Dr. Elmar-Laurent Borgmann – Page 3 – absolutely intercultural!

What is home? +++ Origin +++ Belonging +++ Absolutely Intercultural 273 +++

Hello and welcome to show 273 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Our topic today is “What is home?”, a question that has many interpretations and potential answers. Is it the place in which we were born or the place where we live now? And is it actually a place at all? For some people, home is connected to their family roots. At the same time, others find it hard to identify themselves with their country or region of origin – they have moved on and made their home in other corners of the world. Some people had to leave their home, some may never even have had a real place to call home.

In this show, we tried to figure out where is home or more importantly, what is home? To find out the truth, we asked our guests what the word home means to them.

absolutely displaced

In our first category, “absolutely displaced”, Arina from Ukraine reports how she had to escape from her home town Kyiv after the war started in Ukraine five weeks ago.

absolutely belonging

In our second category, “absolutely belonging”, Teresa shares with us how she found a new home where she truly belongs.

absolutely alien

In our last category, “absolutely alien”, Sebastian, describes how he moved only a couple of hundred kilometers from his home city and suddenly felt like a complete stranger.

What about you? What does home mean to you? Your place of birth? A place where you feel comfortable, a circle of friends, or a beautiful memory? Tell us about how and where you experienced this feeling of belonging, of being truly at home.

Please write a comment or mail us, we could do a follow-up interview with you in one of our next shows. On our web page, absolutely-intercultural.com, you can get more information about this show and previous episodes and you can leave comments. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

By the way, did you know we are also on iTunes or Apple Podcasts? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment.

Our next show will be coming to you on 6th May.

Until then – cherish your home and if you have not found home yet, get up, start looking for it and

Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann

Chief Editor: Natalia Obikhod

Assistant Editors: Carlos Fuch, Lars Felder, Shelbi Ankiewicz

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Apology Culture +++ Making mistakes +++ Forgiveness +++ Absolutely Intercultural 272 +++

Hello dear listeners, and welcome to our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. This is show 272, and our topic today is “The Apology Culture”. Are you the kind of person who easily and quickly apologizes? Or do you have a sleepless night when you know that you should apologize to your boss the next morning? Making mistakes may be painful, but it is the fastest way towards getting it right. Some people can admit their mistakes quite easily, they apologize and move forward. On the other hand, there are people who are stuck in their guilt for what they have done; people, who find it very hard to say sorry to others, and sometimes, even to forgive themselves. Is there any universal formula for how to apologize properly? Are there any paths for moving from guilt to self-improvement more quickly?

absolutely absent

In our first category, “absolutely absent”, Lars from Germany shares with us how he forgot to attend an important business meeting with his team and this almost cost him his job.

absolutely forgiven

In our second category, “absolutely forgiven”, Safi, a student from a German-Libyan family, tells us about an embarrassing situation where he had forgotten to cancel a one-to-one zoom meeting with his university lecturer. However, as he apologized very thoroughly, his lecturer was so disarmed by his honesty, that Safi was completely forgiven.

absolutely guilty

In our last category, “absolutely guilty”, Fernanda, a former medical student from Mexico tells us about how terribly sad and guilty she felt when a patient had died in her care in a very busy emergency room.

What about you? Have you recently been in a situation where you where you had to apologize to someone? Did you do what our guests today advise us to do in order to be forgiven or even to forgive yourself?

By the way, did you know we are also on iTunes or Apple Podcasts? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment.

Our next show will be coming to you on 1st April.

Until then – allow yourself to make mistakes – but be prepared to fully apologize for them and

Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann

Chief Editor: Natalia Obikhod

Assistant Editors: Carlos Fuch, Lars Felder, Shelbi Ankiewicz

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Managing Cultural Diversity +++ Sprachen/Internationales +++ Sustainable Innovation+++ Absolutely Intercutural 270 +++

Hello and welcome to show 270 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today we will talk about the biggest intercultural event of Sprachen/Internationales during the Winter Semester which is called the Managing Cultural Diversity Seminar. Every year – for the last 20 years we have invited guest lecturers from our partner Universities from literally all around the world to join our seminar. The main idea of the Managing Cultural Diversity Seminar is one intercultural topic that is discussed in detail by participants from every part of the World. This semester we looked at Sustainable Innovation. Local and international students together with the guest lecturers were divided into groups to work on Sustainable Innovation ideas and at the same time collaboration intercultural teams.

absolutely entrepreneurial

In our first category, “absolutely entrepreneurial”, we will listen to the conversation of two international students who both participated in the seminar. Carlos from Brazil and Lorena from Albania went out of it, motivated to take initiative and to start their own business ideas just because of having listened to the stories of the other participants in the seminar

absolutely project-oriented

In our second category “absolutely project-oriented”, we speak to guest lecturer Vilmante from our partner university in Lithuania. Vilmante has generously contributed to the Managing Cultural Diversity seminar for more than 10 years now and for her MCD is not only the place where she will meet old and new friends but also the place where great projects with other guest lecturers from all around the world are conceived and planned.

absolutely innovative

Finally, in our last category “absolutely innovative”, we listen to Tea, a guest lecturer from our partner university in Tirana, Albania. She held a workshop about Sustainable Innovation in Crisis, and gave a simple solution to a topic which sounds as if there cannot be a simple solution. She gave Esjona an insight before her own workshop took place.

What about you? Have you thought about finding a way to stay connected to people who live far from you? Have you started thinking of your own sustainable innovation business idea?

