Sorry for not posting for a awhile, we’ve been busy and I’m just getting over a bad cold/stomach bug. My Good friend Raphael started a blog, it’s at http://kids.stermann.free.fr/KoneXion/K_i_Atlantis.html. He is one of the French students and it might help if you want another perspective on the program.
Things are going pretty well. We have an interesting group dynamic. I would have thought that everyone would have cut off into there own clicks or groups by now, but we seem to get around with everyone pretty well. We usually have to cut into smaller groups because it’s nearly impossible to do everything as one big group. And some of the Americans are impatient ( myself included sometimes ) so waiting around for everyone to get on the same page isn’t on the agenda.
However I have noticed how we handle problems differently. The Americans and Swedes are more direct in their problem solving, and a few specific Swedes (*wink*) are very out of the box thinkers. The French tend to be more indirect in how they handle things. This misunderstanding alone causes tension. Add in a little alcohol and some already brewing frustration and you have an incident. So things can get really out of hand really fast. Although there is little that a focused meeting on communication can’t do to resolve the issues.
Coming out of the philosophical mode, it had rained 3 days straight. It was depressing a bit, even more so for the Swedes, they really like the outdoors. I would say more then the average American. So after it stopped raining on Saturday we ran out and spent the most of the day at the park. Jack also had a real football sent over here so we taught everyone how to play and did that for a bit. Everyone kept trying to lateral the ball like in rugby. It was a pretty good laugh.
We have another nice day so I’m going to take advantage of it, the guys found a basketball court so we are going to play some basketball.
2 Responses.
Hey there, We are enjoying your posts and also glad to note you are feeling better. Great idea to give Raphael’s blog address – thanks. You both enable us back in the US to vicariously experience your trip. Do you have any information on any blogs by the Swedish students? We would enjoy hearing their perspective too. I’m taking International Human Resource Development as the last class in my master’s degree program and can definitely see how the cultural differences in communication, perception of time and relationships can affect your experiences. Your friend with the lost luggage has a few web sites if you’re interested…Google searches work well too. Say, please let me know about any Swedish blogs okay? Take care, Kim
I haven’t heard of any blogs that they are doing but I will ask. They are a bit more private about their personal life so don’t be surprised if they aren’t. Although I guarantee they are all keeping some type of personal journal.