 I'm your host here Carlos Juarez for Global Connections and joining me today I've got two guests that are going to help us unravel a fascinating story of what it's like to work, travel, study abroad. These are two young leaders that are with me now here in Mexico. They've come from far away, one from Australia, one from England. And so I want to thank me, Freya and Ella are both joining me today. Thank you and welcome to Global Connections. Thanks for having us. It's great to have you and you know it's an opportunity. I wanted to I've called it something like you know study abroad in Mexico but in this case you are both foreign students from different parts of the world. And so an opportunity for us to talk about some you know interesting, challenging, exciting things, some of the hurdles you had to go through to get here. But first let me just briefly have you share a few words of Freya. Tell us a little bit about yourself. You're joining us here from Sydney Australia. Yes. And tell us briefly you know what is your maybe your area of study where your home institution is. Well I study at the University of Technology Sydney. We have a picture here we're in a show right now. UTS. Yes UTS for sure. I was born and raised in Sydney. Okay. But I have travelled a lot. So moved to the States for a year when I was about 12. I've travelled all my life so very used to go much like travelling. Yes. So I was very excited by this opportunity and I study a Bachelor of Global Studies so it's kind of fits in. So you've got a semester that you're spending. Yes, absolutely. You get a semester allocated to exchange. Excellent. And so here we are you've made it all the way from Sydney to all the way. Little San Andes Cholumna de Puebla in Mexico. 12,000 kilometers away. In the heart of Mexico kind of east of Mexico City. Yes. And we'll talk more about some of those impressions and maybe some you know interesting aspects that you can about your experience so far. But let's turn now and Ella tell us a little about yourself fella. You're coming goes from England but where is your home and what is it you're studying? So I study international development at home at the University of East Anglia which is in Orange. I'm doing a year here. So it's like an additional year to my course. So it doesn't it's not graded but it's like my degree will be international development where the year kind of shows that I've and this is East Anglia which is in sort of southeastern England or roughly or let's say the eastern coast but your home is where in the midlands. Yeah in the midlands gosh lots of hills. So whereas Freya you're studying in your own home city although I just mentioned a global traveler yourself but you've come from central sort of midlands of England to East Anglia and that itself is an adjustment because it's not your you know your home but of course what really brings us together and then I want to talk about that this opportunity at global connections is a really a dialogue we have about you know different experiences global issues sometimes it's maybe expert opinion on this or that but really what I enjoy is more people's stories now you hear you are undergoing an experience that not a doubt is a life changing one you're studying in a place outside of your normal comfort zone and that presents challenges opportunity now both of you for having made this decision obviously you have some spark some interest I would you know as a college professor many years I mean if I had my way I would say especially students so things you're studying about global studies development you really have to get out there you know smell the flowers get engaged you can only do so much from the textbook yeah one thing to write about and it also reflects again we live in a more globalized world than ever more mobility I mean your parents and grandparents it's a different era and there was some mobility 30 40 years ago not as much it's certainly 50 100 years ago people didn't leave their you know their zones of comfort but you are and you're part of I think a new generation of global citizens kind of transcending borders I want to maybe turn down just give me a you know the way of understanding some of your first impressions you took this big leap it's part of your study which is also very important it's also a life experience but as you made this long track Australia Mexico different worlds yeah from different realities what were some first impressions that you can share um I would say that people are world-friendly up here as soon as I arrived people were just extremely extremely friendly and it was quite interesting because of the perceptions that lots of people have about Mexico being this incredibly dangerous place and blah blah blah lots of people were really surprised when I said I'm going to study in Mexico for my style see you in six months they just finished watching the narco series exactly and they're like why would you do that but obviously I think this is one of the first lessons there obviously you need to go see the world is much more complicated and there are many features right yeah so initially the people were just absolutely and still are absolutely lovely and Pueblo is beautiful and especially Chulorua and I flew directly into Pueblo so I can go to Mexico City first so I haven't experienced what's supposed to be this grand cosmopolitan city yet um but all I've seen of Chulorua so far has just been this incredible kind of interaction between people the foreigners and the locals it's really nice and we'll talk more about again maybe some of the the reality is that there are many mexicos in this case just as you might say Australia somebody want to study in Perth or in Cairns or you know in the other city there's a different sort of