National Borders +++ Immigration +++ Travel +++ Security +++ Absolutely Intercultural 303

Hello dear listeners and welcome to show 303 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today, we are going to talk about the cultural aspects of “national borders”, human-made geographical lines separating two countries or regions. Some see borders as the ugly scars on the face of the earth – when others say “Where there is a border, there is a story.” I am speaking these words to you from South Africa where I am on a teaching assignment and on my flight here I probably crossed a dozen such boundaries, a bit like a migrating bird blissfully ignoring the national borders on the ground.  

Thank you for tuning in and I hope you bring with you your own culturally diverse opinions on borders. This is the Absolutely Intercultural Podcast – and we appreciate diversity and different views on the same subject – and absolutely everyone is welcome to think absolutely everything about this contentious topic!

National borders are causing most conflicts all over the world. From our guests, we will learn how borders can be viewed very differently, depending on your cultural and political background. In the cultural context of holidays, borders can be cute instagrammable opportunities for a selfie, in others they present an impenetrable barrier and keep inhabitants imprisoned in a confined area.

By the way, today, we are transgressing a border ourselves, for the first time in the history of this podcast. We are hosting a very unusual guest here today. Anne Fox one of the makers of this podcast, will be joining us today on the other side of the microphone as our interviewee.

absolutely human

In our first story, we will listen to Ilja, a travel agent who regularly finds himself crossing borders somewhere in Europe. Ilja seems to have thought a lot about borders and has come to the conclusion that borders are not natural, but are rather abstract lines that humans have drawn to organize their cultures and communities.

absolutely secure

In our second story, we will listen to Serhii. He believes that unrestricted freedom of movement could lead to increased immigration and possibly a rise in crime. He also believes that going to another country shouldn’t be as easy as it is in Europe nowadays but instead, every traveler should be “trusted but also properly checked” in order to protect our distinct cultures.

absolutely privileged

In our last story, we will listen to Anne Fox, who is one of the regular moderators of this podcast. Anne thinks that her home country, Britain, has lost a lot of its former privileges and travel freedoms by leaving the European Union five years ago.

What about you? What is your take on this? Do you think we should tighten border security, or do you think we should remove borders between countries wherever possible? Could getting rid of the borders in fact destroy some unique cultural identities and reduce cultural diversity? We would love to hear your stories! Get in touch, feel free to share your opinion with us here on this podcast.

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 from Anne Fox in Denmark on 7 March

Until then – listen to stories from the other side of the border and

Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell! 

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann (German)

Chief Editor: Iryna Krupa (Ukrainian)
Technical Editor: Michele Varvara (Italian)
Assistant Editor: Xavier Sutton (Australian)

Download

Podcast-Feed

Apple podcasts

absolutely intercultural 51 +++ Texas Part II +++ Friesenhaus +++ emigrating to Germany +++

Texan Cowboy Hats in Austin

With a number of intercultural stories and some music left from my Christmas trip to New Braunfels, Texas I somehow felt forced to produce a second show about the German Belt in Texas. The emphasis is on the reasons why Germans have emigrated to Texas and the reputation of Germans in the USA.

absolutely unlimited
People did not only emigrate in the 19th century as in our example in show 49, but also today many leave their homes and friends in the hope of better opportunities in the United States. Günther and Cornelia Dirks tell us how they went to Texas to put into practice their dream of opening a German restaurant called “The Friesenhaus” and why their philosophy of “Just do whatever you Dreams are” did not work for them back in Germany.

absolutely claustrophobic
Leaving Berlin during the Cold War, Klaus joined first the Canadian, later on the American Army to feel the freedom to move around. His wife Edith, still cooking and speaking German better than English just felt that Berlin with the wall around it was too claustrophobic, or “eng” as she likes to say.

absolutely unpronounceable
Laurent tells us how words like “Schleswig-Holstein-Schnitzel”, “Oma’s Haus”, or “Schlitterbahn” belong to the daily vobabulary of Texans and asks the owners of the restaurant if the Americans really like the Germans so much, that they use German stereotypes for their business.

absolutely un-German
Finally, there are, of course, also people who immigrate to Germany because they searched for a new challenge or just liked the idea of living there. Our studio guest Jean Lennox came to Germany in the 70ies and developed what she calls “a-long-time-love-and-hate-relationship”, staying somehow British, but also absorbing some of the best German characteristics. Will she go back when she retires?

The next show will be coming to you on 7 March from Anne Fox in Denmark.

So long…stay tuned!

Host of this show: Dr. Laurent Borgmann
Editor: Peter Kron

Download
Podcast-Feed
iTunes-Abo