 Carmel Mercado |
Foreign Languages and Literatures is pleased to announce that Carmel Mercado (senior in Biology) was awarded the FLL Award for Excellence. The award includes a $1000 prize to be used for travel and cultural exchange. Carmel’s background and achievements speak to the importance of global education and foreign language teaching at MIT.
Carmel grew up in South Florida at the intersection of Filipino and American culture, what she calls “a mini-Philippines hidden within a cookie-cutter suburban community,” Her Asian appearance and Spanish sounding last name forced her to confront the question, “What are you?” In her essay, she describes her struggle to respond.
- Should I consider myself Filipino because the values instilled in me came from my conservative immigrant parents? Should I consider myself American because although I was Filipino in appearance, my mannerisms and language were reflective of my interactions in the community? How does one define culture and how does this influence my ability to communicate with others? . . . it was through language study that I developed a better understanding and appreciation for my identity as a Filipino American.
 Mahalia Miller, Carmel Mercado & Dorian Dargan |
At MIT, Carmel took courses in French, Spanish, and Japanese, and she impressed her teachers in each of these languages. To quote one referee’s letter, “Among our many wonderful and talented students, Carmel is truly outstanding. . . . Carmel is now multilingual (five languages) and she navigates between all these languages and cultures thoughtfully; she is a true cosmopolitan and model for the best of what global students can be.” She participated in the January Scholars in France program and will be spending this coming summer in Kobe, Japan on the MISTI program.
Carmel is working towards a career in medicine and has numerous travel plans, which the FLL Award for Excellence will help with. She has not yet settled on which (or how many) of her languages she will use, but here is a sampling of her ideas.
Carmel will spend the summer in Kobe, Japan on the MISTI program, and she may use some of the award to travel within Japan.
While in Asia, she hopes to visit the French Polynesian islands to come to a better understanding of the varieties of mixing between ethnic Polynesians, Europeans, and East Asians (and to use her French).
Carmel is also eager to explore northern Spain, for example to travel the route of the pilgrammages to the Santiago Compostela Cathedral in Galicia, perhaps traveling from the Basque country. The route would provide additional sustenance for her hunger for languages because, as she notes, “Along the way, I would go through at least 5 of Spain’s autonomous communities, each having a unique language, history, culture and economy.”
To read Carmel's blog, visit http://cmarketinjapan.blogspot.com/
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 Lisa Nakano |
On a trip to Hokkaido, I bought nine boxes of caramel - each a different flavor. After all, Hokkaido is known for its milk products. I was a little doubtful about the corn flavored caramel, but I thought I should at least give it a try. Over the course of three weeks, I opened one box at a time and shared each with my coworkers. As it turned out, corn caramel tasted pretty good, lavender flavor wasn't so great, and beer flavor was downright awful.
Coming to Japan has been like those boxes of caramel. I didn't enjoy every box of caramel, but after it was over, I was glad I tried them all. Every moment here is not necessarily enjoyable, but by experiencing new things I have learned more about Japan. In fact, trying things that I would normally avoid has lead me to some pleasant surprises.
One particular Saturday night, I was out in Tokyo with my friend. We weren't doing anything special, just walking around outside admiring the buildings and lights. When we stopped to check the time, it was 11:35 PM. Whoops. Our last train left at 11:30 PM.
My friend started freaking out. People stranded after the last train can usually find a manga cafe to spend the night, so we began looking for one. The streets filled with people staggering out of bars and clubs, trying to make their last train. People were drunk, doubled over and vomiting in the streets. Some were sprawled out, asleep on the sidewalks. Others were peeing in gutters. Two were being arrested. The scene made me sick.
The inside the manga cafe was a safe haven compared to ouside. It was smokey but clean - definitely clean. We got a booth equipped with internet and TV. We watched a movie, made an unsuccessfully attempt at tackling the manga shelves, and settled in until the trains started running again. One of the best parts was the free drinks. We'd like to think we drank $13 worth of coffee, tea, and juice that night.
Although the night started out unfavorably, it turned out to be a good experience. I was glad I had the opportunity to spend the night at a manga cafe, and found that manga cafes are definitely someplace I'd stay again - even without the pretense of missing the last train.
My point is that we never know if we'll like something until we try it. In fact, trying new things either accidently or purposely can have surprising rewards. Whether it's missing the last train or eating corn flavored caramel, I would not have learned as much about Japan if I had always been playing it safe.
Pictures and stories from Lisa's trip to Japan can be found on a website she has created to document her journey:
http://lisasbigadventure.shutterfly.com/Pictures from Lisa's trip can be found below (Click to view larger size):
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Pictures from Scot's trip can be found below (Click to view larger size):
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 Alice Macdonald |
Congratulations to Alice Macdonald who was the recipient of the 2006 Award for Excellence in Foreign Languages! Alice used the prize to travel to France, which she recounts below:
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When I hopped off the plane at Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Paris, I didn’t immediately notice the cultural differences between the United States and France. Sure, most people were speaking a different language but just how different the two cultures are didn’t really hit me until I returned to America three months later. My return to the United States was probably one of the only experiences of my life that could be described as surreal.
After clearing customs on my return flight in the late afternoon (or early morning in the Parisian time zone I was adjusted to), I needed a coffee. Sadly, no Parisian cafés were to be found at the Philadelphia International Airport. I settled for a coffee chain and after accidentally attempting to order in French and pay with euros, I was shocked to receive a “small” sized drink larger than any I had ever seen in France.
As I adjust back to the states, I miss kissing everyone twice on the cheeks, saying bonjour to everyone, and I even miss the fog of cigarette smoke that is almost inescapable. Another change I failed to notice while actually in France was my French language improvement. Only when I spoke French with my friends back at MIT and they commented on my improvement did I start to think about all the things I had learned.
In short, my experience in France was probably the most educational of my life, even if I didn’t notice that I was learning at the time. My trip definitely reinforced my belief that in order to learn a foreign language, or to appreciate a different culture – you have to experience it firsthand. Meeting and speaking with Parisians, although extraordinarily intimidating at first, proved to be a really great and rewarding experience.
More pictures from Alice's trip can be found below (Click to view larger size):
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