Junior Tori Hopper recently returned after a five month study abroad program. Hopper left for Palmares, Costa Rica on July 18 and returned to the United States on Dec. 13. Since a young age Hopper had loved traveling and that\u2019s ultimately what led her to wanting to be a part of an exchange.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always been pretty interested in traveling and thought it would be really cool to be able to experience new culture in the middle of high school,\u201d Hopper said.<\/p>\n
While away, Hopper recognized many differences between the cultures of those in the United States and those in Costa Rica.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe culture was noticeable different from the US,\u201d Hopper said. \u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily a lazy culture, but definitely one which worries more about getting through the day rather than focusing on the future which is a big part of my culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the culture was so different it took Hopper a while to adjust to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was hard to adapt at first since the culture was so much different than the one I had been used to,\u201d Hopper said. \u201cAfter a while, however, I was able to see the benefits of a culture that some might call \u2018lazy\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
A normal day for Hopper would include waking up, showering, then walking or taking a taxi to school. The classes would change each day and sometimes the teacher for a class just\u00a0wouldn’t\u00a0show up for class so the students could leave. The average school day would run from 7-4:30 and after school she would go to the park for a while, then go home to have dinner with her host family.<\/p>\n
\u201cDinner was family time and after dinner my family would usually watch TV or go across the street to spend time with their extended family,\u201d Hopper said.<\/p>\n
Hopper lived with two separate families, both within Palmares, during her study abroad. The first family included parents Krishna and Jonathan, and their seven-year-old daughter Amanda. The second family included an uncle, the mother Ingrid, sisters Carolina, 16, and Dayana 21, and Jean Luca, 18. The two families had very different living styles.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first family was a lot more well off than my second,\u201d Hopper said, \u201cBut I ended up liking the second one better because I had extended family living in two other houses right across the street which is really typical of Costa Rica and this also allowed me to form relationships with other members of my host family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Overall Hopper saw this experience as a life changing one and would recommend this experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say I would recommend it to someone who\u2019s pretty open minded and interested in learning about new cultures, as well as sharing their own,\u201d Hopper said. \u201cThey should also be independent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coming from this experience Hopper not only learned new cultural issues but she has also gained more happiness.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing in a third world country and having less possessions than most Americans are used to,\u201d Hopper said. \u201cI would say I\u2019ve still seen more genuinely happy and relaxed people there than I have here. Toward the end I realized maybe this \u201claziness\u201d wasn\u2019t necessarily being lazy, but choosing happiness and worry-free way of living.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Junior Tori Hopper recently returned after a five month study abroad program. Hopper left for Palmares, Costa Rica on July 18 and returned to the United States on Dec. 13. Since a young age Hopper had loved traveling and that\u2019s ultimately what led her to wanting to be a part of an exchange. \u201cI\u2019ve always […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":6823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[845,171,737],"class_list":["post-6809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1-news","tag-foreign-exchange","tag-harper-oneill","tag-lauren-kok"],"yoast_head":"\n