Southwest trip
was one of my reason to come back to MFWI as an Extension student. In Southwest,
everything such as people, food, air, building and scenery was very different
from Spokane and Japan. From this trip, there are five cultural differences for
me.
The first
impression of Southwest was the dry air. Even in the airport, the air was dry
for me and the taste of the water from fountain was very different from Spokane.
The first place of the trip was the Old Town, Albuqureque. There were many
hanging chilies along the road. While having dinner, the clouds in the western
sky were almost colored orange in the beautiful town.
In Southwest area, most buildings were adobe construction which is
made from clay. Adobe building have used by Native Americans who are called
Pueblo Indians. In the Pueblo town, even cooking kilns were made by adobe
construction. Then, a few of Pueblo Indians are still living there. In Japan,
Japanese traditional buildings are getting fewer but people living in New
Mexico observe traditional style.
In the Santa Fe
Plaza, an old woman who was selling jewelry told about her original jewelry and
taught us her first language. The clerk at Mexican restaurant explained Mexican
food kindly. What is common in all people living in Southwest is they all were
peaceful, gentle and kind. In addition, most surprisingly, their English accent
was very strong. Sometimes it was difficult to understand.
People do not say
that a trip was a perfect trip without delicious food. In New Mexico, almost
all of Mexican dishes were the first time for me. There were many delicious
Mexican food such as salsa, burrito, tacos and guacamole. My most favorite one
was guacamole. The interesting point was, there are no elements of America food
although New Mexico is in the U.S.
Needless to say,
this was the most exciting event for me because people say the place where you
should go before you die is Grand Canyon. In Japan, there is not such a big and
huge scale of nature. My values have absolutely changed. Seeing the Grand
Canyon by standing alone made my feeling like in a picture. Then, when faced with
the marvels of nature, daily worries seem to become small things
In my opinion, a lot of things such as food, scenery, and people
teach us cultural differences. Seeing differences of other culture is the most
interesting thing in trip. Learning new things and cultural differences from
Southwest trip was a precious experience in my life.