Abigail Heiderscheit

2/3/2017

A Greek Odyssey

Personally, I am more of a hands-on learner so reading from the book

and the knowledge that I was able to learn from the book was completely

different. It is different in the sense that I personally knew that I was

traveling to Greece, however I did not know the knowledge that I was coming

in contact with I would actually be experiencing making it that much more

memorable because I was able to be present. I was able to actually see what

I was talking about at the different sites we went to. I was able to visually see

the differences because we were able to visit the sites and Rula explained

everything to us in depth, rather than reading the details out of our textbook,

we were able to experience them.

To compare the difference between the book and the presentations I

would say I was able to learn and retain nearly half of the information I read

in the book that I saw, experienced, and presented in Greece. I feel I was

able to do this because I was able to experience and see everything in

Greece rather than just trying to picture what it would be like. There is also

only so much a picture can show you, however seeing it in person is ideal.

So, I would say that in order to learn or retain knowledge about a place or a

site, I would recommend going directly to the source. I would say that the
majority of the students who are able to study abroad would say that

experimental learning is more influential as well as easier to retain than

book learning because one is able to experience all of the things that they

read about. However, in a perfect world I would say that by combining the

two that is how students would learn best. By researching and learning from

the book and then being able to experience it followed by going back to the

book to go over things that one could have possibly missed. That was the

case for me because once going to Greece and looking back on the

presentations that I created I made some errors looking back. For example,

something I would change about the time period presentation, is that the

Romans took over the Greeks however they did not have a deep hate for

them as one may assume. One thing that I would like to change about the

site presentation is the primary source that uses the ancient voice. Instead of

using Athenas story I would tell the story of the olive tree and use it as a

primary source. The olive tree was sprouted there and represented one of

the columns, as many know Greeces main export is also olive oil which they

were able to receive from the tree. Also, the tree was in the middle of the

city, which represents a community. One thing I would change about our

technology presentation, which was large stone statues is that the ones that

we saw in the museums were preserved by piecing the remains together

using metal rods.

Learning about the Greek culture allowed me to not only expand my

knowledge on the subject but as well as my cultural background with Greece,

itself. One must not only look at the difference between the book and

experiential learning but, one is not able to teach the experience of learning

a completely different culture and I believe that is truly amazing. Roula or

Professor Smith could not explain to us what night life is like or what culture

we would experience. We just had to learn the culture on our own, which I

feel is the best way to actually experience something is to fully delve

yourself into it. That is exactly what were able to do in Greece, however to

reflect on the Greeks' own experience of their history and culture through the

time periods; In order to reflect of the Greeks own experience of their history

and culture over the time periods you must first address what the time

periods were. In order the time periods are: Neolithic ages, Minonan bronze,

Mycenaean Bronze Age, Dark Age/ Geometric period/ Orientalizing period,

Archaic age, Early classical age, Late classical age, Hellenistic age, Roman

Empire, Byzantine Empire, and Ottoman Empire. Changes that were made

over these time periods seems minimal to us because of our lack of

knowledge on each topic, however for someone who lives in Greece notices

even the little things because they live it and are able to experience the

changes in the time periods every single day. Some of the changes

throughout the time periods can be depicted in the changes of pottery, how

it changed from red to black. Another way that changes were depicted from

time period to time period was the advancements in technology as well as

medicine. Going off of that, there were large advancements in architecture in

that time period as well.

 Going off of that, to reflect on how we, in the Western Hemisphere,

have drawn on history and culture of the Greeks to help shape our own

culture and society such as architecture. An example of this is how homes

are built. With two to three stories and similar to how houses are actually set

up today. Another example is the way that stadiums are built with room in

between where their feet are and the next persons back, to allow space to

not hit the person in front of you but as well as walking room. To go along

with this, a lot of theaters that are in Greece are similar to theaters that we

have now. Such as the acoustics that are replicated in theaters now a days

and the way that they are shaped in order to allow sound to carry. Another

influence that the Greeks had on our history and culture are poems. A lot of

our influence on our literature and well as our language derived from the

Greeks. The majority of the English language actually derives from Greece.

With this being said, there is much more than just the short list that I have

compiled here. Greeks have had a large influence on kitchen utensils we

even use today, such as cups and pots. They used to make these out of

pottery, nowadays we use a similar method; however ours is more advanced.

They had a large impact on the arts as well, for example the mosaics we saw

in the museums could be directly correlated to pictures we see now that

people have in their homes. These are just early versions of what we have

now.

To reflect, I have grown in every aspect by studying abroad. The

experience itself is life changing and I cannot even describe or put into words
how much this opportunity meant for me. The trip was not cheap, however I

do believe that it is affordable as well as extremely worth it. One can only

say so much about an experience or a place, however one must actually

experience it in order to really appreciate a place and the culture that is

present in each individual place. I have never been able to experience

something like this in my entire life. Coming from small-town Peosta, Iowa

and attending the small liberal arts college in the Midwest, Loras College, I

have lived in a little bubble my entire life. However, by taking full advantage

of the opportunity to study abroad I was able to see a small portion of what it

is like to live in a different culture. One is only able to learn so much material

by reading books, in order to gather knowledge from all outlets one must

experience it. The only way that I would be able to explain my trip would be

life changing. I have only studied other cultures however I never thought I

would be lucky enough to experience another culture in my life. However, I

was and it changed my life for the better. I did not think I was ignorant to

other cultures and people of different heritage but I really am. I was able to

find this out while walking the streets of Greece and I wanted to ask a

woman where she got here gyro and I started trying to speak to her and she

gave me a strange look. I have never felt so ignorant in my life, it made me

upset at myself to an extent. I wanted to come explore this beautiful country

and I ended up looking like an ignorant American. The rest of my experiences

in Greece however truly changed my life and I would go back tomorrow if I

could.
 In closing, I believe that if one wishes to learn more about a place or a

time period is to go directly to the source and experience it. I believe that I

learned more in the two weeks that I spent in Greece than I would have

learned spending an entire semester studying Greece. I had the most

amazing experiences with the most amazing people. I have never been so

grateful or felt so blessed in my entire life.