Feature Photo: drunkprincessPhoto: dhilung

Ta da! Tim and I are psyched to announce the arrival of a regular Friday column called….

“Do It Yourself Study Abroad: Learning Experiences Around the World.”

The column will feature a new learning experience each week from a different part of the globe.

We want to highlight unique, local skills. We’re not so interested in how to study Spanish in Mexico, but we’d love to know how you learned to crush, roll, and fold the maize to make tortillas. And we don’t really need to know which university you chose for a study abroad semester in France, but we’d be into hearing about how you learned to play boules in Marseilles.

We’re interested in the skills that form the backbone of cultures, the learning experiences that’ve been passed down from generation to generation and are perhaps at risk of being lost as societies undergo rapid changes.

Tell us about the flower-arranging class you took in Japan or how you learned to conduct an Ethiopian coffee ceremony in Addis Ababa. Your experience doesn’t have to be a formal course attached to an institution, but it should be something other travelers can search out and replicate.

Remember to focus your story on the learning experience and not on explaining how to do something. Don’t tell us where to put our fingers in order to play the Chinese harp. Instead, tell us where and why you learned how to play it, and explain why other travelers should learn it, too.

Please send 300-800 word submissions in the body of an email with “Learning Experiences” in the subject line to Sarah(at)matadornetwork.com or Tim(at)matadornetwork.com. Don’t forget to include your full name, your Matador profile URL, and any photos and links related to your experience.

Show us what you’ve learned, readers! We can’t wait to kick off this new venture at Abroad.

Your editors,

Tim and Sarah