Thursday October 25, 2018

Time and time orientation. What is that exactly? One of the my classmates said that everyone has 24 hours a day, everyone has the same amount of time, it's just how they choose to conduct it. That's a monochronic time. The most extremist monochronic cultures believe that time ends somewhere, even though I think we can all agree on that it doesn't.

     There's also polychronic cultures - so called "island time" - that don't really devide a day into hours, they just have moments. Time is flexible and it is based on relationships. They are more likely to find themselves talking to another person even when there's possible tasks to do. Our teacher also gave us a very simple way to look at this: On monochronic time, a train will leave when it's scheduled. On polychronic time, a train will leave when it's full.

     But this is not all there is to time and consuming it. There so happens to be future-, present-, past-, and no time-orientated cultures. If you think about this, it is fairly difficult to find those "no time-orientated" cultures. They are more likely to have sort of no time in their language, everything sort of happens in the moment, they don't necessarily have words for what happened yesterday, a day, a year ago.

     An interesting fact is that you can switch between these time orientations and you can belong to more than one of them. I wonder how it is for a person to change from thinking there is a past and future, to thinking there is only present. Could be way harder than doing it the other way around. Personally I feel like I belong to the three first mentioned, also depending if I have some assignments to do.

     There is also a saying that "what goes around, comes around". Is karma sort of a time measurement? A cycle of time is a real thing and a way to see it could be roughly defined in good and bad karma.

     Later on we were given a printout of the Kluckhohn Model, here's a small explanation on that. It only makes sense that how you see time, also affects how you see the world, the humanity and activity (being, being-in-becoming, doing),, but I've never thought that how I use my time would affect my thoughts on whether I think the human nature is good or evil.

Tuesday October 2, 2018

Today's lesson was about culture shock and cultural adaptation. In the beginning of the lesson we took a look at a site made by Berkeley, University of California. On this site (https://internationaloffice.berkeley.edu/living/cultural) we saw an example of how cultural adjustment works in the city of Berkeley, California, U.S. It states on the site that "despite this cosmopolitan orientation, if you are new in town, you may still feel like a stranger in a land", no matter of your background.

     I've moved a couple of times myself, therefore I could relate to this. I've also done the change of first moving out of my town and later coming back. In my experience, even when you recognize the surrounding area, you speak the language and know the place names, it doesn't feel like home anymore.

     I remember when I was living in Vancouver, Canada, for seven months, I was fully adjusted to the city (of course this didn't happen overnight either), had friends, a job and a place to live. Then I moved out of my apartment and quit my job to travel for awhile (before returning to Finland) and came back to Vancouver for a few weeks in between my traveling, it wasn't my home anymore. I was already used to various people in my life to leave the city since quite many of them were from somewhere else too, but when I myself left, it was a different story.

     I didn't have an apartment anymore.

     I didn't have a job anymore.

     I still had friends and acquaintances, I knew the Downtown by heart. Yet I felt more like home when I was traveling with a friend and continuously moving around, rather than just staying in Vancouver. In a way that was also a good thing. I felt like I was finally ready to leave the city and go back to my "home country".

     When I finally got out of the plane in Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, I was not home either. My family came to pick me up and in that moment I hadn't been gone for nine months.

     When we got to our car and were driving back home, I remember looking outside and feeling distant. I was never ashamed to be from Finland, but yet never missed being here. Even in my travelings when we had a few complications, I would miss my home in Vancouver, not in Finland. I know this country will forever be in my life, even if I wouldn't live here. I think I will always have a part of my life belonging here.

     After awhile, I was more comfortable being back here - even though after now that I've been back for almost three months, I still miss traveling. As time went by, I found myself moving again. This time inside of Finland.

Friday September 28, 2018

Today was the last lesson about communication. Starting the morning, we took a look at different styles of listening habits, fairly roughly listed by countries (since even when you come from a certain country, it doesn't mean you are like every other person there, regarding the fact that they will probably effect on your behaviour). You can find this model (2018) in the following link: Listening habits Accessed [2018-09-28].

     Continuing the subject, we did an evaluation about body language. Last on the list was smoking, which to me as a Finn was a bit weird, since it hasn't been acceptable for over a decade. Regarding that, we heard some interesting cultural differences from the people coming abroad, e.g. how in Japan it is still okay to smoke inside, even in meetings.

     Talking about body language, we were shown a picture about how much is going on behind simply just saying "hi". People usually aren't just greeting, they are also checking out what the other person looks like: your posture, what you are wearing, your mood, everything in general. I feel everyone can relate to this and notice themselves doing it.

     One thing that is good to remember is that gestures aren't a universal language. Simply showing the sign for "bueno" (Figure 1) - something is good and approved by you - might in another country show someone that you want to start a fight with someone. Even as simple as smiling or laughing in Japanese and Chinese cultures might mean that you just don't want to say no, or you don't know what to say. As told in the previous lessons, it is not polite nor easy in every cultures to say no to something.

