One of the most driving motivations I had going into the Ateneo and into the School of Management was the Junior Term Abroad (JTA) program. Even before I got my acceptance letter to the university, I was convinced that I was going to some grand location to spend a semester. Thereafter, I fought to resist the temptations of shifting out of my course; I clamored to keep my grades up and made sure that my disciplinary record was spot clean—all for a semester abroad. All for the best four months of my life (so far).
I did get my chance to go on JTA, and I made all the necessary pre-departure preparations. I believed I was ready to face anything. As expected, I was wrong. The first challenge of my new life required a 40-minute commute to school every day. This was followed by the realization of having to ponder about what to cook for dinner that night, where to go that weekend, and who to spend my time with. Going to makeshift clubs to “inculturate” myself, not knowing half of the songs, and meeting people whose names I couldn’t pronounce were but awkward little steps to fulfill the ultimate exchange experience. Never mind walking aimlessly in the cold for miles guided with nothing but the wisdom of those who have taken the same path, the beauty of being on exchange meant being constantly unaware.
Living in a foreign country meant getting lost in translation with the flurry of wagging chins, and trying to holding one’s own even when words fail to deliver one’s intended message. Language was an issue, and there were countless times when I wished the ground below opened up and swallowed me whole. “Pardon?” became my favorite word, and Sign became my second language.
Like Ezra Pound, I was inspired by fleeting moments at the Metro and having my heart broken by the flutter of time and distance.
While away, I met a kaleidoscope of amazing, wonderful people and became interested by how personalities are crafted across cultures, across oceans. I came to realize that the world is indeed small, but perhaps, not small enough to accommodate all the new things that came into my life at breakneck speeds.
Just like any other participant of the JTA program, I traveled. Backpacking around Europe made me appreciate the obscure. Countless times I was amazed by those that I will never see in my beloved archipelago. Seeing things from the eyes of a transient, I could not help being marveled at the beauty of a sun that shone brightly in the French sky at seven in the evening or at the light fog parting from my lips as I spoke. Surprises came from every corner during my travels. There were half-naked ladies in windows in Amsterdam, endless lakes perfectly reflecting the sky above in Salzburg, and green fairies giggling gleefully as I stumbled along the streets of Prague.
Try as I might, it’s almost impossible to fully narrate the JTA Experience; no words will ever do it justice. When I got on the platform of my train on my last day in my beloved city of Nantes, France, I took a step back and looked at the home I had for a few months. Temporarily leaving my Filipino life to live a French one was about making memories, and so many did I make. As my train zoomed past the countryside that led to my airport terminal in Paris, I struggled to take in all that I saw. I did not see each tree or river as they were passed by. All I saw was a blur, and somehow I knew it meant the end.
Katrina Paredes is a junior Communication Technology Management major. For her Junior Term Abroad, she went to Audencia Ecole de Management in Nantes, France where she had first-hand experiences in cultural diversity and sensitivity.
