6/4/12
5/18/12
4/18/12
3/24/12
"One person´s mugger is another person´s brother"
This article One Person's Mugger is Another Person's Brother - Forbes reminded me of one of my favorite movies: Crash. My colleague L. and I used to use this movie in our courses. We had our high-school level students to analyze the difficult situations occurring in the movie by using the theories of intercultural communication as a tool. That combined with other task / exam was a great way to assess the learning process of the students.
3/23/12
Good examples on how simple things are NOT so simple
by Jung Bong-soo, who is a labor attorney at KangNam Labor Law Firm in Seoul:
Understanding cultural difference at workplaces
Understanding cultural difference at workplaces
3/22/12
Cultural blinders
When we are not able to see or hear things due to our own cultural blinders/hinders, misunderstandings occur a lot more easier than one might think (also have a look at "critical incidents" by Lisa Salo-Lee). These situations can often lead to negative feelings such as confusion, humiliation and fear. Common behavior pattern to cope with these kinds of feelings is to react in a defensive manner, where you improve the state of mind by using negative stereotypes and blaming the other as weird, abnormal, uneducated or stupid.
When developing cultural awareness, it is crucial to be capable of sharing, in other words revealing your most embarrassing secrets that you have experienced in social encounters. That is what Lynne Diligent does in her article called "My most embarassing secret as a traveler and expat". Here she talks about how she found out an explanation for her problem, that she had been carrying for twenty years, through a television program The good wife. While Diligent talks about facial/visual recognition, I would like to use this example and broaden the view to touch the fact that we also have difficulties in recognizing verbal and non-verbal signs when communicating with each other. We recognize things that are familiar to us and things that we´ve been grown up around. If we want to build bridges, we have to stop neglecting this fact and become more open to different patterns of conception and behavior.
http://interculturalmeanderings.wordpress.com/
When developing cultural awareness, it is crucial to be capable of sharing, in other words revealing your most embarrassing secrets that you have experienced in social encounters. That is what Lynne Diligent does in her article called "My most embarassing secret as a traveler and expat". Here she talks about how she found out an explanation for her problem, that she had been carrying for twenty years, through a television program The good wife. While Diligent talks about facial/visual recognition, I would like to use this example and broaden the view to touch the fact that we also have difficulties in recognizing verbal and non-verbal signs when communicating with each other. We recognize things that are familiar to us and things that we´ve been grown up around. If we want to build bridges, we have to stop neglecting this fact and become more open to different patterns of conception and behavior.
http://interculturalmeanderings.wordpress.com/
3/20/12
"The success for global companies lies in the...."
I really enjoyed this article. The experiences described here were very similar to ones that i have learned from my background as a trainer in cultural diversity. Please have a look at the article written by Majleergard.
1/25/12
1/9/12
On my birthday.
Today was my birthday.
The most important thing I did today was to call my mom to THANK her for giving birth to me. This is a BEAUTIFUL custom in Korea, on your birthday you give your GRATITUDE for the one who brought you to LIFE by suffering - a way of EXPRESSING your great APPRECIATION. My HEART feels really BIG today, hmmm, I wonder why........................ Please DO try this at home, it really is worth it!!
The most important thing I did today was to call my mom to THANK her for giving birth to me. This is a BEAUTIFUL custom in Korea, on your birthday you give your GRATITUDE for the one who brought you to LIFE by suffering - a way of EXPRESSING your great APPRECIATION. My HEART feels really BIG today, hmmm, I wonder why........................ Please DO try this at home, it really is worth it!!
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