Figure 1. Bueno hand sign. Accessed [2018-09-28]. Available:
https://pxhere.com/es/photo/909172

Thursday September 20, 2018

Today we started the lesson with evaluating some sentences. We had to say whether we agreed, didn't, or had no opinion on. I really like this way of learning cause it's a good conversation starter. I got to work with two foreign girls, which is always great, cause I get to learn about new cultures along the way.

     Blue. Red. Yellow.

     Another way to look at the world. We went through theories about cultural categories by Lewis. A good explanation could be found on https://www.crossculture.com/

It showed us there are some guidelines on how to treat people and that every country has their own colour. Your opinion or colour can be individual too and it may change the more you meet people from another countries. Almost everyone is a mix of these colours, usually one being the dominating one and other(s) following.

     The cultural was a good base for these models, because it all comes down to our own values, cultures, where we come from.

     A triangle of a Lewis model (Figure 1) was shown to us. It basically just generalizes countries and tells to which colour they belong to: are they Linear-active, Multi-active or Reactive. I come from Finland which is somewhat a green country, so in between of linear-active and reactive. In the same place was Estonia, surrounded by Sweden and Canada to mention few.

     Personally I think this is a pretty good description of Finland, but I am yet to figure am I really fitting into this "mold" of my home country. These values can also change after you see more of the world. At this moment I can just see myself belonging to all of these, maybe the reactive part being the most clear in my mind. But then again, I would't say I listen most of the time, I'm more in between of talking and listening, so that would put me into multi-active category, which then again, doesn't fit me with being very emotional. Also I do have some parts from linear-active, like I do confront people and I am polite but direct. At the end of the day, I feel like someone who knows me very well, should be the one putting me in one of these categories if any. I don't feel like I'm completely belonging into any of them.

Figure 1. Most people are hybrids. Accessed [2018-09-21]. Available:

https://moodle.savonia.fi/course/view.php?id=3545#section-4

Friday September 21, 2018

Going deeper on the thoughts by Lewis and his categories mentioned in my blog post from Thursday 20th of September. First our teacher tested if we learned anything from yesterdays lessons by dividing us in half and letting us tell things we remembered from yesterday. After that we started to talk about more on the topic and my teacher draw a pyramid related to it. From top to bottom, there were three things: personality, national level and human level.

     After awhile, we watched a video about the categories and learned that there is a site we could pay to learn more about where we as individuals would belong. As told yesterday and said again today, most of us are hybrids. One characteristic in these categories is trust. Linear-active people trust in institutions, multi-active cultures trust in-group intimates and reactive people trust in reciprocity, schoolmates.

     Further on we did a test to see whether we belong to high or low context on this website about Context of Cultures. The difference between my scores was only one point. My teacher wasn't surprised that us Finns would mainly be in the middle. She also gave us a new point of view on that, which implied that if you are neither high or low context, you could be turning a blind eye to some situations.

     Digging deeper on ourselves, we completed yet another self evaluation considering our communication styles and individual characteristics. We were given some options from where to choose, e.g. are you direct or diplomatic, formal or informal, head or heart. We were often told not to think the questions too hard, but quite often it was almost impossible to ignore all the possible answers. If nothing, that was one thing to learn on the course: listen to your intuition.

     From these few examples, I would say I am both direct and diplomatic, maybe more formal than informal - also depending who I am with -, and definitely rather head than heart, even though I do have some "heart" characteristics. 
     I guess this also shows in my communication style too. Some might even call it "tough love" when you tell things straight and honest. You are thinking that in the end it will be for the best of someone else, but they might not see that right at that moment. 
     I was also comparing my communication, or rather the Finnish communication, with for example Asian and American cultures and their communication style. I know that Asians are more likely to listen politely and never interrupt anyone. Then again Americans are very much the opposite, talking on top of each other. Americans also like to be loud and heard by everyone, us Finns are pretty much fine with smaller audience and I think so are many of the Asian cultures too.
     It's good to learn about other cultures and their communication style to avoid possible communication mishaps. In general, I think you can get through all the communication problems with explaining more, getting to know the person and making sure the other person understands what you mean.

Context of Cultures: High and Low. Accessed [2018-09-21]. Available:

https://www2.pacific.edu/sis/culture/pub/Context_Cultures_High_and_Lo.htm

Tuesday September 11, 2018

Today our lessons were about Intercultural Learning. One of the first tasks was to evaluate attitudes, see if we would agree, disagree or wouldn't have an opinion in some made sentences. Continuing those, we were asked to select the ones that most appeals to us and what is the least accurate. Further on we were deciding whether they had a positive or a negative light in our eyes.

     For me, these sentences were actually pretty good as an exercise, because you could possibly get a new view on things and think about a culture in a way you necessarily wouldn't usually see them. We also got to hear some interesting perspectives from other people in the class, yet another great way to learn and make you think outside the box.

     One of these views were made out of an example sentence: "Ignoring the differences between cultures is dangerous". With more information on this opinion, I could see why someone could see this as a positive way for the cultural diversity. This is one of the reasons why I haven't really decided what I think of that statement.

