semester abroad – absolutely intercultural!

Uncertainty +++ Decision-making +++ Semester abroad +++ Absolutely Intercultural 271 +++

Hello and welcome to show 271 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Our topic today is “Uncertainty”. We are all faced with uncertainties every day, but the way that we deal with them and the way we feel about them makes us unique. Some of us feel terribly helpless in situations of uncertainty. On the other hand, there are people, for example those who enjoy playing poker, who think that certainty is boring and are always looking for the adrenaline which uncertainty provides them with during their adventures. Are there any tricks, for those who don’t like uncertainty to be able to take decisions and feel safe with their choices? Or for those who seek uncertainty as a thrill in life and enjoy weighing up different probabilities?

absolutely homeless

In our first category, “absolutely homeless”, Elene from Georgia shares with us how she left her lovely, predictable and comfortable home in Georgia and ended up sleeping rough in a car in Amsterdam together with three friends.

absolutely uncertain

In our second category, “absolutely uncertain”, Adika, a student from Azerbaijan, tells us about a situation where she observed a man well because she was not so sure whether she should accompany him to his house for CouchSurfing.

absolutely open

In our last category, “absolutely open”, Amauri, a student from Brazil tells us about how he resolved the uncertainty of living with a roommate from an Arab country. Amauri had read on the internet that single Arab men do not like to have girls around their house and feel a little awkward when there are female visitors at home.

What about you? Have you recently experienced uncertainty in your life? How did you feel about it? Will the tricks that we shared help you when you face uncertainty?

Please 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 4 March.

Until then – allow a little more uncertainty in your lives – and

Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann

Chief Editor: Esjona Musta

Assistant Editors: Natalia Obikhod, Elene Mikeladze

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Internalization +++ Erasmus Experience +++ Life In a Cultural Exchange +++ Absolutely Intercutural 269 +++

Hello and welcome to show 269 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today we will listen to our Chef Editor, Esjona Musta from Albania who will share with us the biggest step in her internationalization story so far. Have you got any plans for internationalizing yourselves? What can you do to have a multitude of intercultural challenges? How does an Exchange program like ERASMUS change young people’s lives? How did Esjona manage to integrate herself so quickly and learn about traditions of a new culture and religion?

absolutely integrated

In our first category, “absolutely integrated”, Esjona will take us into the Carnival Celebrations in Cologne. Imagine her in a crowded train full of Germans dressed as Movie characters, such as Pocahontas, but also as the Christmas Grinch, next to Santa Claus, and the whole zoo.

absolutely traditional

In our second category “absolutely traditional”, Esjona will get an unexpected Christmas present while she is describing how it feels to celebrate a traditional Christmas in Germany.

absolutely Erasmus

Finally, in our last category, “absolutely Erasmus”, Esjona makes a toast with mulled spiced wine to the most valuable lesson she learned during her ERASMUS semester.

What about you? Have you had intercultural experiences which changed your mind set or your behavior? Have you thought about starting your own internationalization story in your own country or abroad?

Please 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, www.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 7th of January.

Until then – start formulating your next steps in your own internationalization – and Bleiben Sie absolutinterkulturell!

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann

Chief Editor: Esjona Musta

Assistant Editors: Natalia Obikhod, Elene Mikeladze

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International Life +++ A Day in the Life of Kalvin +++ Daily Experiences +++ Absolutely Intercultural 253 +++

Welcome to show 253 of Absolutely Intercultural, A Day in the Life of Kalvin, coming to you from the beautiful Rheinland in Germany. Today’s show is an immersive journey about daily life in Germany, narrated by one of our Australian international students. Have you ever considered living overseas or wondered about what intercultural challenges you would face? Today we hear directly from Kalvin and experience a summer day in Germany firsthand.

Continue reading “International Life +++ A Day in the Life of Kalvin +++ Daily Experiences +++ Absolutely Intercultural 253 +++”

Open-hearted +++ Boquerones +++ Málaga, Spain +++ Absolutely Intercultural 233 +++

In this show, which could carry the sub-title “absolutely boquerones” we are going to focus on the culture of Málaga in Spain. And Boquerones is the typical fish grilled over open fire on the beaches of Málaga, but it is also the nickname for the inhabitants of Malaga. First, we will listen to Julian talking about his experience in Malaga, Spain, as he is doing a Semester abroad at our partner University, Universidad de Málaga. Juanjo, an Erasmus Student from Spain, who is currently studying a semester at RheinAhrCampus in Germany, will talk about the differences he noticed in the educational systems of Spain and Germany. And finally, we will listen to Trish, who is originally from Ireland but lived in various different countries and now lives in Málaga, will share with us why she decided to live in Spain.

