We have created this map on the course of Educational Studies II.
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
A RECORD OF MY INTERCULTURAL EXPERIENCE
A. Feelings All the people living in Denmark stay at home at weekends. When I go out at weekends, the main street is almost empty and there is silence so much. It is so too strange for me. Because all the streets are so crowded in Turkey especially in weekends. All the brands in the supermarket are in Danish. So it is difficult to understand what exactly it is. And the Danish food are very different when I compare it with the Turkish food. For this reason sometimes I feel homesick. The first week of coming to Denmark is like a mounth for me. It was a liitle bit hard to get use to live in a new place with new people and very new culture. But I think I am getting used to here day by day. Other international students help me for this. For instance: They always invite me for an activity such as playing volley, going to the beach and etc. B. Knowledge That it is aloud to wear whatever they want is the most important thing I learnt about life at school. Because all the pupils have to wear a unique uniform at the level of primary school and high school. It is a little bit different than my country. The most important things I have learnt about the country, the nation, the state where I stayed are that everything is so expensive here but the people living here do not find this so strange like me because their salaries are also so high. What I have learnt about customs and conventions of talking with people is that almost all the people living here are going home at christmas. In Turkey, we have no such kind of traditions about the christmas. But I really would like to attend a christmas activity because I wonder what it looks like. C. Actions In Turkey, the people kiss each other from both of cheeks in order to greet someone else. At the first time I came here, I tried to greet with this way but the greeting is very different than Turkey. That is, Danish people greets each other by just pressing the flesh or saying "hi". I asked all Danish people I have met "what are Danish people doing during the weeekend?". I really wonder the answer of this quesion. Because I could not see anyone on the street when I go for a walk. A SELF-ASSESSMENT OF MY INTERCULTURAL EXPERIENCE A. Interest in other people's way of life I am interested in other people's experience of daily life, particularly those things not usually presented to outsiders through the media. For example, some people make their own bread because the white bread is only cheap but it is not so healty. So, the other wholemeal breads are rather expensive. I am also interested in the daily experience of a variety of social groups within a society and not only the dominant culture. For instance, most of the students are going Bacardi Bingo at thursday's nights. It is like a rituel. B. Ability to change perspective I have realised that I can understand other cultures by seeing things from a different point of view and by looking at my culture from their perspective. For example, I can understand that they drink alcohol so much whereas I do not drink it, I can understand their cultures. C. Ability to cope with living in a different culture I am able to cope with a range of reactions such as discomfort and somesick I have to living in a different culture. For instance, I am not alone living in a different country. So there are lots of other people having some problems like me. It makes me feel more comfortable. D. Knowledge about another country and culture I know some important facts about living in the other culture and about the country, state and people. For instance, they love resting so much and in my opinion they prefer to stay at home even at weekends. Even if I find it strange, I respect their life styles. I know how to engage in conversation with people of the other culture and maintain a conversation. For example, ome can ask to somebody that how the first impression about Denmark and Danish people was. or I can engage a conversation by asking the first experinces at the Copenhagen airport, by asking whether it is difficult to come Vordingborg from Copenhagen. E. Knowledge about intercultural communication I know how to resolve misunderstandings which arise from people's lack of awareness of the view point of another culture.For instance, When my flatmate was confused because of some misunderstanding, I tried to tell her lack of awareness due to the cultureal differences. I know how to discover new information and new aspects of the other culture for myself. For instance, allmost all the people living here have a pet especially a dog. And I discover that some people have more than one pet. It attracts my attention that the people having pets are generally over the middle ages. I have created this document according to Michael Byram's Sprogforum. Here, you can find: http://inet.dpb.dpu.dk/infodok/sprogforum/Espr18/byram.html