drive on the opposite side of the road, as well as the opposite side of the car. The streets are always crowded with buses, which can make it frustrating for cyclists and smaller vehicles. The only communication barrier I have noticed personally is when we have been on the subway. There was a lady who was basically on top of me on the subway and I moved my leg onto my knee and she started yelling at me. She spoke in French so I could t understand, but what I could understand is that she had no sense of personal space which was extremely frustrating. One take away from Omar’s talk was I am the only person in charge of my destiny. I cannot rely on other people to help me succeed. I make my own destiny, I choose my own decisions, and I’m the only determiner of my outcome. Although I got this from him, I felt like I did not learn much about marketing and communications rather than thinking critically. I wish we would have focused more on educational topicals rather than learning about his life and his jobs and how many famous people he has met. 

- Addition to Padlet: respond with ideas of how to help get Londoners to be tourists in their own city as a response to our presenter Mike from city Hall

Sports can create community through culture, fan base, passion, and memories. I relate this to how parents are fans of a football team, let’s say the Minnesota Vikings. These parents have children and they involve the children in watching games, bringing the kids to games, and making the kids life long fans of the team. This gets passed on to generations. When people are fans of teams, they share an equal passion for the sport, players, and environment. Overall, this creates a community within the fan base across all friends and families. Working with fans as a fundamental public shape a communication professionals tactics because a communication professional needs to be able to effectively and efficiently communicate with their fan base. A communication professional needs to do the proper research of their fan base in order to keep the fan base engaged. Tailoring to the fan base is vital so they stay engaged and know what’s going on with the team. By tailoring to their specific audience (their fans) their fandom are more likely to engage with the teams social media. 

- Additional padlet: Ideas on how to help get Londoners to be tourists in their own city as a response to our presenter Mike from city Hall would be to make a campaign or marketing strategy to push out advertisements to London natives about the different opportunities London has to offer. Offering a travel voucher for London natives to travel the city with the expectation or rules of traveling to different landmarks in London would encourage them to travel to different landmarks. I think the way they could properly sell this idea to them would be to offer an incentive as well as stating the statistics of how their travel will support the economy of London.

I believe I have been influenced by set tourism by the film “Full House” because I have always wanted to visit San Francisco and visit the home where it was filmed in. Growing up my sisters and I always watched Full House and loved the show. Even after the show was done being filmed, my sisters and I still watched it. I would like to visit the home that it was filmed in and the park that is shown in the introduction of the tv show. I think going to this place would be bring me a lot of nostalgia. Set tourism can be used as a strategic communication tool because it will encourage film or series viewers to visit the sites where they are filmed at and encourage tourism. Encouraging the tourism will bring cities income as well as general traffic in the areas where they are filmed. This can be a good and bad thing. Bringing in set tourism will increase profits of the city, but can also be frustrating for home owners in the areas and will also decrease the value of the homes.

I’ve included a picture of where the film Ted Lasso was filmed that we visited today!

During my time in London I have learned so much. I learned that they take so much pride in their futbol culture and that brings so many friends, families, and fans together. I also learned they call a line a queue especially in the subway system. In British culture, the people were a lot nicer than in the other countries we visited. They drink a lot of tea and hot coffee, and it’s a lot harder to find a place that has iced coffee. During my time in London, I realized how many films and series were filmed here that I never would have realized. This country is also very boujee as well as there are so many luxury brands in almost every mall and street. There are so many little aspects that I learned about London and the way the people of London function and their mannerisms. I felt like I belonged or fit in to this country more than I did in the other countries. I’m sad to be leaving as I have made so many new friends and connections, but I am so excited to go home and be in my bed again and also have access to my vehicle at all times!