Tag: migration

National Borders +++ Immigration +++ Travel +++ Security +++ Absolutely Intercultural 303

Hello dear listeners and welcome to show 303 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today, we are going to talk about the cultural aspects of “national borders”, human-made geographical lines separating two countries or regions. Some see borders as the ugly scars on the face of the earth – when others say “Where there is a border, there is a story.” I am speaking these words to you from South Africa where I am on a teaching assignment and on my flight here I probably crossed a dozen such boundaries, a bit like a migrating bird blissfully ignoring the national borders on the ground.  

Thank you for tuning in and I hope you bring with you your own culturally diverse opinions on borders. This is the Absolutely Intercultural Podcast – and we appreciate diversity and different views on the same subject – and absolutely everyone is welcome to think absolutely everything about this contentious topic!

National borders are causing most conflicts all over the world. From our guests, we will learn how borders can be viewed very differently, depending on your cultural and political background. In the cultural context of holidays, borders can be cute instagrammable opportunities for a selfie, in others they present an impenetrable barrier and keep inhabitants imprisoned in a confined area.

By the way, today, we are transgressing a border ourselves, for the first time in the history of this podcast. We are hosting a very unusual guest here today. Anne Fox one of the makers of this podcast, will be joining us today on the other side of the microphone as our interviewee.

absolutely human

In our first story, we will listen to Ilja, a travel agent who regularly finds himself crossing borders somewhere in Europe. Ilja seems to have thought a lot about borders and has come to the conclusion that borders are not natural, but are rather abstract lines that humans have drawn to organize their cultures and communities.

absolutely secure

In our second story, we will listen to Serhii. He believes that unrestricted freedom of movement could lead to increased immigration and possibly a rise in crime. He also believes that going to another country shouldn’t be as easy as it is in Europe nowadays but instead, every traveler should be “trusted but also properly checked” in order to protect our distinct cultures.

absolutely privileged

In our last story, we will listen to Anne Fox, who is one of the regular moderators of this podcast. Anne thinks that her home country, Britain, has lost a lot of its former privileges and travel freedoms by leaving the European Union five years ago.

What about you? What is your take on this? Do you think we should tighten border security, or do you think we should remove borders between countries wherever possible? Could getting rid of the borders in fact destroy some unique cultural identities and reduce cultural diversity? We would love to hear your stories! Get in touch, feel free to share your opinion 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 from Anne Fox in Denmark on 7 March

Until then – listen to stories from the other side of the border and

Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell! 

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann (German)

Chief Editor: Iryna Krupa (Ukrainian)
Technical Editor: Michele Varvara (Italian)
Assistant Editor: Xavier Sutton (Australian)

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absolutely intercultural 139 +++ Kurds and Arabs +++ Iraq +++ NYOI +++ Spiritual Journeys +++ Migration +++

In this show we will talk about: religious intercultural exchange and especially the famous Catholic event  “World Youth Day”, a New Zealander who traveled the world and found the most unusual souvenir in Peru (his wife), and I will take you behind the scenes of the inspiring project – the “The National Youth Orchestra of Iraq” which we already heard about in our last shows.

absolutely unexpected part I
We heard from the Scottish conductor Paul MacAlindin himself, from tutors who are supporting the orchestra by teaching different musical instruments and even from students at RheinAhrCampus who helped promote the project through social media such as Facebook and YouTube. This time, in our first category  we will hear more about the intercultural differences, the language barriers and the everyday challenges of the “National Youth Orchestra of Iraq”. I talk with Karl-Walter Keppler, the chairperson of the sponsorship association which is organising financial support for the Iraqi musicians so that they can travel to Europe to perform in the Beethovenfest in Germany. Karl-Walter has first-hand intercultural experiences as he, himself, travelled to Iraq last year.  But what are the motivations behind his involvement in the project?

absolutely spiritual
In our second category  I talk to a student from RheinAhrCampus, Denise Wagner, who is perhaps a little different from other students. Most students nowadays are not very religious. Or if they are, we don’t really notice. However, Denise is an exception. She is an active Catholic and likes to do pilgrimages and so she has traveled to many spiritual places – for example the Greek Island Pathmos. Her next destination will be the “World Youth Day” which is going to take place in Spain later this year. But is she doing this on her own? And what exactly happens when she arrives at these places? Is this about fasting with bread and water in a monastery or about dancing around campfires and playing the guitar?

absolutely unexpected part II
In this category I want to come back to the interview with Karl-Walter Keppler. In this part he gives us insights into the specific work on the project. So what is his foundation doing for the orchestra? Without this support the Iraqui musicians would not be able to pay for their travel to Europe. Karl-Walter is going to tell us about the status quo of the project! Where are they at the moment, what they need and what is going to happen in the future?

absolutely migrated
In our last category  Mathew Dunne will share some of his life experiences with you. He is originally from New Zealand, but travelled the world until he met his wife in Peru on a holiday. He loves to leave his comfort zone and travel to unique destinations, but he may have different motivations… On these journeys, Mat has experienced a lot more than most of us. Mat is not just traveling as a holiday maker – he has lived in most of the countries he visited for a longer period of time and even worked there. He will tell us about his motivations and his specific experiences he gathered while working as plumber in London.

Our next show will be coming to you from Anne Fox in Denmark on 22 July

Until then –
Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann
Editor: Markus Scherer