Tag: Australia

Culture change +++ Creating yourself +++ Learning new perspectives +++ Absolutely Intercultural 274 +++

Hello and welcome to show 274 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Our topic for today is “Culture change”. Cultures and people who live in them are interconnected and influence each other. For some people, it is easy to adapt to a new environment and accept the challenges of culture change. They see new experiences as an opportunity to learn and grow personally. Some people, however, are rather careful about exposing themselves to new cultures and as a result are less likely to be influenced or changed.

In this show, we try to figure out how cultures influence us, what impact they have on us, and how we can create better versions of ourselves by adapting to cultural changes.

absolutely direct

In our first category, “absolutely direct”, Carlos speaks to Sandie, a guest lecturer from Australia who came to Germany to exchange teaching practices and learn new teaching approaches, which however may not be suitable for her own students back home.  

absolutely influenced

In our second category, “absolutely influenced”, Natalia talks to Shelbi, an Exchange Student from the United States who let herself dive completely into the new German culture and is soaking up new cultural influences.

absolutely alien

In our last category, “absolutely alien”, Jan from Germany shares with Lars the story of how he moved from the countryside to the big city of Bonn, former capital of West Germany, and how he noticed that his own culture was different from the people around him in the street – and he felt like an outsider.

What about you? Have you ever experienced culture change? How did you deal with it and what impact did it have on you and your life? Maybe you are in the middle of adapting to the new environment right now? I am sure you are not alone, so please, feel free to share your story with us.

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 3rd June.

Until then – allow yourself to dive into another culture 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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Humour in Different Cultures +++ April Fools’ +++ Absolutely Intercultural 261 +++

Hello and welcome to show 261 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today we talk about different cultures of Humour. It is obvious that no matter where we are in the world, we, humans, smile, laugh, joke, make and have fun. But, what exactly makes us laugh? It is hard to imagine that there is a universal formula of humour, and how well does humour travel?

In our show today our interviewees from Australia, the Czech Republic and Germany report about humour in their own cultures and share their personal experiences exclusively with you, the listeners.

Continue reading “Humour in Different Cultures +++ April Fools’ +++ Absolutely Intercultural 261 +++”

Young vs Old +++ Learning Cultures and Age +++ Lifelong Learning +++ Absolutely Intercultural 255 +++

Luis from Portugal thinks age makes learning easier

Hello and welcome to show 255 of Absolutely Intercultural. Today’s show is about two different cultures, and they have nothing to do with nationality or geography. We are talking about the culture of young people and old people – and we will focus on learning cultures. Have you ever wondered whether YOU will carry on learning all your life or whether you will stop at some point? Or perhaps there is no age limit to learning? Do you believe in lifelong learning? We interview young and old learners to find out about their learning habits. Our first guest is Dr. Beatrice Blüggel from Germany, who is the director of a large adult education institution. Our  second guest, Luis Iglesias, from Portugal is a 29-year-old master student who is currently socializing with younger students during his semester abroad.

Continue reading “Young vs Old +++ Learning Cultures and Age +++ Lifelong Learning +++ Absolutely Intercultural 255 +++”

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 +++”

New Skills +++ Professional Challenge +++ Working Overseas +++ Absolutely Intercultural 247 +++

Hello and welcome to show 247 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today’s show is about Working Abroad. Maybe you’ve always dreamed about stepping into a new work environment overseas? We will hear from Sandie, an Australian lecturer who taught in Germany, and Nika, from Georgia, who worked as a bartender in Norway. Our interviewer today is Kalvin Mitchell, also from Australia, who is doing his semester as an exchange student at RheinAhrCampus, Germany. He has been our editor for a while and was curious how worklife changes from country to country. Continue reading “New Skills +++ Professional Challenge +++ Working Overseas +++ Absolutely Intercultural 247 +++”

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 +++”

container-home +++ sustainability +++ self-sufficiency +++ Absolutely Intercultural 241 +++

In this show, we will find out what life in a container home in the most spectacular countryside in Queensland is like. We will discover how an industrial container from Hamburg has become the home for two Germans, Uwe Terton (lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast) and Katrin Terton (media artist). They have chosen a very simple and sustainable lifestyle, free from water or electricity bills, far from the busy and “stressful” life in the modern cities. Dr. Uwe Terton, our guest in this show, will share  the details of his decision to live in a minimalistic life, up on the hill with a stunning 360° view.

First, Uwe will explain the details of the fauna and flora around the container-home. In the second part, we will go inside the container and we will discover how to use smart ideas to live comfortably but in a sustainable way. And finally we learn how the couple used recycled materials in the construction of the container-home.

Continue reading “container-home +++ sustainability +++ self-sufficiency +++ Absolutely Intercultural 241 +++”

Australia +++ Scumbags Barbershop +++ hair dressing +++ political correctness +++ Absolutely Intercultural 240 +++

Tomi the Barber

In this show, we are going to immerse you in the “culture of barber shops” which means you can expect to meet rough guys with motorcycles, full beards, dirty boots and, of course, a beer can in their hands.

First, we will listen to Tomi, perhaps the happiest barber in Australia, who shares his daily life as an employee in Scumbags Barbershop. Rashad, our exchange student from Azerbaijan is our second guest and will tell us his points of view about the barbershop culture.  And finally, we will go listen to Tomi again, and this time he will tell us about the Scumbags philosophy.

Continue reading “Australia +++ Scumbags Barbershop +++ hair dressing +++ political correctness +++ Absolutely Intercultural 240 +++”

Australia Day +++ Can-do attitude +++ The lucky country +++ Absolutely Intercultural 235

Please put your headphones on and listen to a very lively Show 235 from Australia!

Today our show will take you to the “Lucky Country“,  where the Australians with their often multicultural backgrounds have developed a positive “can-do”- attitude and try to give everybody a “fair go”.  I have been pretending to be one of them for four months now, as I am teaching and doing research down-under at the University of the Sunshine Coast.

Listen to my interviewees in Australia.  Last Saturday, 26 January 2019 we celebrated Australia Day, and I planned to go out with my microphone to share my Australian impressions with you, the listeners. In order to prepare myself, I listened to my own show about Australia Day which I did five years ago which really nicely captured the spirit of the day. I hope you will forgive me, but at that point I put away my microphone, uploaded show 175 again and enjoyed the celebrations in Noosaville hands-free, as a guest, not as a podcaster this time.
Continue reading “Australia Day +++ Can-do attitude +++ The lucky country +++ Absolutely Intercultural 235”

Intercultural trainers +++ CultureBuff Games +++ Brett Parry +++ Lisa La Valle Finan +++ absolutely intercultural 225

In the show today I decided to contact three people who would describe themselves as intercultural trainers in order to find out more about what that entails and how they came to do this work. Predictably we ended up talking about much more than this so we will start with Lucy Fogarty, an Irish trainer based in London who has developed training that is based on cartoons. Why images I asked her?

Then I talked to Lisa La Valle Finan in the US who had a word of warning for the young.

And finally I talked to Brett Parry, an Aussie based in the US who was able to answer the question, what do you do on a Monday morning and much else besides.

Continue reading “Intercultural trainers +++ CultureBuff Games +++ Brett Parry +++ Lisa La Valle Finan +++ absolutely intercultural 225”