An individual reflective journal/diary to be handed in at the end of the module - Essay Example

However, our interaction I have come to make me like culture diversity. There are so many theories and phenomenon that tries to explain culture but the most interesting I have learnt is that culture is learnt and acquired from people around you through various mediums and environment (Dweck, Hong, & Chiu, 1993). In his book Primitive Culture, Edward B. Taylor defines culture as whole and complex setting which include knowledge, law, art, customs, morals, belief and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society (Kuhn, 1970).

Cultural differences are brought by the different social systems that we are brought up in. we have different ways of encoding the messages and objects and communication as whole in our different set ups that we thrive in. Hofstede, in his research, terms culture as collective programming of the mind and this I understood is how we code and decode messages around us (Choi, Nisbett, & Norenzayan, 1998). The messages are either spoken or non-verbal. However, regardless of their communication process, they make sense (Dweck, Hong, & Chiu, 1993).

Culture Shock Subject was the best. It made me exited and desired to read more and more about it, isn’t it amazing to learn how people adapt to things they are not used to? I have travelled to various parts of the world and sometimes the way culture gets me unaware is just breathtaking. Week 1 I was enthusiastic and ready to start my sessions on culture. There is always something that strikes my ego whenever I think that I am the best in terms of how am brought up. There is always that thing which spices up this whole thing of cultural differences.

In this week, I prepared myself to acquire this information about cultural diversity. I gathered enough materials to study about culture and its differences across regions. More importantly, I had people around me to study, their way of talking and most behaviors struck me in my endeavors to get the knowledge of our differences. I learnt that culture has different features; Art, writings, books, food, language, music, and clothing and different aspects of communication. In this week, there was no seminar and I made sure I prepared enough for the coming week for exiting topics.

The week ended well and I was sure that I was ready for out facilitator to rubberstamp what I have been researching on and to add to my fountain of knowledge about cultural differences. Week 2 Activity 1 The week was so bright, filled with cheerful expectations in many students as they eagerly waited to learn. This was the first session that we were to have. Therefore, I was full of hope. I gathered a group of five students. In this group, we would carry out our first task in the first week of learning.

After deliberation, we decide to discuss our experiences in different cultural contexts. I felt like screaming my heart out for this I loved. When my turn came, I was ready than ever to share my experience. I first shared an encounter that one of my friends had on a holiday. My friend`s name is a Persian and he was left behind by his parents who went on a vacation. I was among their family`s friends. He told me, they wanted to test my independence and he welcomed me to spend holiday with him in their house.

It was during this time that my friend noted that there were cultural differences. He was left with a Korean family. His Persian family was a traditional one and very different from the adventurous Korean family. Nevertheless, the most outstanding difference was eating habits.