期末作文-跨文化交际(英文).doc

A Journey to culture: Mexico City汉硕2014级3班 吴冬媚 20140710060The Plane was about to land on a highland city, Tijuana. It was mountainous and cloudy. The plane circled in the vast clouds and finally landed on. At the very moment when I arrived at this new land, I quite felt like Columbus who discovered the New World ,with joy and victory. However, I am not the same like Columbus. What we will be confronted with is a feast full of cultural exchange and collision, instead of a contest of culture and weapons. But I do not lack the courage to conquer this new land .I Previously have seen a lot of movies about the Indian culture and Mexico, such as A walk in the Clouds, Pocahontas, ect. I like to feel through music, so I took out my cellphone, clicked to play the theme of Pocahontas, Colors of the wind . I am fond of the lyrics:Think you own whatever land you land on Earth is just a dead thing you can claim But I know every rock and tree and creature Has a life, has a spirit, has a name Think the only people who are people Are the people who look and think like you But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger You learn things you never knew You never knew Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon? Or ask the grinning bobcat why he grinned Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains? Can you paint with all the colors of the wind? Can you paint with all the colors of the wind? Pocahontas was adapted from a real story, which tells the story of an Indian princess Pocahontas who saved a British explorer and defused a national war. The key among that is as what the lyrics says, to walk the footsteps of a stranger. The Indian local culture and custom in this movie was lingering in my heart at that moment, as if I were about to explore an undeveloped tribe. And I was absorbed in my beautiful imagination.The primary impression - you just wanna freedomFeeling and listening to the worldI which the lyrics tries to convey, I could find a lot of niceness and beauty here and there: A squirrel climbs at wire with its lovely big fluffy stretching tail ; Succulents, a favorite among the artisticyouth(文艺青年), are visible everywhere; Take a look at roadside grass, you can find scattering wild chrysanthemum, white and pink. Museums are situated here and there.The Mexico City gives me a massive sense of history.The color is dark in the subway, I said to my friend that it was gently scratched by the hawkers of the ages. And the local people sit down whenever they can find a blank space.A couple will stop and begin to kiss regardless of the fact that I am walking on their heels. They are at ease. In this regard, I gently smile. I should know it, they just wanna freedom.The leisure of Mexico City and that of Indonesia is totally different. It should be attributed to the difference between Catholic counties and Islamic countries.In Indonesian, faith is prior to work. If they have time after faith, then they will work. But in Mexico City whose culture is root in Spain, they advocate for enjoying life, and be the author of life. You can imagine a scene that two petit Chinese girls are moving a one and a half-meter-long garbage to the wasteyard while a strong Mexicano man is carrying a blank water bottle from home to throw out , it will be “too beautiful to glance at”.I discovered a very interesting point in Mexico City: the brightness and color of the clothes will change with city. Japanese clothing are dim and plain,which you can refer to the Mori Girl style(森女风) and Uniqlo style. Cantonese are also in favor of the soft and dim style. One of my roommates is from Anhui Province. She said that Cantonese dont care about fashion, if one who wears beautifully, he/she may be an outsider. She is right. In Guangdong, dark-colors are very common overall. Even though there are bright color such as yellow and green, it would not be so bright as what the outsiderses wear. My clothes are all as plain as that. And in Mexico City, people including women wear much darker colors. It is not exaggerated to say that the color black plays an advantaged role in this city. I have no idea why. But this is really interesting. So I ascribe the color and brightness to the character of a city and will pay attention to this wherever I go from now on.But actually for Mexico City, I am confused. Rambling on the road in Mexico City, I can see the houses painted as colorful as a rainbow. It makes me believe that the people dress as the same. But I was wrong, I didnt yet know much about the city. The dilemma of cultureI am quiet. I am used to enjoying this wonderful world quietly even walking, like a lone wolf. So when the passionate Mexicans on the street greet to me, I would reply hola! with an abrupt and surprised expression. In fact, I dont like unexpected greeting like this. But here in Mexico, the one who doesnt even know you will say to you warmly, Como etas? (How are you). I know it makes no sense at all, but I still need to pretend to be glad and say Muy bien (Im fine) In this case, if you dont ask Y tu? (How about you?) but go away, you will feel particularly embarrassed.On the first weekend in Mexico, I met the husband of our principal(Mexicans), Victor. He threw me questions overwhelmingly: How was school going on this week? How do you feel like Mexico? What is your plan for this year? I got instantly speechless and thought: The questions are raised completely irresponsibly! What am I supposed to reply these profound and infinite questions?! Well,fine! I have no choice but to answer.” With millions of unwillingness, I tried to recall what happened last week and gave him a comprehensive answer. Later I found myself awfully stupid at that moment. Victors questions are not actual questions, it is just a greeting. Mexicans do like that when greeting to friends.This can be called cultural difference. China is country focusing on practice. When we greet, we raise question from what is happening or just happened. It will be specific and simple to answer, because it points directly to the specific answers, such as, “have you eaten?” “Where are you going?”