Our Adventure is Over

As far as I know, everyone got home safe and sound on Friday, although most of us experienced a fog delay leaving Delhi which caused us to miss our connection in Amsterdam. Luck was on our side though, and the very next flight to Minneapolis was only 5 hours later and was quite open. Our sleep schedules and digestion are settling back into our Wisconsin routines.

When this program was getting started a few years ago, I heard comments that a program this short would be nothing but tourism. I disagreed at that time, and having completed this trip, I disagree even more strongly. We certainly did "touristy" things; we saw many forts, palaces, and of course the Taj Mahal, we enjoyed the markets where we bought cheap scarves, skirts, and fake RayBans, and we sampled many restaurants and shows. We also learned in the academic sense; we heard lectures on international aspects of professional selling, cooperatives, economics, technology and many others, and the students completed a significant research project on international organizations.

I think many of the things we learned were more important than that however, and can't be learned without being there. For instance, it is commonly accepted that meetings won't happen on time, but many of the young people are trying hard to combat that because they realize that it makes their culture appear less professional to others. We learned that we really aren't so different from each other even though we are half a world away. We experienced many examples of infrastructure, and while some worked well (the metro system) and some didn't (water purity and availability, and traffic control), we were able to see first hand how a nation struggles with these issues to become a global force. We saw unimaginable poverty, incredible filth, and serious environmental damage, and we were amazed that huge expensive monuments are being built to honor current politicians rather than addressing the peoples' most basic needs. These experiences will stay with our students, and as they go forward into their respective career fields, they will see the world in a slightly different light.