A: Did you like The Band’s Visit? Did it capture themes or skills we work on in GS? What do you think about Middle Eastern music being played for American audiences? Other thoughts?
The Band’s Visit is the first musical I have ever watched, and it is also the first Broadway show I ever watched. Because I have never watched other musical before, I can’t compare it and make a distinction. However, this musical definitely captures my full attention for the one and a half hour. The whole play talks about an Egypt band accidentally comes to Israel and spends a night with an Israeli family. The whole play involves love, family relationship and hopes for the future, and the base of the play highly connect with the GS program, which is the mixing of culture. The play portrayed the story happened between two very different culture, where they can embrace and pass love, and friendship with one another. This perspective of the play reflects a great modern issue, which is the separation of cultures. In the modern world, some people don’t respect or embrace other culture, and this can cause serious conflicts between nation. What this musical tries to show is that people from different cultures can, and should embrace each other, instead of pushing people aside.
In my opinion, the Middle Eastern music that is played for the American audience has a very good effect. Setting in a Middle East country, the music can give the audience a stronger sense of immersion, and the audiences are also able to feel the beauty of the two countries as they relate to the music. All in all, I think this musical is very innovating and interesting to watch.
B: What are your thoughts on our UN visit and briefing with Juliette Lehner?
I think it was a fascinating experience to actually goes into the United Nation and even one of the conference room. The first part, which is the general touring of the UN, was fun. I got to learn a lot of new information that I didn’t know about the United Nation, for example, the different section of the UN, what is the US for, and etc. The tour guide also asked a lot of questions so all of us could stay in touch with him, which is also nice.
After that, from the briefing with Juliette Lehner about the Genocide Prevention, I learn about the UN in a more microscopic view. I learn what people do for the United Nation and how they take care of and be responsible for the area they in charge. The two speakers have a great focus on the topic, and I think their explanation is very detailed. By the end of the briefing, they talk about the internship of the United Nation. I found this really exciting because I never know people like me can have the chance to go to the United Nation. The last part is very relatable to students like us, and it really tempted my interests.
C: Using the Watkinson effort scale of 1-5, give yourself an effort grade for the day and explain your reasoning.
I would give myself an effort grade of three. During the whole trip I wasn’t participating too much, but at the same time, I wasn’t absorbing information in a passive way. I tried to be an active thinker during all three parts of the day. However, I think I can participate more during each section so I can have an even better way of absorbing knowledge.
D: Overall, looking back on the day did you experience any personal growth or learning in terms of the Global Studies Skills
Throughout this experience, I think I have a lot of personal growth on thinking critically, creatively and to look at things in different perspective. In the Tenement Museum, I learned about people’s lives during the 19th century. The life of the people I learned during the 90 minutes tour is really different than what I thought. When I talk about history, I mostly think about the chronological order of events, instead of actually learning and thinking about life during that time. After I went to the museum, I am able to connect the life and living environment of the people to the historical background. I realize that learning the individual life of the people is very crucial if one wants to have a complete understanding of history.
Furthermore, the United Nation tour integrated my view of the world. I realized that most of the country around the world are coming together, and working cooperatively to make each other better. Every country becomes is inseparable from other countries. Not only the import and the outport of produce, the political and the situation of countries also involved the decision from others. Now when talking about countries, I wouldn’t think about them separately anymore, I would think about the world as a whole unit, and sections influence each other. This is really helpful for me because when I want to learn deeper about world economies, linking countries together is very crucial.
The show is my favorite part of the day because I experienced something completely new. The plots of the musical gave me a familiar feeling of the time when I just got to the US. Although the show is interesting, I feel like the most I learned from it was the art form itself. It enriched my experience and understanding of art. All in all, I think this New York Trip really open up my sights of the world, and I think I had learned a lot from it.