. However, the questions for greetings in Mexico is modeling, abstract,and broad. The respondents need to answer the appropriate conventional model without describing the details, such as “muy bien(Im fine.)”and “mas o menos(so-so)”. As Wang Guowei said, Each nationals have their own strengths, and their thought are various, so one will be proficient at A but neglect B. This also applys to the culture differences. Chinese are realistic and practical while the Westerners are good at science and abstraction(“国民之性质各有所长，其思想所造之处各异，故其言语或繁于此而简于彼，或精于甲而疏于乙，此在文化相若之国犹然，况其稍有轩轾乎？抑我国人之特质，实际的也，通俗的也；西洋人之特质，思辨的也，科学的也，长于抽象而精于分类。”) Westerners are skilled at abstraction, thus they established the formulaic greeting. Chinese focus on the reality. As we can see, Confucianst, a realistic school, prevailed in the river of history while Taoism and Logicians gradually get extincted. In ancient, China is a small-scale peasant social(小农社会) and nowadays it pursues a policy of Focus on economic construction(以经济建设为中心) . We Chinese are concerned about the reality and I am affected. That is why I answer in details to Victors greeting questions.I am now getting accustomed to greeting skillfully and fluently with the local formula. But usually I am also exposed to the cultural communication with many Mexicans. As for being good-talker, I think the key therein is the abundant topics.The topic of International-cultural communication.1. Know thyself(知己知彼).Teacher Wang once gave us an example of her student. Every time when this student takes part in a party, he always is a spot light. He is so popular that people like to chat with him. The secret therein is that before the party he makes preparations about the characteristics and the fields of the party-goers.An effective communicator should be like this. So, I learned that when chatting with Mexicans, I can start with their “field”, Mexico City. The correct way to open a city should be: first of all, being a senior foodie(资深的吃货) and poor tour bitch（穷游婊）. So, I googled Mexican cuisine and tourist attractions, getting to know the hidden knowledge. In the communication with Mexicans,I can tell them what I know and be ready to learn from them. Vice versa, foreigners are affected by Chinese culture. As a Chinese teacher, I must have known what kind of culture can attract students, what kind of culture coincides with the universal value. And what kind of culture will be conducive to the world. Then I know what to chat with Mexicans. I have also prepared some little games and talent shows ready to be picked up at anytime. Besides, I have to figure out the similarities and differences between the two cultures. Do as Romans do. Because it is impossible to expect foreigners to understand our own practices. We do what we can do instead of complaining others of not understanding our culture. For example, Chinese generally dont directly express their ability. In Mexico,you shouldnt be humble. When I was handed over a class last time, I was told by the former teacher that I need to tell my students how professional I am: I am graduated from a famous university in China; I am a master of MTCSOL; I am sent by Hanban. And once, I listen to an open class. A Chinese teacher(She is Mexican) was asked by parents how good her Chinese is. She said that she used to go to China for one-years training in Beijing Language and Culture University and blah blah. I couldnt understand all she said but I could feel her confidence,though her Chinese is only HSK4. That is because Mexico are the same as the Western Christian culture, respecting the individuals, believing equality before God. So that they will respect each other, even compliment each other, but they also respect themselves,care about themselves. However,Chinese believe modesty is a virtue, “Pride hurts,modesty benefits”(满招损，谦受益). it is a virtue to compliment each other and belittle their own. Two different cultures,two ways of thinking. Both two nations will make compliment of others,but the way to treat themselves is totally different.We should keep mind on this cultural differences, be confident as Mexican be, especially in Chinese classroom.Therefore, we can say that Mexico is individualistic cultural society where the children here really need self-esteem and encourage. Once I observed a class and found a child crying on her seat. I went over and asked about what was going on. I was very surprised that she told me Chinese is too difficult so that she cant finish these exercises. Then I said never mind and started to help her with the exercise patiently, occasionally praising her. So now every time she comes across me,she will run to me and gives me a hug .2. Cultural comparison analysisTopics can also come from the culture comparison. My roommates Spanish name is Agustina. When I introduced her to My student David, he said that this is a very old name. I smiled, “So it is a classical name, sounds pretty good”. Then a funny analogy was spitted out from his teeth , “We will find it strange if one is called Libai(李白)nowadays.” We bursted into laughter and I realized cultural comparison will create some effects beyond our expectations and make the culture more acceptable. When I traveled, in Taiwan, Indonesia, and Mexico,I found that many cultures are interlinked. I can not help but wonder, civilizations of human being are so strikingly similar even if they are separated in different part of the world. So not only in communication but also in