I found this chapter really interesting for
me especially because I’m an international student. Coming here, it was very
hard for me to initiate a conversation between those who came from different
place. Not only those from different countries from me but also those who were
from different cities. I come from Jakarta, which is the capital of Indonesia.
I came to Seattle before I came here and I met a lot of people who also came
from Indonesia but from different cities there. Adapting to other people’s
dialogue ethic is definitely not easy. I learned that there are certain words
that are used in Indonesia between friends that are not acceptable to use to
people from other cities like Malang or Bandung for example.
I learn that people need to be respectful
towards the differences of communicating. Dialogue ethics formed in one’s understanding
of communicating. Even those who live in the same neighborhood could have
different dialogue ethics. From the reading, I learn that we must first take a
step back to see how our surroundings communicate, what is accepted and what is
not in order for us to be successful in engaging in a communication between the
community. Back in Indonesia, we don’t really look people in their eyes when
they are talking especially to elderly because it somewhat say that you are
challenging them. However, I have learned that here, in the US, we must look
into the person’s eyes when we are talking to them to show that we can be
trusted and that we respect them.
Being as an international student, I totally agree with your point. Differences can be the foundation of dialogue, being respectful opens the door to dialogue, attitude to learning keeps the dialogue continuing. For me, the most important parts are being respectful and learning listening to my communicators. Differences bring not only diversity and variety, but also many interesting conversations and findings. As course reading describes,"Difference opens the door to learning. Dialogue opens the door to other persons and ideas"( P 81).
ReplyDeleteOne impressive case for me is. we always have discussion about the Chinese Internet, about its severe censorship and building a great Firewall to the world. However, from my personal experience, I can totally understand why Chinese government closes the door, and as new generation in China, I prefer to say, we have somehow freedom and we have some knowledge about the outside world. Maybe Chinese and the outside world need more active dialogue to know each other better rather than simply making unrealistic assumptions about each other. Being open to differences and respectfully learning each can make almost everything more understandable and peaceful.