TABLE OF CONTENT Page Reflection 1 Research stream 2 Personal identity narrative 5 References 5 REFLECTION When I first studied and was given the assignment of studying international communication, li.
TABLE OF CONTENT Page Reflection Research stream Personal identity narrative References REFLECTION When I first studied and was given the assignment of studying international communication, like many of my friends, I scoffed With an eye roll, I always thought that any cultures that were different from my cultures were negative, I internally calculated how much time I would have to read that thick book, listen to the teacher and write a report as well as why I have to study it I sighed at the loss of time with my friends Cracking open the cover of the book “International Communication for everyday life”, I was determined to hate it By the time the teacher gave us the definition, characteristics of culture as well as the reasons why we have to study others’ cultures, a lot of examples of culture diversity, I nearly called it quits I gradually understand that “culture is communication, and communication is culture”, and there is a close connection between communication and culture The moment when I listened to my teacher talked about why Western people disliked being asked about age, salary, marital status, … or why Indian only use their right hands to shake, write and eat, etc., I felt very surprised The reason is Western people think their job, their marriage and age are personal issues; and Indian suppose their left hands are not pure to faithful things In other cases, we cannot say it is right or wrong to chop the dead bodies into pieces and feed them to waiting vultures in Tibet because Tibetans see it as a last gift to the universe — a way to show the insignificance and the impermanence of our earthly lives, etc With all knowledge I gained from the course, I think I should change the old concepts about other cultures in the world, be aware of their own beliefs, actions and behaviours and those of others; reflect, suspend judgment, and respect/appreciate differences, identify challenges that arise from differences in intercultural communication and find ways to address them Therefore, I can understand how context, technology and relationship influence intercultural communication to have more suitable behaviours to each person in each circumstances; establish nice relationships and gennerate much more bilateral benefits in terms of economy, politics, education, etc RESEARCH STREAM What is culture shock? It is defined as the feeling of anxiety or disorientation someone experiences when they are suddenly thrown into an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes Although most people who move abroad experience some sort of culture shock, is culture shock good? The answer was given in some materials According to Hoffman (2017), experiencing some degree of culture shock is actually a very good thing because it can help to learn about yourself, to adapt and think quickly on your feet, and to become accustomed to a completely different environment Agreeing with Hoffman, Desimone (2018) gave nine benefits of experiencing culture shock: A New Everyday Routine, Personal Reflection, Confidence Booster, Language Learning Op’s Abound, Ready For the Resume, College and/or “Real world” Prep, A Whole New World, Incomparable Educational Experiences, and Passion For Very Real Social Issues In general, it is important to stress that culture shock is entirely normal, usually unavoidable In fact, there are very positive aspects of culture shock The experience can be a significant learning experience, making you more aware of aspects of your own culture as well as the new culture you have entered It will give you valuable skills that will serve you in many ways now and in the future and which will be part of the benefit of an international education (Muñoz, 2013) PERSONAL IDENTITY NARRATIVE Have you ever asked yourself the question “Who am I?” To answer the question, I had to think about what was reflected back on me from other people or in other words, I thought about “my identity” My identities are formed through processes that started before I was born and will continue after I am gone; therefore, our identities aren’t something we achieve or complete Therefore, my family, my friends, my lovers, and even my jobs have helped shape my identities First of all, my family is an important factor that directly affects my personality I was born in a culture, my father is a policeman, my mother is a teacher Therefore, I was aware of that I had to study hard to have a stable job as my parents expected During the years of school, I always tried to achieve high results at school so that my parents felt please However, this also put me under high pressure many times because I always tried to force myself to get high scores and felt overwhelmingly disappointed when I received bad results I remembered one time when I sat for the exam to get into a specialized and gifted high school, I didn’t get enough scores, I cried a lot At that time, I thought I was an useless person and felt really negative After studying at a normal high school, I realized that it was not necessary for me to get into a specialized and gifted high school I could totally adapt and gain a lot of things as