The author attended a Greek church service to experience a different culture. She felt nervous and uncomfortable throughout the service as she did not understand the language or customs. She felt self-conscious and out of place. By focusing on fitting in and what to do, she did not pay attention to the actual service. Though she felt relief at the end that no one judged her, the experience highlighted the importance of making all students feel comfortable in the classroom.

1. Lynn Beaumont
February 3, 2012
Cultural Visitation Reflection Paper
For my cultural visitation field experience, I attended a Greek church service at St.
Demetrius in Upper Darby, PA on Sunday January 22, 2012. This was an eye-opening
experience that really made me think about some of my own students. During the sixty minutes
I was there, I felt so many different emotions and can’t imagine what it must be for a student
experiencing something like this for an entire school day. Taking someone out of their comfort
zone and placing them in an unfamiliar environment can really have an effect on a person.
Before even attending the service, I was already feeling nervous over minor details, such
as what time should I arrive or what should I wear. I found myself trying to gain any
information I could prior to attending the service. Arriving at the church was the most
uncomfortable part of the experience for me. As soon as I walked into this unfamiliar setting, I
wasn’t sure what to do, where to sit, or how to act. I quickly walked to the back of the church
and sat at one of the pews located in a back corner. As I was making my way to this seat, I felt
very self-conscious that people were looking at me and I had an overwhelming feeling of not
belonging, even though it was all in my head because no one said anything to me or looked at me
strangely. Looking very Irish, I felt very out of place. I did not look like most of the people
there and that also made me self-conscious.
Once I was able to settle into my seat, I then was able to take in my surroundings. From
upon entering, there were three men on the altar singing/chanting songs in Greek. I was unable
to understand anything. Throughout the songs, the congregation did several gestural actions
(mostly making the sign of the cross three times). I once again felt out of place when I didn’t

2. know what to do. This feeling continued throughout the whole service when people would
stand, give verbal responses, or bow their head. I had to rely on looking at others so that I could
try to fit in with the group. I did not want others to think I was being disrespectful by not doing
or saying the right things throughout the service.
I noticed that I spent most of my time there focusing on how to either fit-in or on what I
should be doing instead of paying attention to the actual church service. Being that it was in a
foreign language made it nearly impossible to understand what was being said. I would try to
make sense of what was going on by looking at pictures in the program or trying to follow along
with the priests actions. However, it was unsuccessful because I was only able to interpret the
few things that were similar to my own religion. I quickly lost interest in trying to comprehend
things and would even say I was bored.
Although I couldn’t wait to leave, I did feel a sense of calming towards the end of the
hour when I had realized that people were not judging me. I did not have any interactions with
the people there. However, once I was calmer and feeling a little more comfortable, I was able
to notice that the people there seemed very nice. They were all there as a community and you
got a sense they were friendly and warm.
Nervous, uncomfortable, self-conscious, and bored are the adjectives I used above to
describe myself during this experience. These are the same adjectives that I would never want
my students to use for themselves in school. This assignment has made me realize I need to do
everything I can to make all my students feel comfortable in my class and create a sense of
community among us all. This is obviously especially true for students who do not speak
English and students with different cultural backgrounds or students with special needs. I don’t

3. necessarily have all the answers on how to do this, but hope to have many more strategies after
this class so that my students don’t have to feel scared or nervous. It’s my job as a teacher to
make them all feel welcome and to keep them interested and focused.