subculture there uh and let me ask you Ella to give us a just a quick snap to some of your initial impressions and and even maybe it will continue with you as well for you but what was it that inspired you to come to Mexico that you have an interest for some reason or you just roll the dice um I've traveled quite a bit everywhere and so but I've never been to like the states to like Latin American countries or anything also wanted to learn a new language and uh this uni was like one of the only that I would give that possibility whereas everywhere else is all in English um and yeah so somewhere I'd never been before somewhere I could learn a language it's not really far away and yeah I thought that also like the people that would go to Mexico would be similar to me and it's okay yeah and I don't know if we have a chance to show it but in addition you know we had some pictures of your university there in England University of East Anglia uh as well just the the sheer distance in the map that shows us uh you know you've come a long way as well now interestingly here uh you know Puebla is on one hand it's a provincial city a couple of hours east of Mexico city and it's a pretty sizable one uh two three million people I don't know the exact figure but Mexico City the other megalopolis that is not so far away is of course a big global international city on one hand but also a mecca for you know a lot of centralized power and culture and you know it's a just a big big thing in itself but I want to tell you that your opportunity to come and visit and stay and live and study in this provincial city and we're kind of in a more of a smaller town outside of this city uh kind of gives you I think a better immersion into the culture in some way you're not negotiating the the world of a mega city you years ago it's been a year in New York City right and you know city's a big important city as well but I always get a sense it's somehow more connected to nature on one hand and you have a vast country and territory behind that um in your case you know England it's a mixture you have obviously cities and then where you come from in the midland some urban areas that are not far but then you're also very close to nature in the outdoors especially where I like my uni yeah is like very close to even close to the ocean smaller as well yeah quite similar to yeah yeah interesting and you know here I wanted to maybe uh real quickly hit this concept we often hear the term culture shock and it happens to all of us even if we are going short term traveling someplace out of our comfort zone confronting challenges uh it's a very normal thing you have to know that and and obviously go through the steps and steps and processes but it can happen to any of us uh again if you're like you're doing an extended stay sometimes you know the initial few weeks can be the honeymoon it's exciting and then maybe at some point you either confront some anxiety or some issue that you don't understand or frustrates you and why why this why that any examples that come to mind yeah it's really interesting that you said that because about two weeks ago um Ella and I were both talking about how we were just feeling this really strange sense of that's real now but it's been a month and a bit we're actually getting on with it how have we gone to this many months of university and then we start to speak to some of our other international friends and they say it's really weird because we've started to feel that way as well and it was the same way everyone started to feel the same way about it finally kind of hitting you that it's not just oh I'm here it's a fantastic university because it is initially there's like an exciting euphoria I call it the honeymoon and and it's also everything is new and different yeah pretty soon you have now got routines you're you're you're solving basic tasks yeah you got places you know where you shop where you eat where you you know go to uh what other other other examples of maybe one use culture drug you can mean different Spanish Spanish yeah in other words having to deal with the language issue yeah I think in my head I was like I live with a Mexican girl as well it's just me and her so I thought that I don't know I just thought like oh I would just be speaking Spanish like I'll pick up like bits all the time and it will just be a lot easier and it's taken and then I have the stress of people being like we'll just try just like just try and speak but if I don't know I can't I mean of course it can vary but in your own cases how much background Spanish did you have a semester I had three semesters and you're a semester one semester so do you really are arriving at a crash course uh for survival of language skills quickly uh and well that can always be a challenge of course exactly but I was thinking as Ella mentioned before um all of the people well most of the people we've met here have all been life-minded people because I think it takes a certain kind of person to one got one got an exchange yeah and two come to a country like Mexico instead of go somewhere that's got a sense of familiarity so I think with the Spanish thing you've got a certain kind of person that's willing to learn and willing to try and make mistakes and be corrected and that sort of thing so it's been a challenge and there's been many times where I've literally just been like I have no idea what you're saying I'm so sorry but there's also been like subconscious learning things now I just I've picked up vocabulary and different words so it's been a shock but a good it is there's no substitute to having to literally learn the language for survival purposes that may be just practical things greetings yeah asking instructions reading a menu whatever it might be