Continue reading “Open-hearted +++ Boquerones +++ Málaga, Spain +++ Absolutely Intercultural 233 +++”

Erasmus +++ Student stories +++ Exchange semester impact +++ Learned skills +++ Absolutely Intercultural 222 +++

To what extent does study abroad influence students’ future life both in academic and career perspectives? Well, in this episode, which will be the last of a series on the 30^th Anniversary of the ERASMUS program, we will listen to my colleague from RheinAhrCampus , who works with outgoing students, and helps them find the best partner universities for their stays abroad. She will talk about differences in students’ behaviors and appearance which she notices after they come back from their host country. We will also interview two guest lecturers from Portugal and from our partner university Indian Institution of Technology, Madras. They will talk about staying abroad and an extraordinary campus in India, and how it was first established with German aid in the 1960s. And we will hear some voices of international professionals who were once exchange students in Germany and who will tell us what skills and habits they gained during their studies at RheinAhrCampus. Finally we will listen to my co-host Anne Fox from Denmark who was in Germany and took part in our seminar Managing Cultural Diversity.

Continue reading “Erasmus +++ Student stories +++ Exchange semester impact +++ Learned skills +++ Absolutely Intercultural 222 +++”

Absolutely Intercultural 221 +++ before Erasmus +++ study abroad experiences +++ stereotypes +++

Hello and welcome to show 221 of our podcast “absolutely intercultural” which is the fourth of series of “Erasmus 30” podcasts to celebrate and highlight the 30th anniversary of the most successful of all student exchange programs. In this episode, our two lecturers will share their exchange experiences and stories about their studies abroad. How did teaching in Germany under the Erasmus mobility program benefit a lecturer’s research activities and his academic life? Then we will listen to a lecturer from RheinahrCampus, he will talk about how he studied abroad two decades ago. Was it more difficult to arrange than an exchange semester today? What were the required documents in the past and now? And finally, we will look at the differences in student lives in different countries.

Continue reading “Absolutely Intercultural 221 +++ before Erasmus +++ study abroad experiences +++ stereotypes +++”

Absolutely Intercultural 216 +++ Erasmus 30 Anniversity +++ Practical Teaching +++ Study Abroad

Welcome to show 216 of our podcast “absolutely intercultural” which is the second of a series of “Erasmus podcasts” to celebrate and highlight the 30th anniversary of this “mother of all student exchange programs”. In this episode we are going to hear from the three participants of the program sharing their dearest experiences and stories with you. What is it like to be an Erasmus student? What is is an “Erasmus Experience”? Perhaps living on your own in completely different country for the first time! Stay tuned and listen to our international exchange students from Azerbaijan and Spain, as well as a guest lecturer from Canada.

Continue reading “Absolutely Intercultural 216 +++ Erasmus 30 Anniversity +++ Practical Teaching +++ Study Abroad”

Absolutely Intercultural 214 +++ Erasmus 30 +++ Teaching Staff Mobility +++ Study Abroad

Welcome to this special episode dedicated to the 30^th Anniversary of the European Erasmus Program. In today’s episode we are going to hear from three participants of the program sharing their experiences and stories about how they decided to leave their comfort zones and made a bold move to internationalise themselves. Listen to the the stories of two international Erasmus Exchange students from Azerbaijan and Georgia, and a guest lecturer from Canada.

Continue reading “Absolutely Intercultural 214 +++ Erasmus 30 +++ Teaching Staff Mobility +++ Study Abroad”

Absolutely Intercultural 199 +++ Culture +++ Software of the Mind +++ Updates +++

blog-picture-software Absolutely Intercultural Show 199

Have you ever tried to explain something, and in the middle of it, you figured out that the best option would probably be to compare it to something else?

Hofstede did the same thing with culture and software, showing their similarities in his book “Cultures and Organizations – Software of the Mind“.

The metaphor of culture as the software of the mind works really well when we compare them in terms of installing, uninstalling and updating cultural software, for example.

In this episode, we listen to two interviews about Hofstede’s idea, on how you can easily see his theory present in your daily lives.

Continue reading “Absolutely Intercultural 199 +++ Culture +++ Software of the Mind +++ Updates +++”

Absolutely Intercultural 195 +++ international students +++ internship experience abroad +++ gypsy art +++

In today’s podcast we hear about ‘‘International students and their internship experience abroad”. We talk to Sander, a Dutch student who is living in Spain working in a bike tour company and he told us about how to plan, organize and prolong a student internship then we listen to an interview with two gypsy artists Delaine and Damian from Great Britain who are traveling the whole world and exhibiting their art in various places, e.g. at VHS Aachen Continue reading “Absolutely Intercultural 195 +++ international students +++ internship experience abroad +++ gypsy art +++”