Reading Between the Lines

            When out and about in unfamiliar territory it is easy to make assumptions about the area you are in, the people that inhabit that area, and their way of life.  By doing this you can simplify the situation and feel as if you understand what is going on so you know the appropriate way to act.  These assumptions travelers tend to make can result in false understandings, as the generalizations are based on incorrect simplifications. 

  

The Dockhouse on the Beaufort waterfront where a live band performs at night.

            I found this out one night at the Dockhouse in Beaufort, NC, a bar that is a ten minute walk from the Marine Lab.  While inside the bar area I overheard a brief conversation between two locals.  The one middle-aged man in crab-smelling jeans barked at the other man in clothes that had seen better days too “put your phone away, you look like a tourist.”  From this comment and my knowledge of how tourists overrun the area during the summer and displace the permanent residents, it is easy to believe that all locals resent tourists and those who visit their area.   Added to the conversation I had just overhead, I could plainly see how all the locals sat in one group, while the tourists, wearing their yacht club attire, drank on the waterfront and listened to the live band. 

My stereotype that the locals resented the tourists was broken when a friend from the area who works at the Marine Lab introduced me to a local fisherman, as I was interested in clamming.  After our brief conversation about where I should rake, I asked him about the differences between the way the town was now and the summer.  I could tell by the way he looked to phrase his words that he found the summertime to be crowed and overrun with people. However, as we talked more about how nice the establishment we were at was, he seemed to understand that it would not be possible were it not for the boost to the economy the tourists generated. 

Making unsupported assumptions can impede understanding and lead to inaccurate evaluations.  At the Dockhouse I learned it is important to read each situation differently so preconceived notions will not impede my vision of the situation at hand.

Reading Between the Lines

There are less challenges arising from miscommunication at my host site than most of my abroad-traveling peers are most likely experiencing.

I have only noticed subtle situations that have caused miscommunication.  One major example was the way in which you act in new situations in the south.  Most southerners are accustomed to being very outgoing and friendly from the very beginning-- by smiling and waving and introducing yourself to everyone without any shyness.  However, as a naturally introverted and shy person, I did not act this way.  Furthermore, as my "northern culture" does not stress this outgoing nature as much as the south,  I did not realize there was as much of an emphasis on being so outward the first day.  Therefore, some of my southern friends let me know weeks later that I came off as stand-off-ish due to my withdrawn nature.  I found this interesting because I actually thought I was being more outgoing than I normally would -- as I typically do in new situations, like in the beginning of my freshman year in college, in order to make friends more quickly.  This situation, which is frequent in the south because people are so outgoing normally, caused me high anxiety.  When meeting new people I felt this excessive pressure to be un-characteristically outgoing as I felt it was expected, and as Barna explained, this high anxiety can distract me and the other people from the actual situation and the messages of the conversation.  If we are all so focused on an individual's level of outgoingness, we tend to concentrate less on getting to know each other, or to create the comfortable environment that would cause the individual concerned to become more outgoing and friendly.  This also aligns with Barna's tendency to evaluate, in that we constantly judge people from other cultures.  For example, I have always been told that southerners are racist, sexist, and homophobic conservatives.  I am hypersensitive to these characteristics as I take these social issues very seriously.  Therefore, during a conversation I may have a tendency to concentrate on these stereotypes, and interact with southerners through this "screen of judgement".  As with the anxiety, this can distract from the true nature of the interaction, so that I may ignore cues that do not support this stereotype, and instead may overreact to comments and subtle signals that hint at these preconceived notions.  I may assume someone is racist or homophobic due to comments that may not have an a malicious intent, and that my non-southern friends or loved ones may say regularly, just because they are southern.

Intercultural communication

However, aside from this I have not noticed many other miscommunications.  This is primarily because the people I spent my time around were not primarily southern.  Duke University is very diverse, with only approximately 15% of students being from North Carolina.  Therefore, most of the 22 students were from California, with a large portion being from the northeast (e.g. Michigan, Maryland, Ohio).

Reading Between the Lines

Tanneries in the middle of the Fez medina

Camel anyone?

