I have learned a lot in this class in terms of just broadening my awareness of the various topics that are key to intercultural competence such as understanding cultural similarities and differences when it comes to core values, concepts of time, power, verbal and nonverbal communication, etc. and I think the fact that we had such a wide range of material to learn from (theoretical readings, short & humorous videos, lecture with slides, brainstorm activities, quizzes, student presentations, class discussions, and more) is what really helped to enrich my learning and exploration of such an important topic.

At the beginning of the class, I felt like I was mostly at the intermediate level of the Intercultural Can Do Statements for my country of interest (China) and at the novice level for most other countries I’ve thought about traveling to. Now though I feel like I can do more things at the advanced level for China, and maybe even some things at the intermediate level for other countries I’ve learnt about through this class. For example, I can now talk about a historical event in China such as the Once Child Policy in much more depth than I had been able to before, and can have a “simple conversation about educational systems” in Denmark and Korea thanks to my classmates presentations.

Overall, the most significant take away for me was that this class helped prime me in a way to be more aware when it comes to interacting with cultures that are different from my own by remembering that there are so many cultural nuances that may contribute to why someone thinks the way they do, or behaves the way they do, and that my own behavior or way of thinking is just as unfamiliar to them as theirs is to me, and therefore there is no one “right” way to be. And finally, that we should constantly be striving to understand other cultures without pushing aside the differences, but embracing them.