Please write a comment or mail us, we could do a follow-up interview with you in one of our next shows. On our web page, www.absolutely-intercultural.com, you can get more information about this show and previous episodes and you can leave comments. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

By the way, did you know we are also on iTunes or Apple Podcasts? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment.

Our next show will be coming to you on 4th of February.

Until then – start formulating your next sustainable innovation idea – and Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann

Chief Editor: Esjona Musta

Assistant Editors: Natalia Obikhod, Elene Mikeladze

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Motivation Culture +++ Workplace +++ Absolutely Intercultural 260 +++

Hello and welcome to show 260 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today we talk about different cultures of motivation. Can it be true that in our globalized world we still stick to our culturally determined motivation strategies? Our interviewees report about motivation strategies in their own national cultures. What is the best method to keep your employees from Albania, Georgia and Azerbaijan productive? Why do we seem to lose our motivation over time and how can we refresh it? Well, in today’s episode we interview students from three different countries about effective motivation techniques in their own cultures.

Continue reading “Motivation Culture +++ Workplace +++ Absolutely Intercultural 260 +++”

Fake News +++ Social Media Culture +++ Absolutely Intercultural 259 +++

Hello and welcome to show 259 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today’s show is about the culture of “fake news”. Is this really a new phenomenon? Did you grow up believing in Father Christmas or were you the critically thinking 5-year-old who pointed out that the house did not even have a chimney? Well, in today’s episode, we interview students from three different cultures about their experiences of fake news and how they personally define it and live with fake news.

Continue reading “Fake News +++ Social Media Culture +++ Absolutely Intercultural 259 +++”

Gender Stereotypes +++ Gender Roles +++ Keeping Tradition +++ Absolutely Intercultural 257 +++

Hello and welcome to show 257 of Absolutely Intercultural, Gender Roles, coming to you from beautiful Remagen in Germany. We are talking about what life is like as man or woman in different countries. Have you ever been the victim of inequality because of your gender? If you had a wish – what would you change? Well, in today’s episode, we interview students from three different countries about gender roles in their cultures and how those may differ from the views they are confronted within Germany. Continue reading “Gender Stereotypes +++ Gender Roles +++ Keeping Tradition +++ Absolutely Intercultural 257 +++”

International Life +++ A Day in the Life of Kalvin +++ Daily Experiences +++ Absolutely Intercultural 253 +++

Welcome to show 253 of Absolutely Intercultural, A Day in the Life of Kalvin, coming to you from the beautiful Rheinland in Germany. Today’s show is an immersive journey about daily life in Germany, narrated by one of our Australian international students. Have you ever considered living overseas or wondered about what intercultural challenges you would face? Today we hear directly from Kalvin and experience a summer day in Germany firsthand.

Continue reading “International Life +++ A Day in the Life of Kalvin +++ Daily Experiences +++ Absolutely Intercultural 253 +++”

Hidden Cultures +++ Cultures in Management +++ Empathetic Leadership +++ Absolutely Intercultural 251 +++

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is IMG_81492-684x1024.jpg Hello and welcome to show 251 of Absolutely Intercultural, Cultures in Management, coming to you from the beautiful Rheinland in Germany. Today’s show is about the culture of management, where we listen to three managers and how they handle some of the more hidden cultures in their workplace to be effective leaders. Culture can be more than just national or geographical identity, it can be about direct/indirect, female/male, formal/informal, old/young or it can unite people who have the same profession but who all grew up in the same country. You will have certainly encountered some of these yourself throughout life.

Angélique Kidjo +++ UNICEF +++ Covid19 +++ Le Province +++ wedding rituals +++ Absolutely Intercultural 250

This show is coming to you from a partially locked down Denmark. Yes, this show is coming to you right in the middle of the COVID 19 pandemic with schools and businesses shut down and people advised to keep a good distance from each other. Fortunately, all the contributors to the show could be reached digitally. I talked to Elizabeth Anne, a former teacher based in the south of France who told me how the country is divided.

Then, I talked to Luis from Colombia, who recently moved to Denmark. In Colombia Luis was a wedding photographer but in Denmark, he discovered that wedding ceremonies were not so predictable.

Now, do you want to dance? Angelique Kidjo has recorded a special version of a song that was popular during the apartheid years in South Africa in the 1950s. The song Pata Pata means lightly touch but in these Covid 19 times the advice is no touching! So UNICEF, in collaboration with one of their goodwill ambassadors, Angelique Kidjo, has slightly changed the song so that it is about NOT touching and you can be in the video which comes out later this month if you film yourself dancing to it!

Flourishing on the Farm +++ Rural vs Urban Culture +++ Comparing Farms +++ Absolutely Intercultural 245 +++

Welcome to show 245 of “Absolutely Intercultural”! Today’s show is about farm life in Brazil, Germany and Australia. We will learn what childhood is like from three different farm environments in Brazil, Australia and Germany. Be warned, some of the stories may be shocking.

We will hear Manoel from Brazil, Kalvin from Australia, and Laurence, from Germany. You will be surprised and terrified by some of the things our guests have seen and done in their childhood on the farm. Our interviewer today is Vitor, also from Brazil, who is doing his second semester as an exchange student at RheinAhrCampus, Germany. He has been our editor for a while and was curious how culture in the city differs from the countryside, having never personally experienced it before. Continue reading “Flourishing on the Farm +++ Rural vs Urban Culture +++ Comparing Farms +++ Absolutely Intercultural 245 +++”