Celina_CP #2 (IE)

For my second week in the IE class, I got to work with two CIES students, Sam and Eduardo. Ramin and Josh gave everyone in the room an activity sheet which had an iceberg on it. Below the image was a list of phrases about cultural characteristics that we were supposed to identify as either visible or invisible to others.
I thought this was a really interesting and different activity and really enjoyed getting to talk about different perspectives on culture. For example, Sam is from China and he explained to Eduardo and myself that work ethic is very important in China and that was why he believed it was a very visible characteristic. We talked in depth about how values can differ between being visible and invisible depending on whether people act upon those values. For the most part, we agreed on the placement of the characteristics. Sam and Eduardo only were confused by a few of the characteristics, they did not really understand what it meant to have a "concept of fairness" or a "concept of self". It was a little difficult for me to explain these terms too! Hopefully I did not confuse them even more. I simply explained that the way you present yourself to others, and how you feel confidence wise could be considered "concept of self". To explain the concept of fairness I tried to connect it to how people view gender equality and understanding how to treat others. This seemed to make more sense to them. It was really interesting to listen to some of the other students in the rooms opinions and ideas of things like social etiquette and leadership.
Overall, this session felt really productive and I was happy to get to meet two new CIES students and learn a lot from them as well as help them understand new concepts. I look forward to next week!