In reading about intercultural
communication ethics, I really began to think about the different cultures I
have interacted with in my time in college. My hometown is a very white and
very racist. A lot of the people in my hometown thought that diversity meant
having a black person as their cashier at Walmart. No joke, it was ridiculous.
I always thought that I was open to other cultures because I hated the way my
town thought of people that weren’t exactly like them. However, I really
experienced a true culture shock when I got to college. I was now exposed to
being around people from different ethnicities, continents, and more
importantly, cultures.
In my
first semester of college I had to be in a group project. There were three of
us total. Two of us were from Minnesota, and the other student was from China.
This student really opened my eyes to just how different every person’s
cultural lens is. The way she went about communicating was much quieter than I
was used to. I was used to people panicking in group projects and snapping at
each other, but she was much more patient. She taught me so many things about
where she was from, and how she went about different situations in her life.
The book makes a very good point in saying, “…too much routine will move us to
rejection of all that is unfamiliar (164.)” This was so true for me. I came
from a small town that paid no attention to any person that was from a
different culture because this was so rare. I realized that I, too, was in this
rut, and it took moving to a bigger city for me to realize just how sheltered I
was to other cultures.
Since I
have been in college I have discovered that I have used what the textbook calls
“model for dialogic ethics in interpersonal communication (169).” In order for
me to properly understand the point of view from other cultures, I have
definitely had to use listening without demand, attentiveness, and negotiation.
From first semester freshman year to now, I have learned that I have used these
steps to help me understand where other people are coming from, so that I am
not being completely ignorant to the fact that there are people in the world
that are not like me.
I like how you gave an example about diversity and it's interesting how people have different interpretations of the word. Diversity is a umbrella term and can be used for a lot of things, but some people like you stated will have only one definition for it. I experienced culture shock as well when transferring here, it was a much more diverse school then my previous institution. I like the quote you used, "too much routine will move us to rejection of all that is unfamiliar". I automatically think of my parents in this situation. They have never left their hometown or moved to a different city in their lifetime. Without experiencing the unfamiliar they get stuck in their routine and would reject the unknown. I know for a fact they don't like going to new places such as Minneapolis because its so different and i think that quote really sheds light on that.
ReplyDeleteHi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI found your post very interesting because I share the same experience coming from a small town; the only difference is that I come from a small town in a different country. What I experienced as diversity growing up was also having only one person of color; however, unlike your experience moving to college, when I moved to the United States I went from being part of the majority to being the minority and I experienced culture shock too – in a different scale.
The interesting aspect of intercultural communication is that it seems to be the same in different parts of the world. Sometimes we have to leave our surroundings to discover our own culture. As the book points out, “one notice’s one’s own culture when learning about another culture through meeting that culture, either by one’s own initiative or when a stranger comes into our midst and begins to work in a contrasting fashion, countering our cultural assumptions” (159). You met a different culture by your own initiative of going to college and having more opportunities to meet different people. American culture was also very different to me, and I learned by moving here. Our stories are aligned when we consider that a “stranger” came into our midst (the examples of people of color) and that changed our perspectives of how the world operates!
Coming to the University of Minnesota was a culture shock for me as well! Growing up Catholic, I didn't know a lot of Muslim people and I don't think I was friends with any throughout my years in school. In my first semester at the U, I joined Sigma Lambda Beta, which is the most diverse multicultural fraternity on campus. Three of the men that I ended up crossing with together are all Muslim, and it's because of these three men that I really learned to appreciate and find beautiful the culture of Islam. The way they interact and how much they value their families, how they carry themselves, was really an eye-opener to me, and was very inspiring. Growing up in a western culture I think made me very loose, in terms of comporting myself on a daily basis, and really how I approached things that needed a certain level of responsibility. After meeting these guys, I definitely changed for the better in terms of just valuing things in my daily life. I'm a much better man today after having met these men, and I know that if hadn't, I'd certainly be lost in the fray somewhere.
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