BRINGING DOWN SOME STEREOTYPES

When we pack our luggage to travel to a new place we tend to think about the weather we will find in our destination to choose our clothes, we also make sure we go to the post office or bank to exchange our money to get the right currency and those who think about every single detail, will also take some medicines for those bumps along the way. However, we have nothing to prevent the pre conceived ideas that we might have about the place we are visiting and the people that live there, either because we have heard opinions from other people that have travelled before or just because we have done some research in the newspaper.

Since we landed in Tashkent, the journey has been a constant learning process. I have learnt that Uzbeks are very welcoming and they like sharing. They have a strong sense of community, but it is not a close one. After travelling for a whole day, being in three different countries, one really needs a bit of kindness and having a meal cooked for us from an Uzbek student without knowing us, that is really a treasure.

I have not seen much about the city yet, however I have learnt what their national dish is, how they celebrate a traditional Uzbek wedding and their opinion about the process of globalization. At the end of the day the goal of the trip is the linkage between UK and Uzbek students, and being able to share personal opinions regarding topics that somehow affect us all, such as migration, economic development and culture exchange. The first debate we had was a good starting point to discover a different point of view to the ongoing process of globalization, as no one better than Uzbek students who have previously read about the topic could have gave us a better insight in to their views. It is the perfect chance to challenge ourselves and our ideas about international relations, sharing our views and opinions and being able to contrast it with the students of the Westminster International University of Tashkent. The reason for visiting a new country is definitely about discovering different ways of architecture and taking digital memories of beautiful landscapes, but it should also be about discovering the local culture and interacting with its citizens.