uh those are some of the hurdles that you have to deal with now the best is talking to uber drivers talking to uber drivers has been the best way like lots of them can't see the end of any English and then you have to explain and then they'll ask you questions because they want to know what about you yeah so you'd like to develop I'm sure over time because you've got some strategies knowing that you know how to explain instructions oh absolutely yep we'll want a certain sentence that you've rehearsed because you've asked someone but then they ask they answer in a different way it's like well those are some of the some of the interesting things and beyond that anything that's been more I don't know like very surprising you didn't expect and anticipate anything that stands out nothing not to mind is like extremely steamy okay oh the amount of it is really different different norms different procedures the biggest thing absolutely at home for me um three subjects is a full-time course load here I'm studying five five every day every day I only need two days a week at home and the amount of times you have a class a week is triple than what you have at home so it is a lot of work a lot of homework and just a lot of socializing what kind of work yeah so you're having a lot more things so you're busy socialize to make findings because you're new and you don't know anyone first learn a language so you're like constantly like oh your spare time like we need to practice in Spanish also we need to travel while we're here and then you have assignments every single week which in like our home countries you'd have an assignment at the end of the semester and an exam at the end of the semester and you'd be given a couple weeks to like well I'm gonna have to eliminate any assignments well again and that's one of the challenges I myself have been able to experience a lot of opportunities teaching and teaching regularly at different places the US and Europe and Asia and Latin America and the norms do vary quite a bit I think you all know two years ago I was in India for about six months and came to realize that after the second class it was entirely optional to show up so I had 60 students or by the second week 20 15 or 20 would show up and I had this list and then suddenly I had an exam in the middle and everybody showed up I'd never seen them it was like welcome to a class uh different norms different expectations I don't have to there's no register if I don't want to go I don't go but it means that it's hard I have to miss to extra work for the exam so again this is the challenge and not only let's say from something like your studies right now but the same if you're doing business or somehow in the future dealing with negotiating with yeah there are different norms different you know work habits and strategies and you've got to basically learn that well let me uh suggest a short break right now it's a great opportunity to unravel some of this as we come back in a moment we'll talk a little bit more about some of the travels to avail some of the challenges but also how study abroad is a life changing uh issue and and you may not know just yet we'll talk about a little more but uh let's take a short break right now we'll be back with more on the story right now after this short break hi I'm Rusty Komori host of Beyond the Lines I was the head coach for the Punahoe Boys varsity tennis team for 22 years and we're fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championship this show is based on my book which is also titled Beyond the Lines and it's about leadership creating a superior culture of excellence achieving and sustaining success and finding greatness if you're a student parent sports or business person and want to improve your life and the lives of people around you tune in and join me on Mondays at 11 a.m as we go Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii aloha hello I'm Mufi Hanuman I want to tell you about a great show that appears on Think Tech Hawaii it's all about tourism in fact we call it tourism 101 where we talk about the issues and challenges that faces our number one industry throughout the state we'll have some interesting guests very informative dialogue and allow you an opportunity to maybe learn a little bit more by why this industry is so important for our state it's been great for us in the past we need it today and especially going forward that's tourism 101 on Think Tech Hawaii mahalo aloha and welcome back welcome to global connections I'm your host Carlos Juarez and I'm joined today by two young leaders two young women who are studying abroad currently in Mexico uh Fria Mackenzie comes to us from Sydney Australia and Ella Selvia is from England from the United Kingdom soon to be free from that uh let's hold off on that uh that's a separate story we'll try to unravel uh the drama that's unfolding in Britain well it's politics and the whole uh Brexit saga but more importantly we're here because you know you've made this leap of faith you've you've made this a tremendous venture um I'm a you know big fan of obviously global education global learning world traveler like you are but sometimes there are things that uh we don't usually appreciate right away um and that is you come here and you're opening up your world learning about a new place new language with people but also I can tell you that the experience of traveling and studying and working abroad reorients your values or maybe to put it differently you go back and you'll never quite be the same person uh also you might begin to think carefully about things that you thought were important back home or things you didn't realize were important have you had anything like that uh things that you miss or things that you thought