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New entries to Intercultural Eyes in its new location

171 days ago

Don't miss the highlights from "Eyes on NAFSA" ... visit Intercultural Eyes in its new location - http://www.interculturaleyes.org

Issue 66. Living at the Borders.

191 days ago

What is a border, really? When I grew up in the suburbs of Kansas City, I could see State Line Road out our kitchen window, a street that straddled the border between Kansas and Missouri. I never bothered to wonder how the two states coordinated the street paving, but we were impressed with the idea that we could stand in the middle of the street with a foot in each state, traffic permitting. To continue reading, click here to find Intercultural Eyes in its new location! If this link does not work, click here to be redirected, and update your RSS subscription to the new address.

Issue 65. The Smell of School

203 days ago

While cleaning out some files the other day, I came across an old article by Michael Paige in that strange blue-violet type made by a ditto machine. I realized that part of the educational value of the piece, in addition to whatever Michael had written, was its iconic value as a representation of the culture of education in the baby boomer years.... To continue reading, click here to find Intercultural Eyes in its new location! If this link does not work, click here to be redirected, and update your RSS subscription to the new address.

Issue 64. Coming to Doubt

214 days ago

“And so you see I have come to doubt All that I once held as true I stand alone without beliefs The only truth I know is you.” Kathy’s Song. Paul Simon. I often marvel at how young Paul Simon was when he wrote this song, but it has haunted me for years, particularly these lines, with the stark emptiness of doubt in everything except for the one person for whom the song is written: Kathy, I presume. What impressed me most was the possibility of such a complete emotional upheaval that would leave a person clinging desperately to one other person, with no other bearings. The intensity fit my teenage years, but not too closely, because at that point in my life I did believe I could change the world, or that young people would change the world. Much of that optimism stays with me, but now also much of the doubt. My first real encounter with another culture was my exchange experience in France at 17. I am rather amused to remember my efforts to connect with a street corner ...

Issue 63. Many Apologies.

222 days ago

When I was very young, my grandfather's cousin Sue relayed a story about an American woman friend who was living in London as an ex-patriot for a time. An issue that came up for this woman was her worry that she instinctively used an American approach to apologies when riding the London "Tube" instead of the British approach. So whenever she accidentally stepped on someone's foot or bumped into someone on the Tube, she automatically said, "Oh, Excuse me!" The British, she observed, always seemed to say simply "Sorry!" in the same situation. Months passed, and then one day when she happened to step on a stranger's foot, she suddenly said, "Sorry!" and the other woman turned to her and said, "Oh, excuse me!" I remembered this story while reading an article by Xiaowen Guan, Hee Sun Park, and Hye Eun Lee, called "Cross-cultural difference in apology" in the January 2009 edition of the International Journal of Intercultural ...