I feel that the overall presentation that my group did went well. We did not rehearse with a time limit yet we managed to stick to it. The class activity was good as the class actively participated in it and were enthusiastic about sharing their experiences.
Mdm Fazillah's feedback was very insightful as we learnt how address the class better in terms of presentation styles and the like. I enjoyed working with William and Siu Chung, they were very proactive and fun to work with in this peer-teaching assignment! And it was very apt for the group, since we were all from differing cultural backgrounds (Sweden, Singapore, Hong Kong!)
Thursday, 14 March 2013
Saturday, 9 March 2013
Evaluating Intercultural Behavior.
Hello guys :)
Back when I was in secondary school, I had the opportunity to go to Japan for exchange. When I went there, I was overwhelmed by how cultured the Japanese were. Throughout my trip, I made several observations and thought about how Singapore could learn from the Japanese.
When I say that the Japanese are very cultured, I mean that they value their traditions and regard very highly of their practices. They are extremely polite and treat one another with utmost respect, despite that person's occupation or age. I've noticed people bowing repeatedly to show their respect to the person they're addressing, even in public places and offices. I've seen people in suits coming out of their office buildings to sweep the area outside their offices.
In Japan, customer service is near perfect (or at least that's what I have experienced). Be it a hardware shop, a boutique, or even a grocery store, the employees give you their undivided attention and address your every needs with a smile. We notice in Singapore, this might be an area of concern. Our customer service has alot of room to improve. At times, customers walk into an unwelcoming/unaccommodating shop.
Earlier I mentioned that the Japanese really uphold traditions and practices. One of the first experiences I had was a little peculiar, nevertheless intriguing. It was the public baths. When the people use their public baths, they do not use the towel to cover themselves as it is rude to do so. Yet they respect each others' space and make it comfortable to use.
When I was studying in their schools, one of their CCAs was the Japanese Tea Club. In this CCA, they teach girls the practice of serving tea as how women in Japan did centuries ago. In the restaurants, there are many practices to be observed; like sitting in a particular manner, eating in a particular manner (they really slurp their noodles very loudly!).
Overall, it was a culturally rich experience, even though we Singaporeans do not have a fixed set of cultural behaviors like bowing to one another, we definitely can draw back lessons to learn from the Japanese from respect to individual responsibility and ones need to preserve their traditional values.
Back when I was in secondary school, I had the opportunity to go to Japan for exchange. When I went there, I was overwhelmed by how cultured the Japanese were. Throughout my trip, I made several observations and thought about how Singapore could learn from the Japanese.
When I say that the Japanese are very cultured, I mean that they value their traditions and regard very highly of their practices. They are extremely polite and treat one another with utmost respect, despite that person's occupation or age. I've noticed people bowing repeatedly to show their respect to the person they're addressing, even in public places and offices. I've seen people in suits coming out of their office buildings to sweep the area outside their offices.
In Japan, customer service is near perfect (or at least that's what I have experienced). Be it a hardware shop, a boutique, or even a grocery store, the employees give you their undivided attention and address your every needs with a smile. We notice in Singapore, this might be an area of concern. Our customer service has alot of room to improve. At times, customers walk into an unwelcoming/unaccommodating shop.
Earlier I mentioned that the Japanese really uphold traditions and practices. One of the first experiences I had was a little peculiar, nevertheless intriguing. It was the public baths. When the people use their public baths, they do not use the towel to cover themselves as it is rude to do so. Yet they respect each others' space and make it comfortable to use.
When I was studying in their schools, one of their CCAs was the Japanese Tea Club. In this CCA, they teach girls the practice of serving tea as how women in Japan did centuries ago. In the restaurants, there are many practices to be observed; like sitting in a particular manner, eating in a particular manner (they really slurp their noodles very loudly!).
Overall, it was a culturally rich experience, even though we Singaporeans do not have a fixed set of cultural behaviors like bowing to one another, we definitely can draw back lessons to learn from the Japanese from respect to individual responsibility and ones need to preserve their traditional values.
Me with the class I was assigned to. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)