Walking in the medinas of Morocco can be intimidating for young foreign women. I have heard many things shouted at me from leering men and have been followed. This is a common type of harassment in the old cities. Some less crude lines include "spicy", "Shakira", the classic "hey", and my favorite "how many camels?". I was even dressed modestly while receiving all these comments. I find humor in some of these when I rethink about it but overall when I'm in this situation or when the harassment is more crude it can be extremely intimidating.  When my friends and I were accompanied by our guy friends the harassment was significantly less than when it was just a group of girls. This harassment has been very difficult for me, but thankfully it is off campus where this usually happens.

Shops are closed but a medina street view

Interestingly enough I took a trip to Fez with the Interfaith club. We were required to dress traditionally because we were going to the mosque to see the Imam. Fez is the city where I have received the most harassment, yet this time I was complimented by many people. Instead of leering and insulting I received praise? I was so confused. Previously I thought that if I were to wear traditional dress I would be seen as insulting their culture, however it was the opposite. I believe that this is because there is still a hostility between traditional Moroccans and Westerners. To Moroccans dressing in a traditional religious fashion is showing the highest respect to anyone I saw. Whereas wearing my modest western clothes and walking through the medina like I deserve respect is a completely different thing; and a thing that I did expect to receive as a human.

I have never lived in a society where I felt genuinely fearful of walking alone. It opens my eyes to find out how blessed I am to live somewhere I can feel safe in the US. Although the States is not perfect in comparison to the objectification I have experienced by catcalling in Morocco is not comparable. It makes me realize how well off I really am in our society as a female.

Reading between the lines

In the reading, Barna says, ”One answer to the question of why misunderstanding and/or rejection occurs is that many people naively assume there are sufficient similarities among peoples of the world to make communication easy. They expect that simply being human, having common requirements of food, shelter, security, and so on, makes everyone alike” (Barna 1994). I experienced this exact situation a few times throughout the semester.

One of the first days I was here (in the beginning of January), students were talking about the Duke vs. UNC men’s basketball game that was coming up on February 18^th and how excited they were. Surprised by how into basketball everyone was, I said, “Oh, is it a big game? Are they rivals or something?” Well, apparently, Duke and UNC are the biggest rivals in all of college sports. And apparently I should have known that, considering I got scolded for not knowing. But coming from Pittsburgh, where basketball isn’t nearly as big of a deal, I had no idea. And yet, the students here still assumed that I knew each Duke player, their number, position, height, graduating year, class schedule, and favorite food…because God forbid someone isn’t a Duke basketball fan.

I’ve experienced a similar situation in an academic setting. When I was conducting research during this last block of classes, my mentor was throwing out words and names of computer programs that I had never heard before, like “orthomosaic,” “ArcGIS and ArcMap,” “densification,” “point cloud and ray cloud,” and so on. I wanted to run out of the room I was so intimidated and scared of how hard this research was going to be. I wanted to escape the situation and go back to somewhere where I was comfortable. But, thankfully, I didn’t let myself do that. I built up the courage to ask what all of those words meant. Luckily, this time when I asked, I wasn’t scolded. Instead, he took the time to show me exactly what he was talking about so that I would be able to apply it to the research that we were working on together.

My mentor and me in the field using drones to conduct research

Although both of these scenarios are examples of “assumption of similarities,” they both ended very differently. Not everyone will react the same when interacting with a “newcomer”– these two scenarios elucidate that. This just goes to show that even though I am “only” studying away in North Carolina, there have still been "stumbling blocks in intercultural communication."

Barna, L.M. (1994). “Stumbling Blocks in Intercultural Communication.” In L.A. Samovar and R.E. Porter, Intercultural Communication: A Reader, 7^th Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company. (pp. 337-346)

Why Am I Here? Due on May 10, 2015

Why Am I Here? Due on May 10, 2015

(Please read: “American Students Abroad Can't Be 'Global Citizens'”)

So, you started off on this journey with a set of expectations and goals. Now that you have had enough time to explore and reflect, what have you learned that has led to what this article captures, and what we would term ‘productive discomfort’? 

