The AMAZING Human Communication Paper on Intercultural Communication.

The following is my three...well actually four...paragraph essay I wrote for my Human Communication class. We were supposed to respond to intercultural communication and how we can improve it or how we have improved it in our everyday lives. For added enjoyment, I decided to add my own commentary along the way in parentheses. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

Improving Intercultural Communication

Intercultural communication is a vital part of our world today and is almost impossible to avoid. I have personally dealt with intercultural communication many times throughout my life (ok maybe like five times total, but who's counting?). Whether it is a person from another nation or even just a person from a different part of the United States, cultures can be vastly different. Communication can be difficult if you are not prepared, but if you take the proper precautionary (precautionary is a big word people in college use! Yay for me!) steps and are aware of the other person’s beliefs and customs, communication between the two parties can be successful (a successful communication? Neat.).
When it comes to improving communication, there are many steps that should be taken to ensure the success of the communication. These include, preparing yourself, reducing ethnocentrism, confronting stereotypes, increasing mindfulness, avoiding overattribution, recognizing differences, and adjusting your communication (I can't take credit for this part, it was straight out of the book). An example of when I took these necessary steps was when I had to communicate with a foreign exchange student on the first day of my math class (And so begins the story of Vladimir, the made up Russian student). Vladimir was from Russia, so it was obvious his culture was very different than my own (duh!). Even though this difference was present, I took the proper precautions (<---once again, big college word) so we could have a successful conversation.
I prepared myself for the conversation by asking a friend (Dallas, this is you) who was taking Russian that year how I should approach the student (Apparently they were an alien so I couldn't just approach them by saying hi). I wanted to appear friendly and not offend them in any way. Then I reduced my ethnocentrism (<---nice word choice, unfortunately straight out of the book) by trying to see his beliefs, values, and customs as equal to my own even though they were much different (We all know Americans are superior though. haha). Next, I confronted my stereotypes that because he was an exchange student he was smarter than everyone else in the room. Just because he was an exchange student, it didn’t mean he was any smarter than the rest of the class (Of course exchange students are just as dumb as the rest of us...except the Asian ones. They are all geniuses, but Vladie was Russian so that ruled out that he was a genius). After that, I increased my mindfulness and avoided overattribution by not making any assumptions or jumping to conclusions before I actually got to know him. Finally, I recognized our differences (Vladimir was a boy and I was a girl. Took a long time to recognize that difference) and adjusted my communication.
Through that conversation we got to know each other a little better, and even though our backgrounds are very different, we came to be friends (awww...I have an imaginary friend). Our conversation opened my eyes to many differences, but it also showed me the similarities we had. We are still in contact today (BFFs!) even though he has traveled back to his home in Moscow. (I was really tempted to say he had to travel back to mother Russia but that might have been a little over the top. :D )

Oh That's Real Attractive...

About a month ago I was playing with a lighter, when I accidentally caught my hair on fire. Before I could extinguish the flame, it singed my eyebrow and burnt a small patch of hair right down to about a fourth of an inch from my head. Scary, I know.

Thankfully the small patch of burnt hair wasn't that noticeable, that is until the other day when I looked in the mirror. You see, the hair is starting to grow back. Now that it is like an inch long, it stands straight up! So here I am with a small patch of hair right in the middle of my forehead sticking up!

Luckily though, it is a really small patch of hair, and you probably wouldn't notice unless I pointed it out to you. Even though it really isn't that attractive, I do think it is quite comical. Just one memory that will still with me for a long time!

The Humor of an Evening Drive

Driving has always been my escape. I love nothing more than to get in my car and cruise around town with no destination in mind. As I drive, listening to my music, occasionally singing along I am given a chance to ponder my life and the direction it is heading. Some days I drive to escape the boring confines of my apartment, and other days I have real issues to contemplate. Today was the latter. As the gas gauge slowly dropped, I thought about my future and what lie ahead for me. Lately I have been plagued with a sense of insecurity in my decisions about my education and future career. Thankfully yesterday I had a chance to discuss my problems with my former English teacher, mentor, and friend. She advised me to explore the world of nonfiction writing, and I am very excited at the prospect of writing for a living. I know it will be difficult, but I think I am up for the challenge. For now, I am going to stick with my plans to go to culinary school this fall, but I will definitely keep writing a priority in my mind.
Anyway, back to my drive through Springfield today. As I continued to drive, passing several businesses along the way, I saw a sign that caught my attention. It read “Ink Slingers: Home of the $35.00 tattoo.” Well, I am not a tattoo artist by any means, but to me any tattoo shop that advertises a cheap tattoo is not one worth going to. Tattoos are on your body for life, so I would think bargain shopping is not the objective. But who am I to talk? After all, my wrist tattoo was only $32.00 after tax. But I guess you have to keep in mind that I got my tattoo in Mountain Home, Arkansas rather than Springfield, Missouri. Everything is more expensive in Springfield.
Driving further down the road, I saw another sign that caught my eye. This time it was a billboard. It showed a picture a young girl smiling with a glass of chocolate milk in her hand. Under her the sign read, “Chocolate Milk: The official sport drink.” Just the thought made me want to puke. Take a moment and think about it. You are a sports star, gearing up for your next fierce competition. You are trying to get pumped for the game, so you grab a drink from the refrigerator that is sure to hydrate you. What do you envision grabbing? Is it a Gatorade or possibly a PowerAde, both of which have been proven to provide you with the electrolytes necessary to give you the energy to win? That’s what I would envision, but no, according to this billboard, the magical drink you are reaching for is chocolate milk. Just the thought of drinking a cup of chocolate milk before rigorous physical activity makes me want to hurl. I would think that anyone drinking milk before a race would be caught thinking the famous words of Will Farrell in Anchorman, “Milk was a bad choice.” But maybe that’s just me.

So with that final sickening thought of milky bliss, I ceased my evening drive. I ended my drive without figuring out what I want to do with my life, but I did get a chance to breathe. I had a chance to escape my life and look at it from an outsider’s perspective, and I had a chance to enjoy some humorous sights along the way.