Taller than any other country in the world on average, the Kingdom of the Netherlands is the country with the world’s oldest national anthem. It is noticeable that the Dutch are very smart and innovative people as they are credited for creating many influential inventions such as the submarine, the telescope, bluetooth and chocolate sprinkles! I recently had the privilege to travel to the Netherlands, specifically Amsterdam and The Hague. It was absolutely gorgeous and I had to keep reminding myself that I am below sea level which is mind boggling. In this interview, I got to speak with my friend Floor who I was especially excited to hear her perspective coming from a very small city since when most people think of the Netherlands, Amsterdam is the first city people think of. After thinking about her international friends and observations while traveling, Floor notices that a huge difference between European children and children in the United States, is the independence and responsibility that kids have in their respective societies.

Having grown up in San Diego, a city with around 1.4 million people, I was shocked when I discovered that the Republic of Montenegro had less than half of San Diego’s population. I was fascinated to learn that I myself am older than this country. After the fall of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992, two member states, the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro maintained their political status as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which later transformed into the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003. Then, the Republic of Montenegro gained independence and seceded from their political union on June 3rd, 2006 which makes me older than Montenegro by 1 year, 2 months and 28 days to be exact. Considering the small population, I was excited to meet my new friend from Montenegro, Dunja. My friend Dunja continuously described how Montenegro is geographically blessed with an incredible coastline and majestic mountains that would be covered in snow during the winter season. She even explained how in some parts of the country, one can find themself surrounded by mountains while swimming in the ocean! However, despite having incredible nature and delicious food, Dunja is worried about how many young people do not foresee a future in Montenegro which is resulting in hundreds of Montenegrin citizens wanting to move abroad.

Geographically the largest landlocked country in the world, the Republic of Kazakhstan was the last country to sucede from the Soviet Union in 1991 by 4 days. Legend has it that Kazakhstan is the birthplace of apples, specifically from the largest city, Almaty which when translated into English, means city of apple trees. As someone who has always been fascinated by the Central Asian region, I was very excited to speak with Dameli about her country of Kazakhstan. She informed me about some incredible places to visit while in her country such as Kaindy Lake where trees can grow underwater! We also did touch upon conflict that is occurring in Kazakhstan. Specifically, the events that took place in January 2022, known as Bloody January. There were protests and riots in regards to gas prices and human rights violations and many casualties. Dameli later describes cooking to represent a love language in Kazakhstan as the people are very welcoming and hospitable. They put a lot of effort by making homemade dishes from scratch packed with flavor.

Originally spelled as two words, Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is the 2nd largest exporter of coffee in the world. Vietnam is home to the Vietnamese language with contains the highest amount of accent marks than any other written language. The Vietnamese language is also very unique from other languages around Southeast Asia as their languages have received a lot of influence from French due to the french colonization. Learning from my friend Viet about Vietnam was so interesting, he has a unique global perspective as he has lived in and out of Vietnam his whole life. He brought up facts about the country's economic growth after the conflicts of war, and we discussed their national motto which translates to “Independence, Peace and Happiness”. He pointed out that this is the most peaceful time in Vietnam history and they have not engaged in war in the last 40 years. He shared his perspective that people should look at conflict as temporary in order to find resolutions and move forward towards peace. We spoke about one of my brothers favorite dishes Phở, which is very common to eat in the morning. A delicious broth with noodles and a choice of meat. I found it really interesting that Viet brought up the conflict within the cultural identity of whether they wanted to allow themselves to become more westernized as the country continues to develop.

Home to the highest capital city in the world, La Paz standing at over 11,000 feet above sea level, the Plurinational State of Bolivia is a country that can trace its history to over 5,000 years ago back to the Tiwanaku Empire. Bolivia is an ethnically diverse country as they have the largest proportion of indigenous people in all of America with 48% of the Bolivian population identifying as Indigenous in 2020. The largest indigenous communities in Bolivia are the Quechua, Aymara, Chiquitano and Guaraní people. My friend Christian and I spoke a lot about the political situation in Bolivia with the multiple political parties that exist. He adds perspective from more than one place in Bolivia as his parents comes from two different cities, La Paz and Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Christian was very enthusiastic and excited while describing some of his favorite Bolivian dishes and how in Bolivia, one can find corn that is naturally colored purple. We also spoke about how some dishes in Bolivia are supposed to be eaten at specific times during the day and on different occasions such as Christmas. Something that really stood out in this interview was Christian’s opinions on confronting conflict with a peaceful mentality. He believes that in order for youth to be able to help spread awareness and advocate for peace in not just his country but worldwide, youth must make their voices heard in a peaceful manner while being willing to compromise allowing for peace to exist.

A group of islands off the northwest coast of Europe, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The British influence can be seen worldwide, and tea is among the most common drinks. London is home to more than 8 million citizens and it is estimated that more than 300 languages are spoken in the city.

I met Connie while attending a film/cinematography class in Paris, France. We met so many amazing people over the summer while in the class. Connie feels that because of the internet and our global awareness there are less differences between young people of the world and we all have similar ideas and goals.

Connie shared the disparity that is visible between classes in England as well as the London centric mentality that the rest of the world has. She thinks that the UK has plain food, yet we spoke about amazing dishes such as chicken tikka, fish and chips, cheesy chips, sticky toffee pudding and Cadbury chocolate! She ended our conversation by sharing that Yorkshire tea is the best tea you will find!

I love that she shared that the younger generations care about global issues and that people need to be kind! She feels that If something is not affecting you.. Why do you care!?

If you spelled out this country’s name in Scrabble tiles, the Republic of Mozambique would score you the highest amount of points out of any one word nation. Mozambique is a Portuguese speaking country located in East Africa with world class beaches, beautiful wildlife and incredible tasting chicken. Mozambique is investing in clean energy with large solar farms and new electric cars for the police.

This interview will be the first time I speak with two different friends from the same country. Georgia and Tiago, offer unique perspectives and entertaining conversation. They both shared that many people in Mozambique work hard to provide for their families, and taking time off to protest or demonstrate for peace and less conflict takes away from their ability to provide.

Learning about Mozambique food they shared that it is often spicy, and they explained that the chicken in Mozambique is special, well known to be prepared with love. Marinated 12-24 hours in spices and flavor for the perfect taste. We had a fun conversation regarding KFC and the idea of Chick-Fil-A arriving in Mozambique.

One of the things that stood out the most in my conversation was their awareness of the stereotypical portrayal and generalization that African countries have. Africa as a continent is so vast and each country is so different yet, we often group our thoughts and ideas based on media portrayal.

Identified as the birthplace of democracy, philosophy and the olympics, Greece, also known as the Hellenic Republic, is a country rich in history, culture, food and dances as there are over 4,000 different traditional dances. With over 6,000 different islands and 80% of the country covered in mountains, Greece contains an extremely diverse landscape attracting more tourists than there are citizens living in the country.

My friend Ariadne and I had an amazing discussion talking about her home country of Greece. Ariadne is a very driven teenager who wants to make a change in society. She briefly explained how she is trying to make a difference in the make-up industry by creating Earthlips, a woman owned company that creates high-quality sustainable, cruelty free lipstick with a vegan formula. We also discussed the social issues that are prevalent in Greece and about the power that technology has on society.

As Ariadne and I are both high school students, we even talked about how tiring a long school day can be and how comforting it is to arrive home and seeing your favorite food prepared, waiting for you at the table. Ariadne proposes that people must create more online campaigns and events in society to attract people and help them inform their friends about the causes we need to support, allowing peace to spread from person to person.