Dear Readers,
Welcome to the World of smile & joy of travelling. I started this blog 2 years ago while volunteering in Mauritius with AIESEC. There are no doubts it's been one of the most significant experiences in my life. Unfortunately, my motivation to write was gone as I was gone from the paradise island and came back to Poland. About a year ago, having in mind all of my international friends, I came up with the idea of writing about cultural differences, but I didn't follow this thought. Recently, talking to my friend Jehanzaib, who got in touch spontaneously, I reminded myself about it and immediately wrote a message to learn who might want to join such project. Responses were quick, most of the people said yes and decided to confront our points of view one more time as we used to do in Mauritius, spending hours talking about our countries, cultures, traditions, attitudes, but also religions. After a few weeks, the most important conclusion was we are people of the same feelings, emotions, needs and desires. This is exactly the idea behind „the Culture Clash” - totally different, because brought up in dramatically different environments, from different backgrounds, religions, etc., though still very similar. All you have to do is to notice a human being tucked behind all of the stereotypes, often unjust.
I want to clearly mark, we represent only ourselves here –
we don't represent anything or anybody else – we speak for ourselves as people
attached to different values, but we don't speak on behalf of people with who
we share them. All that we state here are our private opinions trying to show
tolerance and respect are enough to build trust and reliable relationship even
if in the begging it could seem impossible. At the same time I'm sorry for any
mistakes - we're not native English speakers and while we do our best to write
correctly, intentions aren't enough and from time to time we might simply lack the knowledge.
Let us start with introducing ourselves – before we actually
confront, we want to let you know who we are, why we do what we do and what you
can expect. We would be truly happy if you let us know who you are and what
brought you here. I do hope you enjoy and we all survive the „Clash”.
Katarzyna, Poland
My name is Kasia and I'm 24 years old. I long for new
experiences, people and knowledge in my life. I'm in love with every moment of the life on this Pale Blue Dot. I'm very happy to be born in the country and a family, where I
don't have to worry about making ends meet. I do appreciate my comfortable life
as I always try to remember there are people whose lives are much more
complicated or simply worse than mine.
Music is what enjoy the most. Sounds accompany every second
of my life - whether cheerful, sad or indifferent. Currently, I work as an
editor on renewable energy sources which indicates my way of thinking about the
future in a global vision. Regardless of the fact I like my job, I spend most
of my free time planning travels. Around Kraków, where I live, around Poland,
around Europe, around the World - each travel broadens horizons.
People are the most important part of my life - I know well
without support of my family, friends and random fellows, I wouldn't be where I
am and who I am now. Two years ago I decided to volunteer in Mauritius and I
can certainly say it's been the most important journey in my life. I met some
of the most precious in my life who decided to stand by me to fight stereotypes
and break barriers, trying to build more tolerance and respect in this world.
Pierre, France
My name is Pierre and I'm a 25-year-old French guy. I like
to meet new people to broaden my experiences and knowledge since I think that if
you don't know something you can't judge it.
Currently I work as a Methods Manager in a small company
about screw-machining and it's a kind of my dream job so I'm happy that I managed
to find it only 6 months after my graduation. During my free time I like to practice
my two passions: archery (with a compound bow) and restoring old cars.
Two years ago I took part to a project in Mauritius in order
to graduate for my mechanical engineering degree, this is where I met some of
my most precious friends and why I'm here writing to you for giving you some
other point of view about our world.
Mahreen, Pakistan
My name is Mahreen Azam. I would like to define myself as a
quirky, overly friendly and happy go lucky person. I was lucky enough to pursue
a career in something that I loved. Right after graduating in 2015 I started
working at a digital marketing agency as a creative associate. With one year
down in this field I feel more confident and empowered than ever. Meeting new
people and understanding different mindsets has always been my passion and being
a marketer I usually do it.
I love reading and traveling both of which let you
experience more than your ordinary life. One such larger than life-experience
that I gained was in my internship with AIESEC in Mauritius. With a close knit
interaction for 6 weeks among individuals from many different countries I
realised we are all just humans searching for our roles in this dramatic play
called „life”. The highlight surely was celebrating eid and rakhi with
everyone. The simple traditions that divide us also brought us closer to one
another.
Mohad, Pakistan
My name is Mohad. I'm someone who's hyper, loves fun, stays
active and likes to stay positive about everything happening in life. I'm very
much passionate about becoming an entrepreneur one day and I would like to take
my country ahead, since I consider myself a patriotic person too,. Starting off
with personal development, I have met many people in my life. Everyone with of
different mindset, different goals and this was actually surprising to note
that it always helped me grow. Nourishing, Motivating, Demotivating, Helpful,
Genuine, Fake etc these are all the beauties of people that help you to shape
up and become something who you really are. One of the best experience of life
was Mauritius, where everyone, except 2 of my friends, were new and it's
actually crazy to make new friendships and live with it in an exotic place.
That time it just gave me a thought, other than language constraint there was
literally no difference among. One way or another, we all are workaholic trying to make an impact, sarcastic, jovial and what not. It helped me to broad the vision in my life and now, because of that, I always call myself a happy
person who's there not for just his friends living in a town, but for people
living physically far, far away and mentally just a second away.
Jehanzaib, Pakistan
My name is Jehanzaib but I like to call myself Sisyphus. I generally have a negative and pessimistic outlook in life and am given into looking for bleak and darker aspects of it: however that doesn't mean everything I view or see is morose. In fact I love meeting people who have a positive view of life and am drawn to philosophy and psychoanalytic hence the source of my darker views. Thanks to my profession I have been able to travel a lot and meet many interesting and vibrant people most of them sharing an opposite view of life than mine.
Hana, Egypt
My name is Hana, I’m 21 years old and I am from Egypt. I’m an environment enthusiast and a foodie that loves horseback riding, reading and trying new things. Despite being an introvert at heart, nothing brings me more joy than traveling, meeting new people and understanding how their cultures shape the way they think and behave. I’ve been working for a year as a research associate at the Research Institute for a Sustainable Environment, where I got to work closely with locals in desert and agricultural communities on sustainable development projects throughout Egypt. My biggest international cultural immersion was my 6 week internship in Mauritius, where I got to live and work with people from various nationalities. It was an incredibly inspiring and an eye-opening experience and I look forward to many more similar ones to come!
Sidra, Pakistan
My name is Sidra, the literal translation of which is, unfortunately, tree in Arabic (though it is supposed to be a tree on the 7th level of heaven). Like a tree though, I’m half-rooted to the ground with my head somewhere in the clouds. My roots, too, spread everywhere; despite a background of marketing and media studies, I am currently teaching more than 200 students the finer points of history. Though I’ll be reaching a quarter century soon, my mentality seems to be going in reverse, a process which started when I formed life-altering friendships two years ago on the blue, blue, blue island of Mauritius, on a trip that I (back then) little expected to change my life. As a partially optimistic realist, a travel fanatic and a book fiend, I try and poke my nose a little too frequently in the lives of friends I’ve made, and sometimes they poke their nose back, and with this constant interference and poking we end up with bonds that, so far, have lasted beyond the constraints of continents and ages and ethnicities.
See you soon!
Kasia
