Damil_CP_IE_#2
1/23/2015- 12:55 pm.
1/23/2015- 12:55 pm.
CIES Student Lounge
Intercultural Exchange
Today was my second cultural exchange class at CIES. At the beginning of class Ramin handed out a worksheet titled "The 'Cultural' Iceberg" to everyone participating. The worksheet contained two activities that related the visible and invisible characteristics of global cultures to an iceberg. It also contained various characteristics that we had to categorize as visible (to the 5 senses) or invisible aspects of a culture that we had to discuss with partners.
I was paired up with two awesome students from CIES: Hammed from Kuwait and Kim from South Korea. We went over the list of cultural aspects together which I feel that helped us break thru the shyness to speak openly. We stopped on every aspect, sometimes for me to explain what was meant by expressions like "work ethic," yet most of the time we ended up talking extensively about the differences between out countries. For example, I learned from Kim that in South Korea it is a virtue to work long work shifts late into the night. He described to us how competitive the job market was in Korea and the totalitarian work hierarchy that prevails in most Korean companies. When Kim finished talking, both Hammed and I both chuckled when we discussed the casual work ethic in our home countries.
Hammed said that in Kuwait, most people work at most twenty hours before they start to complain about how hard their job is. While in part it is due to the heat of the desert lands of Kuwait, the truth is that many Kuwaitis have grown accustomed to a comfortable life of wealth. I described how in Puerto Rico many of the locals don't like to work because most of the few jobs available are low paying and lousy. Many people work the minimum hours of work they to then enjoy a slow island life style on the beach or a party life in the cities.
We shared a lot more about our cultural differences and similarities, our discussion was to vast to share entirely, Yet I feel that this activity really helped us create an interest in each others culture. Why, even Hammed and I even stayed after class talking about why Americans nod their head at strangers when they pass by them on the street. I am looking foreword to the next cultural exchange class.
Today was my second cultural exchange class at CIES. At the beginning of class Ramin handed out a worksheet titled "The 'Cultural' Iceberg" to everyone participating. The worksheet contained two activities that related the visible and invisible characteristics of global cultures to an iceberg. It also contained various characteristics that we had to categorize as visible (to the 5 senses) or invisible aspects of a culture that we had to discuss with partners.
I was paired up with two awesome students from CIES: Hammed from Kuwait and Kim from South Korea. We went over the list of cultural aspects together which I feel that helped us break thru the shyness to speak openly. We stopped on every aspect, sometimes for me to explain what was meant by expressions like "work ethic," yet most of the time we ended up talking extensively about the differences between out countries. For example, I learned from Kim that in South Korea it is a virtue to work long work shifts late into the night. He described to us how competitive the job market was in Korea and the totalitarian work hierarchy that prevails in most Korean companies. When Kim finished talking, both Hammed and I both chuckled when we discussed the casual work ethic in our home countries.
Hammed said that in Kuwait, most people work at most twenty hours before they start to complain about how hard their job is. While in part it is due to the heat of the desert lands of Kuwait, the truth is that many Kuwaitis have grown accustomed to a comfortable life of wealth. I described how in Puerto Rico many of the locals don't like to work because most of the few jobs available are low paying and lousy. Many people work the minimum hours of work they to then enjoy a slow island life style on the beach or a party life in the cities.
We shared a lot more about our cultural differences and similarities, our discussion was to vast to share entirely, Yet I feel that this activity really helped us create an interest in each others culture. Why, even Hammed and I even stayed after class talking about why Americans nod their head at strangers when they pass by them on the street. I am looking foreword to the next cultural exchange class.
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