Kim Kyeongjin – absolutely intercultural!

Self-Imrpovement Culture +++ Personal Goals +++ Social Expectations +++ Absolutely Intercultural 282 +++

Hello dear listeners and welcome to show 282 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today, we are going to talk about the culture of self-improvement.
One way or another, most of us strive to be better than we really are. We would love to look better, be more successful and feel better than we really are. Many of us constantly try to improve ourselves our working styles and our lives: taking care of our health, searching for our purpose in life, trying to make a difference in the World, developing our skills for the workplace, and working on our private relationships.
Let us assume that self-improvement is the way forward to feeling better about ourselves. But then, why do we feel so exhausted, trying to be perfect everywhere and all the time?

absolutely determined

In our first category, “absolutely determined”, we will listen to Teona from Georgia. As she is clearly a member of the self-improvement culture, Teona already knows what she wants to have achieved in 10 years time and has identified which extra skills the “future-Teona” needs to be a member of this self-improvement culture.

absolutely risky

In our second category, “absolutely risky”, we will hear from Beyza. She shares that in order to improve herself, she had to leave her cultural comfort zone and take the big risk of leaving her home country, Turkey.

absolutely aware

Finally, in our last category, “absolutely aware”, we listen to Johnson from China. He tells us how the Chinese self-improvement culture encourages a strong awareness of losing face in front of others and to keep up one’s dignity. In some cases, this fear of losing face may be stronger than the fear of death.

What about you? Do you have a truly personal approach to setting your own improvement goals? What do you think about the self-improvement culture? Is it the next fashion after the fitness boom? Do you think it can really make us happy as individuals? Get in touch, and feel free to share your unique story with us here on this podcast.

Our next show will be coming to you on the 3 of March.

Until then – check your personal goals against those of the cultural bubble you live in! – and

Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann

Chief Editor: Natalia Obikhod

Assistant Editors: Kyeong Jin Kim, Faisal Faisal

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Sports Culture +++ Why we do sports +++ Influence of sports +++ Absolutely Intercultural 281 +++

Hello and welcome to show 281 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today, we are going to shed some light on the “Sports Culture” which is a non geographically determined culture that people from all over the world can be part of . From our international guests, we will hear what can motivate or inspire people to do sports. What are the values and beliefs that sports people share? Is it all about physical health and strength? Or is it actually about mental well-being? Some sports people go for the satisfaction produced by accomplishment. Some go for the collectivist idea of team spirit and equality and inclusion, working against discrimination based on gender or race.

Perhaps, the running and sweating is only a side issue and the sports culture is really about cultural values such as team spirit, resilience and shared achievement which would mean that sports have a much greater impact on us and on society than we may think.

absolutely impactful

In our first story “absolutely impactful”, we will listen to Brian from India. Brian shares with us how playing sports can bring amazing outcomes to people, especially when we look at mental health. He says, doing sports makes him feel at his best.

absolutely competetive

In our second story, “absolutely competitive”, we will listen to Steph from Canada. Steph shares with us how she has played hockey for years and how it can be hard being the only woman on the field. No matter what, Steph never gave up, and biting comments from male players even encouraged her to become more competitive.

absolutely productive

In our third story, “absolutely productive”, we will listen to Albano from Italy. Albano tells us how he does sports to redirect his negative energy to something productive and manages to get both toxins and negative ideas out of his body and mind.

What about you? Are you part of this sports culture? What or who inspired you to start and what keeps you motivated? What benefits does it have in your professional and personal life? Do you believe sports may be able to solve problems that our politicians cannot? Or perhaps you are more critical of this culture? We would love to hear more perspectives on this topic. Get in touch, and feel free to share your unique story 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 on 6 January.

Until then – think about what the sports culture means to you! –

Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann

Chief Editor: Natalia Obikhod

Assistant Editors: Kim Kyeongjin, Faisal Faisal

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Political Correctness +++ Woke Culture +++ Being PC +++ Absolutely Intercultural 280 +++

Hello and welcome to show 280 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today, we are going to talk about the culture of “Political Correctness”. Since the 1980s many people in public life have used politically correct language either to avoid discrimination and to treat others respectfully or because they are worried about being judged by more politically correct people. The original idea of the concept was to try to make the world less racist, less homophobic, less sexist, in short into a better place. But will this cultural change really ever achieve worldwide equality of genders and races? Or will the PC language only change the way we speak but not the way we really think or behave? Many critics see pc language as censorship and draw parallels to George Orwell’s utopian idea of “Newspeak” in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, where the totalitarian regime decides to reduce the language to the point that ideas which are not desirable can no longer be expressed.

From our guests, we will hear how they see and experience this new culture of political correctness, which is now gaining more and more influence on our vocabulary, our minds, and our lives.

absolutely filtered

In our first story, “absolutely filtered”, we will listen to Faisal from Iraq who is currently studying in Germany. Faisal tells us that political correctness in Europe makes him feel a little uncomfortable in communication. He compares the PC and woke languages to having a filter on everyone’s mouth.

absolutely responsible

In our second story, “absolutely responsible”, we will listen to Waqar from Pakistan who owns a plastic free shop in Germany – “Unpacked Remagen“. With his business, tries to introduce his customers to environmental awareness, such as climate change. For Waqar, political correctness concerns more than just the language we use. It is about taking responsibility and real action.

absolutely open-minded

In our last story “absolutely open-minded”, we will listen to Niklas from Germany. For Niklas, being politically correct depends on the situation he is in. At work, he will be politically correct. However, when hanging out with his friends, Niklas can allow himself to make some politically incorrect jokes to bond with them.

What about you? What do you think about political correctness? Does it come to you easily to be politically correct in every aspect of your life? And do you think with the help PC language we can really reduce discrimination and reach equality? Or do you struggle with the new language as if it censored and restricted your expression? Get in touch with us, and feel free to share your unique story with us here on this podcast.

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 on 2 December.

Until then – rethink your own political correctness –

Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann

Chief Editor: Natalia Obikhod

Assistant Editors: Kim Kyeongjin, Faisal Faisal

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