Damil_CP_IE_#1
1/16/2015- 12:55 pm.
1/16/2015- 12:55 pm.
CIES Student Lounge
Intercultural Exchange
Today was my first day in Ramin Yazdanpanah's Intercultural Exchange class. Ramin started class by introducing us, the TEFL students, to the CIES students as group. Our job as TEFL students was to pair up with CIES student teams and answer their questions about American Culture and norms. I have to admit, by the look in everyone's eyes, both groups seemed a bit shy at first. I took the initiate to approach two young female students. I don't recall their names unfortunately, but I do remember that one of them was from Saudi Arabia and the other was from Venezuela. After brief introductions, they asked me several questions about America and my personal views on adoption. It was interesting to learn each other's perspective on the matter, since apparently adoption is rarely practiced in either of their home countries.
Afterwards, I sat down with David, a student from our class, and we're interviewed by a male and female student from Saudi Arabia. Both of them were very kind and inquisitive about American perspectives about Arab culture. David and I both agreed that it is very hard to define what a definite American point of view on any topic since most "Americans" are descendants of immigrants from other nations. As result, what David and I thought about Arabic culture was entirely our opinion and not to be taken as that of the whole nation. Both students were pleased to hear about our great experiences with Arabic friends of ours and that we hardboard no prejudice towards them.
In my final interview, I had the pleasure of talking to a friendly female student from China. Her questions were rather interesting and personal. One question was "where are you from?" I answered that I was from Puerto Rico. She looked at me perplexed and asked me where was it located. I answered her that Puerto Rico is a small island in the Carribean. She stayed quite for a few seconds before she asked me "what is an island?" I then defined what island was and then asked her if she had ever been to one. At first she replied no. Eventually she told me that now realized she had indeed been on an island before, St. George Island, but it was too cold and boring to remember. Needless to say, we had a few laughs after that.
I am looking forward to Ramins next class.
Damil
Afterwards, I sat down with David, a student from our class, and we're interviewed by a male and female student from Saudi Arabia. Both of them were very kind and inquisitive about American perspectives about Arab culture. David and I both agreed that it is very hard to define what a definite American point of view on any topic since most "Americans" are descendants of immigrants from other nations. As result, what David and I thought about Arabic culture was entirely our opinion and not to be taken as that of the whole nation. Both students were pleased to hear about our great experiences with Arabic friends of ours and that we hardboard no prejudice towards them.
In my final interview, I had the pleasure of talking to a friendly female student from China. Her questions were rather interesting and personal. One question was "where are you from?" I answered that I was from Puerto Rico. She looked at me perplexed and asked me where was it located. I answered her that Puerto Rico is a small island in the Carribean. She stayed quite for a few seconds before she asked me "what is an island?" I then defined what island was and then asked her if she had ever been to one. At first she replied no. Eventually she told me that now realized she had indeed been on an island before, St. George Island, but it was too cold and boring to remember. Needless to say, we had a few laughs after that.
I am looking forward to Ramins next class.
Damil
Looks like you had some great cultural and linguistic exchange, Damil. This is great! Make sure to get some information about the CIES students' culture and perspectives as well. This exchange is as much for you to learn from as it is for the CIES students.
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