well as get well with the normal environment I also promised to change the way to educate my children in the future, I will try to encourage and create the most comfortable environment for them to freely what they like and follow their dreams without any pressure Especially, my mother is the only person I share many things She is careful and hard – working but always worried about things, which influenced me a lot I was always in a state of worrying about everything and tried to think of the worst possible scenarios Therefore, I was busy to prepare for everything but felt extremely stressful and highly pressured In addition, I have an older brother and several male cousins Since we were small, we played with each other with toys and games for boys such as football, cars, robots, etc Thus, my personality is somehow strong, active and decisive That's reason why I like sports, playing lego and boy games Secondly, my view of the world and my perspectives are influenced by my friends and my boyfriend Previously, I hardly made friends with the people who made impression on me until I met a H’Mong boy in a voluntary program in Hanoi At first, I did not want to be his friend because of his appearance However, after seeing how he communicated with people around me, the way he spoke English fluently and actively solved problems, I suddenly realized that there were many excellent people around us even though they are not pretty, or impressive In any situations, they are always confident to shine After that, I told myself not to judge any people by their appearance The most important thing is their hiden characteristics Moreover, my boyfriend is the person helping me to reduce my strong personality and couldn't-care-less attitude like a boy Because I was busy and got angry easily and sometimes we had arguments, I got angry first and left him alone immediately After all, he still stood by me and advised me to calm down to solve all matters first I gradually recognized this problem and tried to adjust my behavior accordingly Thirdly, my job is a factor mainly contributing to form my current identity I am now an English teacher at Hanoi University of Industry In such environment, I interact with many active and young students every day, I easily get on well with and share with them many things in life because we don’t have much far distance of age However, as a teacher, I am aware of that I need to be mature, think more critically, more carefully in words and attitudes as well as control behaviour to everyone so that students can look at me, learn and follow In particularly, the society also made me change a lot in the way of thinking Before, I sympathized with the poorer or people with difficulties and were ready to help them as possible as I could Two times I helped two people made I become more cautious in offering my kindness to others For the first time, when I was a sophomore, I met an old man begging on my way home He looked very old, poor and he said that he only needed enough money to buy a bus ticket to return home I was touched by his situation and willing to give him the money he needed After that, I thought I did a good deed and he could return home to reunite with his family, however, I caught him begging on different places two later times For the second time, when I was still a student, I also helped a woman on the road She looked very nice and polite She asked me to borrow a small amount of money that was just enough for her to take a bus trip to solve the urgent issue She promised to pay me and also gave me the contact number At that time, I did not have much money, but I was ready to help her immediately About a week later, I felt extremely disappointed because I phoned and texted her many times but there were no any responses Thus, with two experiences, I become more careful when helping others, so that my kindness can be offered to right people In addition, society also changed my lifestyle In the past, I spent so much time studying and worrying that I missed many opportunities to enjoy a lot of beautiful things in life However, witnessing the death of great Vietnamese artists such as Chi Tai, Hoang Dung, Van Quang Long, etc., I understand that this life is short, no one knows how the future will be and I decided to live with my whole heart, I need to spend more time taking care of myself and my beloved ones as well as try to the things I like In short, each person's identity is shaped by surrounding factors such as family, friends, school, jobs and even society, etc Although these changes are not permanent, they are adjusted to be consistent with the way of thinking, lifestyle, behavior, and communication of each person in life REFERENCES Desimone, D (2018) Why Experiencing Culture Shock is a Good Thing for Young Adults Retrieved from: https://www.goabroad.com/articles/highschool-studyabroad/experiencing-culture-shock Hoffman, N (2017) Why Culture Shock Is Actually Good For You Retrieved from: https://global-lt.com/culture-shock-actually-good-foryou/#:~:text=Experiencing%20some%20degree%20of%20culture,to%20a%20comple tely%20different%20environment Muñoz, D (2013) Reasons Why Experiencing Culture Shock Is Good For You Retrieved from: https://www.vergemagazine.com/work-abroad/blogs/980-5-reasonswhy-experiencing-culture-shock-is-good-for-you.html