Monday, 23rd of May 2005
From virtual to real / getting to know each other (Alexandra Haas)
Each participant was invited to draw his travelling route through Europe on a map. That was a good occasion to tell all those little stories that happen at airports… Apart from that I noticed that my feeling of a northern, southern, western or eastern European is determined by the others around me.
Language and communication (Pat Shrimpton and
Dorothy Åstrom)
How did you greet the other participants when you met them for the first time? Did we shake hands, just wave, nodd with a smile, kiss, …?
In pairs we discussed how we feel about the different styles of greeting and found out that some of us really feel embarrassed. And: Are there areas where people don`t kiss to greet each other? Where`s the border of kissers and non-kissers?
Working interculturally
Assiciation-game: Write down your first association(s) when you hear the following words
(breakfast, sport, animal, Sunday) and try to find out whether yur choice was determined by cultural reasons, personal choice or a general association. (-> Geert Hofstede)
We were asked to compare our choices and discuss. Result: Our cultural values are dynamic because people (and cultures) interact more and more.
Communication and language
Lydia and Anne discussing about the
expression of pictures in cultureWe try to draw after listening to oral description – without seeing the original picture. What happens in the communication process? Were there positive language srategies (repetition, interruption, use of synonyms, circumlocution, …) at work. Haver there been obstacles to communication like too many interruptions, fear of false grammar use (…)?
When you think of Europe….
…what comes to your mind? Find 3 keywords…
Monday, afternoon session:
How far do I get in my society: discrimination and racism (Alexandra Haas)
Photo ralley through Vilnius (group 2)
Photo ralley through Vilnius (group1) The session was a pleasant change from sitting and discussing to some movement and drama. I was very happy about the possibility to move and have an experiential learning activity that I had heard about but had never tried .
Malin and her group exploring the
unknown city
On such a sunny day everybody seemed to be happy going outdoors for a while. Alexandra told us to choose a role, read the proflile and “become another person” for some time. Then we listened to Alexandra`s questions aand made a step forward , if we could answer “yes.” It was not so easy to step so quickly in anothers shoes and to imagine what could the answer to Alexandra`s questions.
After some time Alexandra intervied all of us asking how we felt and who we were (in the rolewe had chosen). My luck was to be a 57 years old manager with two children and my company was on the verge of crashing, so I felt quite insecure about the future. On the other hand I realized that I have earned quite substantial pension and I can still afford a lot, so I was making my steps forward and finally eneded up somewhere in the middle.
I was not upset about being in the middle , there were some people behind me having less possibilities in life at the moment but
dancing and looking quite confident, for example, a Thai woman (Laura) who did not know official language of her country and did not work. I felt sorry for her and even shocked getting to know about Thai women becoming almost slaves of their German husbands! What a shame!
Afterwards we had some discussions on the factors determining
how far we get in society and concluded that they are:
job, education level, personal health, abilities, disabilities,
linguistic competence of the official language of the country,
gender, age and ethnicity.
I find the activity very good for developing empathy and becoming aware of discrimination.
Thank you , Alexandra!
(by
Mara)
- Channel Tunnel
- English Language
- End of regulations
- Plans parallel to national ones
- ID Card
- PISA
- Brussels
- Structural Funds
- Bologne 2010
