Culture Shock

Annual New Year shock therapy. By people, for people. It was 12:30 AM in a central supermarket. @culture_shooock

The smartest New Year gift I got and the French story behind it Some of you are probably aware of how much I am into languages and cultural exploration. Even fewer might know how much my obsession with Duolingo has been supporting me along that journey. You can only imagine my happiness when I found out I’d have a year-long access to Duolingo Super plan. It’s a gift from my fellow Duolingo enthusiast. Both of us are learning French there btw. Yet, as much as I love Super Duolingo, I’m guessing I was more excited about the encouragement (I hate the word “inspiration”) I managed to share with someone to learn a new language. *This is your sign to download Duolingo now and start learning there a new language for free. If that was not encouraging enough, keep reading.* Me personal story with French language in particular comes from my grandpa. He used to teach STEM-subjects in French in foreign countries for 10 years. That’s where the idea of encouraging me to learn French came from. I got quickly absorbed by it: participated in French competitions and events in Uzbekistan, took a language exam. Later, at UWCD, I joined the French club. I came there already knowing who are Vidéoclub and Zaz. Nevertheless, my experience there was still quite comprehensive as I got to know non-Parisian *ahem-ahem* francophone people. No, I will not elaborate on my emphasis on “non-Parisian.” Anyway, these wonderful people taught me the differences of French in Québec, France and Belgium. On top of that, I can proudly affirm that I cooked (or attempted to do so) French crêpes🥞 Did I get the tremendous difference between crêpes and blinchiki? No. I could only notice 5-6 œufs🥚 (instead of 1-2) being spent on crêpes (tho no difference in taste imo) and a very uncomfortable pronunciation of the French “r.” Please why chocking to pronounce a word that you implies a meaning of the blessed nourriture🥞 Though my interest was not sufficed with the exploration of linguistic and culinary intricacies. I leveraged from expanding my playlists on Spotify, YouTube and movie list. “Cultural immersion at its finest,” they say. We also silently agreed that Emily in Paris is of no accurate representation of the French people. Though this post might appear to be quite trivial considering its descriptive nature, I was more hoping to lay the ground for further reflections to build up on it here. As of now, this is your sign to download Duolingo and set a language goal on your 2024 to-do list🇫🇷🥖👨‍🎨🎨🖌️✨ @culture_shoock

The smartest New Year gift I got and the French story behind it Some of you are probably aware of how much I am into languages and cultural exploration. Even fewer might know how much my obsession with Duolingo has been supporting me along that journey. You can only imagine my happiness when I found out I’d have a year-long access to Duolingo Super plan. It’s a gift from my fellow Duolingo enthusiast. Both of us are learning French there btw. Yet, as much as I love Super Duolingo, I’m guessing I was more excited about the encouragement (I hate the word “inspiration”) I managed to share with someone to learn a new language. *This is your sign to download Duolingo now and start learning there a new language for free. If that was not encouraging enough, keep reading.* Me personal story with French language in particular comes from my grandpa. He used to teach STEM-subjects in French in foreign countries for 10 years. That’s where the idea of encouraging me to learn French came from. I got quickly absorbed by it: participated in French competitions and events in Uzbekistan, took a language exam. Later, at UWCD, I joined the French club. I came there already knowing who are Vidéoclub and Zaz. Nevertheless, my experience there was still quite comprehensive as I got to know non-Parisian *ahem-ahem* francophone people. No, I will not elaborate on my emphasis on “non-Parisian.” Anyway, these wonderful people taught me the differences of French in Québec, France and Belgium. On top of that, I can proudly affirm that I cooked (or attempted to do so) French crêpes🥞 Did I get the tremendous difference between crêpes and blinchiki? No. I could only notice 5-6 œufs🥚 (instead of 1-2) being spent on crêpes (tho no difference in taste imo) and a very uncomfortable pronunciation of the French “r.” Please why chocking to pronounce a word that you implies a meaning of the blessed nourriture🥞 Though my interest was not sufficed with the exploration of linguistic and culinary intricacies. I leveraged from expanding my playlists on Spotify, YouTube and movie list. “Cultural immersion at its finest,” they say. We also silently agreed that Emily in Paris is of no accurate representation of the French people. Though this post might appear to be quite trivial considering its descriptive nature, I was more hoping to lay the ground for further reflections to build up on it here. As of now, this is your sign to download Duolingo and set a language goal on your 2024 to-do list🇫🇷🥖👨‍🎨🎨🖌️✨ @culture_shoock

We don’t need a #tbt to make a throwback. Here are the promised pictures of snowy Dili :) Honestly, now that I’ve looked through two Dilijani winters on my phone gallery, I’m guessing that the first one was quite brutal in comparison to the second one. You can see that the top layers of snow were literally cracking. Dilijan showed me the actual power of Mother Nature during winter💆🏻‍♀️❄️ Some of the pictures are from campus, others are from hiking trips. The hiking trip picture is second from the last. Try to find me (or my red backpack sliding down the hill with me coz why would I put myself into such a danger of walking🙄🤚 On top of that, sliding is obviously much more fun. Even if hands get totally frozen after being in contact with snow for so long.) Frankly though, Armenia was the first place where I went hiking and I love love love it so much!! (both Armenian and hiking) I understand it might sound cliché, but I felt so small among all those grand mighty mountains. Thus, climbing up a steep hill or a mountain, my entire life was flashing before my eyes. With every other step up I would reconsider my entire perspective on life. ✨Oxygenation✨ at its finest. Getting back to the pictures, the last one was made at 7:42 am in the morning. My beloved morning walk on the mountainside path from the residences to the academic building. You can tell from steps on the snow few people would wake up for breakfast haha. I was just taking advantage of being able to enjoy the serenity of the place and it’s views at that time. ☃️ if you think winter in Dilijan is the mightiest ❄️ + your pic in the comments & location if you’ve witnessed a more brutal winter 🎄+ your pic & location if no need for snow, winter is a slay anyway @culture_shooock

Let’s get 20 reactions on this post and I’ll share pictures from winter at UWC in the mountains of Dilijan🇦🇲 Here’s the first one ☃️❄️ @culture_shooock

In cold, it’s so hard being a person wearing glasses. Never have I ever expected -15 C in Tashkent. The roads are unevenly covered with thick ice making them unbearable for walking. My glasses are constantly fogging up in cold. Making it through the icy road without seeing and slipping on it is literally becoming a game for survival. ❤️ if you’re in the bespectacled people wearing glasses gang ☃️ if winter colds are nothing to you coz you’re a slay (dw, if you’re following this blog, you’re a ultimate slay anyway <33) @culture_shooock

It is crazy how American meritocracy seems to affect even wealthy people in the U.S. In fact, is it internal necessity for social and/or self-validation that nurtures constant competition and a vicious cycle of meritocracy or vice versa? I admit I might be missing something here. And again, I find myself asking more questions than I could find answers to. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. Excerpt above is taken from a randomly found article on Yale Daily News “Insight: What Rory Gilmore teaches us about Yale” by Serena Lin. @culture_shooock