Like in all summer semesters there is also this one a seminar called Practical Intercultural Communication. It is the only one offered which gives something practical to the usual theoreticalstudies. The number of participants is limited to 30 but like always the actual amount of students is far beyond. Some sat even on the floor because the chairs were not enough. But because it is restricted to students of the fifth and sixth semesters as well, others had to leave again. Those were not many. But at least from now on there are chairs for everyone.

Our prof is still very young I would say. I knew her from previous lectures and already then found that she is quite nice. The advantage of young professors is that they are still humans. Older professors..., well, to be honest, I am sometimes not sure if I am on the same level with them. But unimportant if I am or not (in matters of knowledge I am probably not!) it kinda inhibits my participation in the courses. Thats why I personally prefer younger docents. So, I think it is going to be quite productive to have her as the docent of the course.

After she introduced herself we, the students, had to introduce ourselves. Therefore we made a big circle with our chairs in front of the tables. Everybody could see everybody. The game was that first the prof and later also the students could ask questions. Everybody corresponding to them had to stand up. At the beginning the questions aimed at regional things, like Who comes from the west of Germany?, Who lives in Halle?, Who has lived abroad? and so on.
Then the conversation drifted into direction studies. We spoke quite some time about this. Who is not satisfied with the intercultural studies? somebody asked. As far as I remember all of us stood up but only two did not know what to use it for afterwards.
Well, it was a good method to get to know each other better I would say. If you hear only the names and the age of people you would forget them anyway within the next 5 seconds. But to get to know how many people for example come originally from Halle and who came especially for the intercultural studies to this university is something interesting. We are all one age-group but so far I have not met all of them. I mean of course I knew all the faces from several courses but the occasion to talk to each other and to get to know all (at once) was something new. I think I will memorize this method to introduce people in a big group. It was really a good idea.

The next thing we did was a brainstorming about intercultural competence. All who wanted to contribute something could write their thoughts on the blackboard. It ended up with what I would summarize as respect for others and reflection about oneself. Well, okay, nothing new. I mean this was also my mental concept for intercultural competence before we wrote this on the blackboard.

The homework given is for each lesson to write a diary in which we reflect about the lesson itself. We shall write what we liked and what we disliked and probably put the seminars content in a personal context. What of those things makes us understand the world better and so on...

Well, I am not a fond diary writer.
And I think the measure is put too high. So far I can not imagine writing 2 pages (handwriting) for every single lesson. The docent said it shall be something personal. But if it shall be personal then there also should be given the freedom to vary the length. Everybody in the course has made different intercultural experiences. -Some more, others less. And everybody has a different style of writing. As for me, I never was one who wrote much in school. (Yea, true, in university the same.) Well, all I can say is that I try to do my best although the contributions to the diary will probably vary.

In this first entry some expectations for the seminar shall be stated and also our personal intercultural competence be judged.
As far as I see the aim of the course is to gain intercultural competence. The course schedule was handed out already. So this is actually already what I expect: to gain intercultural competence and to become more open for intercultural situations.

But I really dont know in how far this is possible at all, in how far can we learn things like we mentioned on the blackboard: tolerance and self-reflection? Either you are capable of those soft skills and can extend them or... Definitely it is not like learning by heart. Thus, I think the course can only teach awareness of intercultural situationsand of potential conflicts which might occur.

All we can do is to simulate intercultural situations and then speak about them. For me it is questionable if you can later apply those trained things in real life. After all, no situation is the same. Thats why I would rather call the seminar theoretical although the title says it would be practical.
I am curious to see what we will learn. And I am curious to see in how far it will be useful for future situations.

When now it comes to describing my own intercultural competence, I really dont know how to answer. I have thought about this question a lot but still can not classify myself between intercultural moron and master of the art. Well, at least I can say that I am none of them both. Although I have not been abroad for longer than two months I have faced several intercultural situations with people of various origins. And while I was sometimes unbiased at the beginning, in the end I didnt know anymore what to think. If you are half-a-protestant-Christian and ever discussed with an Islamic friend about homosexuality, abortion, or merely women you will know what I mean... maybe... maybe not. I admit that sometimes for me certain differences are too big to handle or to find consents in it. I know that you could still, in order not to endanger the friendship, just leave the topic how it is and go on to the next one but to find an honest solution or agreement to this one topic is much harder.

But still it works sometimes. And those moments are the highlights of an intercultural communication when you were able to reduce something to a common denominator. But it depends on bothpartners of the conversation if an intercultural conversation is successful or not. Stubbornness or basic intolerance does not help further of course. But when both are willed to make a step into the direction of the other there can be always found consents.

I discovered a crucial skill for managing those intercultural situations: listening carefully and watching others behaviour. Because when you know the language of the other, the means of communication he/she uses, it is easier to respond with the same means he/she understands. Well, you can generalize this because it is actually not only valid for situations where more than one culture is involved.

To summarize my self-estimation, I try always to be open to people I meet. But I am aware of that sometimes I am biased. Then I try to discuss those prejudices with my innermost and mostly when getting to know each other closer they become invalid.
I always try to bear in mind that people are never the same as culture. When talks to people were not successful one can not assume that the conversation with the culture failed. It is something normal, which also here in Germany does happen, that I can not get along with everybody. But to conclude from a single case to a whole culture is wrong.