In other words, sometimes a negative or uncomfortable situation, encounter, or incident, can be a teaching moment. What was yours?

Please retain the subject header: "Why Am I here?" as your entry header too. Thank you!

Reading between the lines

     Culture is something that everyone has in his or her life with or without effort. One could define culture as the behavior, customs, and ideas of a particular group of people or society. This is something that generally affects one’s particular lifestyle. The culture of one country may be completely the opposite of another, or they could somewhat resemble each other in some elements. Different regions of the same country could have very different cultures, like California and Alabama in the United States or Brittany and Nice in France. And there could even be cultural differences between certain friend groups.

     The first couple of weeks that I spent in France were the hardest for communication. This is because I was clearly not as fluent in French as I am now. At the time, if I wanted to say an expression that I wasn’t sure how to correctly say in French, I would translate it directly from English. This is when I learned that expressions could usually NOT be directly translated because they either mean something else entirely or they do not make sense at all. For example, I remember making this mistake during one of the first meals that I had with my host family. Since French meals typically have five courses, I ate too much and said “je suis pleine,” which translates word by word to “I am full.” However, it does not carry the same meaning. By saying this expression in French, it is usually said to describe an animal that is pregnant. This made me very aware of the cultural difference in terms of expressions, and I never made that mistake again.

The "bise" greeting (two kisses on the cheeks)

     After living in Angers for a few months, it is now my understanding that the culture in France differs from the United States a lot more than I originally thought. As I have have previously mentioned, the greeting gestures in France differ greatly from greetings in the United States. Laray M. Barna explains that “good intentions, the use of what one considers a friendly approach, and even the possibility of mutual benefits don’t seem to be efficient” for situations like these (337). The most common way to greet a good friend or family member is to give “bises,” which is kisses on each cheek. This is most often used between people that know each other well, but it is also sometimes used with acquaintances. It depends on the people and the relationship between them. To me, this seemed a little more personal than giving someone a hug. However, one time I forgot about the expectation to give the “bises” and instead tried to give one of my friends a hug when I saw them. I was slightly shoved back and my friend had a very surprised look on his face. I could understand that he felt uncomfortable considering the “look” that he gave me. According to Laray M. Barna, “no cross-cultural studies have proven the existence of a common nonverbal language except those in support of Darwin’s theory that facial expressions are universal” (337). This is something that I agree with based on the studies behind it as well as my personal experiences. In France, hugging a person is considered extremely intimate and is only done with a significant other. However, a person can chose to implement different cultures in his or her life. I know many French students that study languages and cultures and who have studied abroad just like I currently do. Since most of them took English, they studied in the United States, and therefore are pretty familiar with the cultural difference. With them, I can use the “bises” or hugs because we have all accepted elements of the other culture as our own.




Zemach-Bersin, Talya. "American Students Abroad Can't Be 'Global Citizens'" The Chronicle of Higher Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.

Reading Between the Lines

The most significant difference that I have noticed in Australia is that many of my Australian peers seem to be very forward about their opinions and do not seem to hold anything back.

Some Americans who are used to polite interactions (even if they are not genuine) might be caught off guard by the way that Australians tend to communicate and might view they way they speak and act as rude. For example, when I first got here and we were doing icebreaker activities with our floor mates, part of the game was to answer some really personal questions about yourself in front of the group. Some of the other Americans in our group seemed extremely uncomfortable with the activity and some did not want to participate. That led to some of the Australians becoming offended that others did not want to participate, because the game was designed for people to become more comfortable with each other, not to be embarrassed. Sure, the game was a bit out of my comfort zone too, but I realized that, especially in the early days of my time here, it was crucial to really be open to the practices and customs here. This ties back to Barna's discussion of the "Tendency to Evaluate," as some people took a common practice of a group of people and immediately judged it as rude and inconsiderate (Barna, 341-342).