     We also got to test our cultural sensitivity on a test published by University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).There were a lot of hard questions, questions I necessarily didn't answer or marked with a question mark. For example the first question is about your friend making something you very much disapprove of and how would you react to it, and this was very hard to answer on because it really depends on what they do. Are they getting back with their ex or are they mistreating your family and closest ones? Getting back with their ex is not really my business, I might tell what I think but what I've learned in life is not to mess with others' relationships. But if they hurt for example my family or closest friends, I would say goodbye to them.

UAMS. Accessed [2018-09-11]. Available:

http://cda.uams.edu/cmte/diversity-inclusion/test-your-cultural-sensitivity/

Tuesday September 25, 2018

Starting the class very early today, and that somewhat shows on the number of people attending. I managed to get myself here even though it was not my favourite thing to do. I'm not a huge fan of cold weather, but I guess it woke me up on my way to school.

     Again an evaluating exercise is made, this time about positive communication. I'm starting to see a pattern here. This time we aren't talking in groups first, we are expressing ourselves straight away to the class, having more of an open conversation with the whole class. I think this is a good way of doing this exercise, since you can immediately see the effects we are currently talking about - how everyone is using their tones and tempos, showing if you are interested, avoiding sarcasm and summarizing, to give out some examples.

     There are some good views pointed out in this one. Someone even found a way to connect these things together, example given, using sarcasm could mean that you are understanding the given message and taking the topic forward. Thinking about my own communication, it really depends on whom I'm talking with, how well I know the person and what the current topic is. I definitely use sarcasm with my friends as in the meaning mentioned before, but also to make jokes or to gently let them know they have said something a bit foolish. In the sense of directness, I am - as apparently most Finns are thought to be - very direct and truthful.

     But communication itself is not only about how you speak, it is also about how you listen and react to what others do. In my case, I can tell that my face is very expressive, there's been quite many times I don't even have to say anything when people have seen it from my face what I think of something, especially if something creates strong feelings in me.

Monday September 10, 2018

Today we had our second lesson about Multicultural Environment. We started by asking our own class' students about their home countries. It's quite extraordinary to see how things might differentiate between countries all over the world, with things you don't necessarily even think of before someone mentions that. A good example of this was regarding Chinese culture and their use of colours. Red is the colour for good luck, black and white were used in the matter of death.

     If I reflect that in the other cultures I may know, I can tell that black is a colour used in alot of other cultures to represent death. Instead of red, the Irish people have a full day (St. Patrick's day) dedicated to green.

     Going forward with the lesson, we took a look at this so called culture onion. It was supposed to represent some layers of culture which might affect an individual's identity. Later on we added some layers to the onion, for example religion, language, income and history.

     With a few other visual examples about cultures (the "Culture Iceberg" and the "Pyramid") we came into the conclusion that there's a lot more than the surface shows. Some cultural behaviour you may notice on the first visit, others might take months, if not years to discover.
     This lesson made me wonder some important symbols to me. I woulnd't necessarily know what to answer on that, I don't feel like I have any special ones. I do know of some, like the peace sign, but nothing seems to really be close to my heart. I feel like some people could more likely represent what is important to me. One of these people was my late grandmother. She was a woman who taught me courage, self love, caring about others. I don't think she ever knew she was doing that, but now that I've thought about her after her passing away, I can see there were many lessons about life.
     Speaking about her, I don't have too many rituals in life, but one was always spending the Christmas with her and the rest of my closest family. I still have that ritual and hopefully will continue on having that.
     The things my grandmother halfway accidentally taught me are also one of the most important values in my life. How to treat other people and how to let people treat you. I have also learned something from my parents and friends, for example that you don't need to be overly mean, but you need to stand your ground at times.

     All this put me through some deeper thinking about the few key things to put in my own "cultural onion" and this is what I came up with:

Thursday September 6, 2018

We started our course by watching a video about a guy, who was seeking his roots. He was so sure that he's completely British. Little did he know when he actually got the letter about his family history. For his surprise, there was also for example some German in his blood, even though the United Kingdom ruled most of the percentage.

     This was actually so interesting to know and got me thinking if I should do one as well. I already know that I have some Swedish and German background, but it would be intriguing to know what else lies underneath my shell.

     A guy from my class mentioned his family had done this, and even as close of a relative as his brother, didn't completely have the same DNA than he did. Of course they had some similarities, but still the small percentage of Eskimo in his brothers results really got me thinking about doing this myself.

     Afterwards we split the whole class into smaller groups and discussed about our cultural differences, e. g. food, nature, politics, basic gestures and typical characteristics. My group had 3 Finns (including myself) and a German. Even though on a basic level we aren't too different from each other if I may say, we still had quite a lot of those smaller details that you probably wouldn't think the first time of meeting the other country's representative. The deeper you dig into the environment and background of you or someone else, the more you might understand about their behaviour and reasons to do things.

     There are many websites to be found on the Internet for such a test. I may so happen to conquer some new information about myself, too.