were important to me aren't or how would you say your experience has been um to be brutally honest I think you come across some friendships that you thought that you valued so dearly at home and then once you're actually here and like we said before you've got so much on your plate you really prioritise um who would what's really important back home um because you've got to sort of balance yeah and it's a different time zone how many how many hours so um 15 out there 15 hours ahead and and it's like basically like the future in fact because Australia is all right there in the tail end of the of the time and the time is just it makes it very hard to communicate yeah it's a different world it's really hard but I think insane and as well I've learned to this is my first time living out of home as well so because my university is quite close to my actual home and it's sort of the expensive to live at my parents and me um most people live at home while they study so this is my first time living away from my parents um and my sister we're really close with um you're on your own so I think you have a new sister a new friend your sister so I think that you really gravitate towards the people that you hold really similar values to um which is being really nice and you just kind of friendships really quickly because you're forced to but I've just learned to just grow up I think I've had to you don't have time to stop and think about it I don't have time I don't have time to go I can't call my mom and say how do I do this because she's fast asleep um so I think yeah I've just realized who and what's really important and is there anything you miss uh you need some vegemite or something I brought vegemite I brought Tim Tams and I brought Milo um well I think I just miss um the accessibility to beaches all the time I didn't realize it I went to a beach a personal day at home so it was right here there's no beach here but I've learned to kind of appreciate other things and other things and it's not the end of your life here forever now we're here for a short chapter and so you have to change the canal and basically make the most of what you have exactly and tell me about yourself I mean what are any things that you've thought about the different or or maybe that you miss from from your old world or different to fail I've not lived at home for like four years I had a year abroad and then I had half a year abroad and then I had uni for two years so I've kind of got used to more independent by now like I love like living yeah I found it quite difficult so far like I love having like structure to my life and I love having a job and having things that like a good routine and slowly but surely like I'm what we're at eight weeks I'm at eight weeks now and I need to think about I'm starting to be like right I know what's going on I know who my mates are who I'm gonna call who I'm gonna walk with where I'm gonna go this weekend so it's but it's it takes time it really does and it's that realization that like okay it's fine you're not okay today but another week and like you feel so much more comfortable another week you feel so much more comfortable in the end like everything in life you'd be developing new routines new tasks that you do and that you've got to keep yourself busy and like you've already said you've got multiple things happening at once and that can be overwhelming but it also doesn't give you enough time to stop and think yeah I think I've been exhausted for eight weeks but it's just like well yeah and now the other is you've got obviously now to appreciate that you're developing new norms new awareness you're also quickly learning how to convey to people and you both come from on one hand similar worlds being you know what they are maybe if you want to call it the first world or the English speaking world Australia and England are obviously worlds apart but there's also a connection there there are some shared values there's an ability that's right the same queen but beyond that I guess what I'm really getting at here is that you are also suddenly in a different world here in this world in Mexico is curious it's a paradox it's old it's new it's you know connected but it's also very provincial and close it's rich because there's a lot of rich although it's very concentrated and also you know deeply deeply you know disparity so you have a large population that's poured by standards of you know your home countries I mean what could you offer by way of just some quick impressions of what you've seen now in Mexico you talk about the warmth of the people and that's one aspect about the culture society there are other aspects that can be either challenging or frustrating or maybe surprising I mean the Mexican culture society how have you experienced it the environmental aspect I want to recycle and think yeah because it's just like the norm that I would it and and and you feel bad because it's this whole like we'll do it at home and but actually that so so adjusting to that yeah just because that's been hard because you come from being a home where it's just the norm you've got your water bottle or you've got your reusable water bottle and you've got all this stuff to sort of help you along the way and then obviously you can't bring all that stuff in a suitcase because you have one suitcase for six months and then you actually realise after a few days you're like let's just use yeah and there's one bin on kind of the door thing along the whole thing and it's never exactly been and it's just also yeah kind of getting ahead around that yeah that has been and like not and it's like making sure that just because we're from this western world and this richer world that you don't have this kind of superiority and like kind of