The use of "Thank you" is not as popular here either. People tend to simply say "Cheers!" In the U.S., our general response to "Thank you" is "You're Welcome." Here, people do not say "You're Welcome," But instead say "You're alright." Occasionally, the tone of "You're alright" comes across as a sign of annoyance. I think that this ties into Barna's discussion of Culture Shock and High Anxiety (342-343). I think that the typical "Thank you, You're Welcome" discourse in the U.S. provides Americans with a sort of comfort. We do not have to worry about what will come after "Thank you," because it is rarely a surprise. But in a new place, where emotions are already hyper-sensitive, a change from what we are used to can be shocking to some people.

There is also a very strong sense of pride within University Hall Residence Hall, which sometimes leads to anxiety. In the U.S., cheering for a sports team tends to be a voluntary action, and individuals are rarely "forced" into attending an event. But here, it is assumed that all Uni Hall residents will go to sports events, no questions asked. For Australians, this is because cheering on their teams is a very important part of college life, and not doing so would be letting down the team. Some people who are not used to this type of culture might think that the coercive nature of attending sports events is not fair, but this is really a misinterpretation of the true intentions.

Water Polo finals that we were all instructed to attend

Barna, L.M. (1994). "Stumbling Blocks in Intercultural Communication." In L.A., Samovar and R.E. 

     Porter, Intercultural Communication: A Reader, 7th Edition, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing   

     Company. 337-346.

Resetting our goals?

     The word “development” indeed has many different meanings depending on the context. Gilbert Rist highlighted the point that it is also usually in fact a negative word instead of a positive idea, given that something is wasted or transformed in exchange of the development of something else. I had never before thought about this word in this way.

     My first thought was that I believe my host country, France, is considered as “developed” as the United States of America in terms of resources and politics. However according to Gilbert Rist in his article Development as a Buzzword, “a country is the more ‘developed’ the more limited the number of free things that are available: to spend an afternoon on the beach, to go fishing, or enjoy cross-country skiing is nowadays impossible unless one is prepared to pay for it” (488). With my experiences, and if this is considered true, then I would say that the United States of America is more “developed” than France because a lot more activities like this are more often capitalized in America. The French really enjoy spending a lot of time outside while doing sports, socializing, or relaxing a lot more than the average American. It would be ridiculous to pay for these types of things in France. Gilbert Rist touches upon another very interesting point. He says that “since everyone has to earn a living, expensive day nurseries have replaced grandparents in looking after small children, marriage bureaux have replaced village dances as opportunities for those in quest of marriage partners, and the tedious chore of walking the dog twice a day can be contracted out to a jobless person keen to make a little money. Such is life in a fully ‘developed’ country…” (489). In my opinion it is true that this is often the case in the United States; I say that with confidence because I do know a lot of people who actually live this way. In France, I live with a loving and very traditional host family, who has introduced me to a lot of other French families in the area. They are “traditional” in the way that Rist would consider less “developed”. Most people in France hang their clothes up to dry instead of using a dryer, grandparents still often look after their grandchildren for free instead of letting the family invest in day care, and most people consider walking their dogs a very relaxing and natural thing to do (some consider it the best part of their day). This also applies to the friends that I have made here because they all live a very traditional “French” life, which Gilbert Rist would consider less “developed” than America.

Myself walking on the beach

      In the light of Gilbert Rist’s first point, there is widespread usage for the word “development”. When I think of this word in a personal manner after spending a few months in France, the meaning definitely changes. For me, it returns back to the vague meaning, “tending to refer to a set of beliefs and assumptions about the nature of social progress rather than to anything more precise.” I am obviously here to “develop” my ability to speak French, which has without a doubt tremendously improved since my arrival. I speak French every day while doing daily activities, like going to the store or ordering food. I speak French much more often than English. I like joke with my friends, saying that being in France has made me forget English as my native language. I say this because now it sometimes takes me a bit longer to think of a word in English than in French. In Rist’s point of view, this is very fitting to the idea that there is always something lost when development is gained. I am not one to judge if that is a good or bad thing to happen, but these examples are nonetheless good ways to look at the many different contexts of development.


Rist, Gilbert. "Development as a Buzzword." Development in Practice: Stimulating Thought for Action 17 (2007): 485-91. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.