I think learning about different theories of intercultural communication and models of culture is useful because it provides me with a more detailed and concrete look into concepts that I may have only had a vague idea of before. I think these theories are also a great baseline for discussions. Sometimes we might not agree with the ideas presented in the readings, and sometimes the ideas and theories we read about align with our own. What’s important is that they spark good conversations and questions, and we are then able to listen and contribute to each other’s interpretations. One example of how these models of culture are helping me understand cultural differences is in the last class when we learned about Hall’s model of time. Before learning about this model, I had a general understanding that different cultures think about time differently, that some place more value on it than others. Now, I know some of the terms that describe this difference such as Monochronic time and polychronic time, as well as how these two styles are displayed in different cultures. Also, from the Oberg and Kalevro reading, I wanted to know more about what the authors meant when they said that husbands are more likely to feel culture shock than wives. At first glance, I simply dismissed it because I thought it was a very dated argument, and that it wouldn’t be at all true today. However, I realize that someone else may have interpreted it differently than I did, and from that I could learn something that I wouldn’t have otherwise learned.