Visit Your ‘sister City’ for Economical Traveling |
A number of cities all over the globe have adopted a sister city in another part of the world to promote greater understanding, among other things, between the two cities and their nations. The sister city ‘movement’ began at the end of World War II and was instigated by America. Participating cities aim to develop friendships and foster relationships between their chosen sister cities (some cities have more than one sister) and to encourage peace and understanding between nations. This is done in a number of ways – encouraging business and economic relationships through trade and technology, stimulate cultural and creative networks, develop partnerships between cities and countries and to provide the opportunity for sister city citizens to experience other cultures through travel. Traveling to your sister city may be something you wish to do and it can be done at relatively low cost if you are able to become part of an exchange program. Cultural exchanges between sister cities are generally paid for by your home town. Some cities select students to travel to their sister city for a period of time, (it could be weeks or months) and pay all expenses. If you are a student, investigate what opportunities are available for this type of travel. Traveling to a sister city is not only for students. Other residents may participate in the program as well. You may be selected as an ambassador of your town to travel to the sister city and take part in projects fostered by the sister cities. You will then likely to be asked to host visitors from the sister city when they travel to your country. If you are able to get on one of these exchange programs you can expect accommodation and food to be taken care of (you will probably be living with a sister city family) but you may have to get involved in fundraising for your trip. |