oh well we're better than you because we recycle and it's been kind of I've noticed myself like in my house with my Mexicans that made my can't can we like do this and and you just have to kind of take a step back and I don't know yeah well it is that's one of the challenges and again what you'll see of course there's a wide range of variations Mexico City has some areas that have perhaps closer to what you're used to sorting in facilities in the life the same with other urban areas it just depends it's a function of where you might be at a good time in the fact that Mexico again it has a wide range of variety of levels of development of that like now one thing I think if you could share with us I know this past week there's been a lot of attention in the well the bringing together world leaders the UN General Assembly but even more than that the recent climate change protests movement a very strong and widespread universal one that we've seen in many places in Australia and Europe and both of you had an opportunity here to jump into this class and make it into what basically an organized sorts of protest movement here last Friday tell us a little bit about what was it like and what were your impressions about it you went to Puebla yes we did we went into Puebla and it was a group called Friday's The Future and it was organized and run by a group of really really passionate young Mexican people and it was absolutely phenomenal to see how young but passionate they were confident and really confident and there wasn't a whole lot of us there wasn't 400,000 at Australia and it was 100,000s like in the UK so it was a small group but exactly it was a small group but it was a really passionate and driven group and we walked and we walked and we walked different buildings demanding people come outside the petition half time we had no idea what we were chanting because it was all in Spanish it was a really nice vibe and it was really nice to see them being away from home things that our friends are doing at home we can still participate in this global movement and it may be a smaller scale because for different reasons here in Mexico but it's a reflection of even the interconnectedness of the world because this movement is also reflecting and building on what's happening elsewhere this young Greta Thunberg the young Swedish girl who has mobilized a lot of focus on this and here in Mexico of course this is a new young generation that's also experienced a lot of change and transformation in Mexican society the politics has come under a lot of challenge and change the economics are always a challenge there why such stark poverty and inequality and justice but there's a lot for people here to mobilize about and try to improve but it's also again reflecting maybe the global world that we all live in you reflected in your own mobility your decision to study abroad but even with Mexico and where we are here in Pabla again it's a provincial city but it has its own very strong links to the global economy there are large large factories here that produce a massive factory that's been here some 40 years and I believe today it employs 15,000 people the local factory there's a recent Audi factory that opened as well that assembles and this of course Mexico and its interdependent typically with the US has seen the growth of this automotive industry tremendous in the last 20.5 years the Volkswagen plant that's here has been here for quite a long time and exports a lot to different parts of Latin America at different times even to Europe today probably less but the United States certainly is another major place for that but here again maybe what it also speaks to and you know this is a place that's somewhat provincial if you want to call that it's always had a connection to Europe in different ways and especially from Germany with these investments but France has also been a major player many of you may know that there's a classic holiday the Cinco de Mayo it's celebrated more in the US curiously than here here it's commemorated as a battle which was a famous battle and the French forces were coming to Mexico and trying to overthrow and establish a regime who was a famous battle here and may fit but I say that in part because even at the end of the 19th century early 20th century you had large waves of European immigrants many who came here and established textile firms and other types of factories you really notice that when you go into the historic center of you can really see the kind of guards and colonization yes yes of course through the architecture everywhere everywhere yeah and those are again when you see that you can see that this was a pretty significant you know part of the colonial empire the Spanish empire and they managed to preserve that including here in Puebla well I think we're gonna have to bring closure to our brief chat maybe we can continue next time and get some more reflection on something else as before you leave back home but I want to thank you both the opportunity to share some of your impressions some of your thoughts about this I commend you both for your this big decision because it will change you forever you develop context that you'll know lifelong friends but you'll also go back to your world and have a different perspective and hopefully you'll be speaking a lot more Spanish yes of course and you will well that brings the closure to our program today I'm your host Carlos Fuarez here on Global Connections and again just an opportunity to hear some young leaders share their own insights reflecting the new global citizens that they are studying abroad from Australia and England here in Mexico with that we'll close and we look forward to having you join us on our next episode of Global Connections