Chinese class can we compare the culture. For example, Treasure voyages(郑和下西洋) can be compared with Columbus discovered the New World, Chinese hamburger (肉夹馍) with hamburger, Beijing roast duck with Mexican taco; Zongzi with tamale; When you hold a perspective of cultural comparison, you will find a lot of interesting things, which will become cross-cultural topics.3. Stubborn mode of thinking - always thinking of the distinction or distinction (一比高下) while making comparisonWe have a stubborn mode of thinking. We always think of the distinction and distinction when we make comparisons. For example, if I tell someone that she looks like Fan Bingbing, she must reply “But Fanbingbing is more beautiful.” People always tend to tell which is better and which is worse while comparing. On this basis, we are prone to either rake up the deficiency of our culture, or reject other different culture. Chinese have such an idea that we can flatter others by self-deprecation. We are more likely to rake up the deficiency of our culture. When I taught Chinese in domestic and in Indonesia, I exposed proactively the darkside of China to my students. I thought the students would feel good about their life if I criticized China. Therefore, thinking it as a way to get students favor, I consciously looked for advantages of their culture and the disavantages of China, so as to please my student. But when I told the students that we eat dog, they grimaced, I finally realized how impolite I was; When I told my students, Mexico City is concerned about history while Guangzhou is forgetting history, they showed no interest in it. Now I am acutely aware that it is childish to do in this way. All types of cultures are without distinction and distinction. Therefore,I now stick to two principles in Chinese classroom: No.1, Dont raking up our cultural deficiency, even if the student mentions it; No.2, Be neither humble nor pushy(不卑不亢), I will compare but not rank. I will display but no comments. Similarly, it is hard for us to accept the strang things of other culture. In Mexico City, we can see punk teenager everywhere whose face is covered with lip nails, eyebrow nails and nose nails (male and female). I have seen this through TV, but when I saw it personally, it is so disgusting for me to even flick my eyes on. They send out a breath of death and corruption,which drives me crazy. I know there must be something hard for you accept in the diversity of culture, such as the tattooing of Taiwans aborigines,and the popular group, HKT in Vietnam. You might conceive them ugly and refuse to accept. But cultural exchange is like watching a fashion show where you can just sit down and appreciate different fashion style without being forced to try the clothes. So after arrived home, I searched punk on “知乎”,trying to know much about them. It is a group of rebellion. It still exists as a subculture even though it has been born for half a century,which I think is beacause of the way they do. They express their discontent by rock musics and distinctive dresses. Actually they are deconstructing the modern civilization step by step. To some extent, punk is a group worthy of praise. I am now learning to get used to them and let different perspectives, different cultures coexist harmoniously around me. I believe that every culture has its own rationality to exist, no one is doomed to be worse than others, whether it is a fruitless flower like Maya and Babylonian, or the beleaguered culture like Islamic culture, also the Fascist culture which is to be blame for World War . We are supposed to be like a plate of salad.The principle of intercultural communication - Cultural baseline.We welcome criticism, but we hold our cultural baseline. Ying-tai Lung(龙应台) raised an “eternal question”: “Chinese people, why dont you get angry?” Indeed, the majority of Chinese people are tolerant,folksy and silent. In international cultural communication, I also perform like a typical Chinese. However, there was a time when I got outraged. What happened in Kunming on March 2014 have become our national memories. I have an American student who is a Tibetan Buddhist.He thinks usually very extremely, and always criticizes China. Considering his criticism is undeniable, so I often let it go. But this time, he said to me, if Han neither robbed the Uyghur of their resources (probably refers to the projects like West-East natural gas transmission), nor oppressed them, there would never be such a tragedy. You Han people should stop complaining to reflect on what you have done. When I heard this, I fail to suppress my anger and said, How much do you know about the Uighur? How much do you know China? And according to your logic, dont buy the corn from the midland. And whats more, you American asked for the 911 terrorist attacks He was speechless and realized I was angry. But Americans are pleased if you refute them,we still get along well. When I was an exchange student in Taiwan, once I took part in cultural salon. A British professor said to us that no one from mainland dont defend China. What he meant was, once he pointed out the bad things about China, mainland-China-students would refute him. There is a popular saying on the internet that patriotism is to criticize our country 8 times a day, but do not allow foreigners to criticize it once. I am with no exception. Sometimes I defend, and sometimes not. And I said to the teacher: If you come to my house, I keep nagging you at the bad things of your house which is actually not that kind of terrible. For example, I keep emphasizing on your leaky toilet and tell you that it is leaky all day long, but in fact it is not. And I totally ignore the beautiful garden you have.How would you do at this moment? Of course you will defend in first time. I can not