AHS September Blog: Reflections from Abroad

The Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences (AHS) publishes a monthly blog written by students, alumni, and faculty sharing important topics and helpful resources related to the fields of agriculture, extension, and human science. In the September blog post, AHS Adjunct Assistant Professor Amber Beseli reflects on her past interactions while studying agriculture abroad.

COASTERS

We were sitting in Williams Hall during one of our weekly lab meetings. One of the visiting scholars – I can’t remember which country he was from – picked up one of the stone coasters from the table and started examining it. He was turning it all around, looking at all sides. He finally asked what it was for. I told him it was a coaster to keep your drink from leaving a ring on the wooden table. I was amazed that he had never heard of a coaster before. Such a simple moment, and such a simple thing – a coaster – but moments like these are what helped me become curious and passionate about learning about other cultures. 

HOT SAUCE

During my time working as the Global Academy Program Director in CALS International Programs, I hosted a group of Cochran Fellows from Bosnia and Herzegovina. In between farm visits, I took them to a local Eastern North Carolina style BBQ joint (even though I wish it would have been Western NC style instead, but I digress). As we were waiting for our food, one of the Fellows picked up one of the hot sauce bottles and told me that every time he sees this brand of hot sauce, he thinks about the war (the Bosnian War from 1992-1995). The Fellows said they would receive U.S. food aid boxes and inside these boxes were little, tiny bottles of this hot sauce. “We didn’t need condiments – we needed bread – we were starving!,” he said. That is a conversation that will also never leave me. While I am sure the hot sauce company and the U.S. had good intentions with their food aid donation, it allowed me to hear first-hand why it is important to talk with locals when thinking about how to help other communities – to see what they really need, not what we think they need. 

RECYCLING CENTER

Growing up in rural western North Carolina, my household wasn’t big on recycling. In fact, I don’t think I recycled once until I was in my Master’s degree program. During my Master’s, I traveled to Costa Rica on an NC State Alternative Service Break program. While in Costa Rica, we visited EARTH University, an agricultural university in Mercedes, Guácimo, Limón. During our student-led campus tour, we visited their campus recycling center, where our tour guide informed us that every single undergraduate student must work approximately six weeks in their campus recycling center. WOW! What a way to teach students the importance of recycling and encourage less consumption. This was yet again another moment I don’t think I will forget. 

NEWSPAPERS 

On a short-term study abroad program in Oaxaca, Mexico, we toured the city’s botanical garden. Right by the garden, we walked past a room that caught my eye. Inside the room were six men – six men all sitting at tables, silently reading the newspaper – the printed copy. This is another scene from abroad that is sketched in my mind, reminding me of simpler times. Simpler and slower times, where society had time to sit and read a printed copy of the newspaper. 

NO SHOES 

Recently I traveled to Japan. While in Nagoya, I went to the mall and tried on some clothes. The sweet local lady helped hang my clothing choices up in the dressing room. As I entered the dressing room, she gasped very loudly! I immediately backed out of the dressing room, and she pointed at my feet. I had worn my shoes into the dressing room, which I was apparently not supposed to do. Once I slipped them off, she was much more relaxed (until I forgot for the second time)! Traveling to Turkey, Thailand, and Nepal, I realized how common it is in Asian cultures to only wear slippers inside the house – not your shoes that have stepped on all the city streets. One powerful take-away I’ve had from traveling abroad is that while other cultures’ hygiene norms may be strange to us, they are actually just different to us – not strange. 

THOUGHTS

Being around people of other cultures and traveling to other countries has made me pause and ponder quite a few things. These people and places have left imprints on my lifestyle and mind. Could I have learned things that made me question my ways here at home? Yes, of course. But traveling to new places and interacting with people of different languages and cultures gets us out of our comfort zone (fast) and forces us to think and feel in new ways. 

GLOBAL ISSUES IN AGRICULTURE 

Between opportunities through school, work, family, and friends, I have been blessed to see more of the world than most see in their lifetime. I hope my experiences can encourage others to interact with people from other cultures and travel when they can. One place I share my experiences is in the classroom. In the Agricultural and Human Sciences Department, I teach a course titled “Global Issues in Agriculture,” which is designed to introduce students to global issues in agriculture. It provides an opportunity to learn about international challenges, global issues involved in solving those challenges, and opportunities related to solving those challenges. In this course, students learn about how aid differs from development, when each is appropriate, examples of development projects and methods, and how agriculture can play a large role in global and human development. This course was created to help students gain an international agricultural perspective without having to leave campus – as all students will not have the opportunity to go abroad. 

COCA COLA 

While I love traveling abroad, every now and then when you’ve been gone for a while, it is nice to have a taste of home. Earlier this year I traveled to Nepal with my good friends. As we were leaving our stay in a small village, I was feeling a little queasy. I was hungry but I didn’t know what to eat, because what I really wanted was some food from home. As we were leaving the village, the driver pulled over for us at the local store. We asked them if they had any Coca-Colas, and then I gladly bought one for each of us. I opened that Coke and took a big swallow. It tasted very flat, so I looked at the expiration date – it had expired well over a year ago. But even being flat, that was one of the best Coca-Colas I’ve had in my life – because it was a taste of home when I craved it most. 

ALAKSAN TV SHOWS 

I was in Istanbul, Turkey, staying with a local family. Some hear Turkey and think that it is “another world from us,” being close to the Middle East. That evening, I came into the living room and on their television screen was of all things, an Alaskan wilderness show (but with Turkish subtitles). If I was in Belwood, North Carolina that night, in my grandparents’ living room, that same show would be on their television. Here I was halfway around the world – in a place of a completely different culture – and they are watching the same show. Maybe we aren’t so different after all…