Both Measurements

  

    I am surprised to see the results of "Open-mindedness". Typically, I am open and considerate toward my friends without demanding them to pay me any respect even the fact that I am much older than most of them. In contrast, I am always keen to see and discuss the difference in opinions with people around me, for I believe that being open-minded allows me to learn new things from people. On top of that, I am always grateful for the feedback my friends give me and I almost never get upset by such intentions. 

   I completely concur with the results of "Social Initiative". I have been undertaking both programs, this exchange program and the Master's degree program from my home university. In addition, due to the fact that I am not effective with time management and innate inclination to do things really slowly, I find it very discouraging to leave my comfort zone to lead or propose any more social initiatives after the first few months after I arrived here. However, I am a very good follower. It means if someone organizes any events and invites me to join, I mostly try my best to join them. 

  I am quite satisfied with the results of "Flexibility and Emotional stability". One of the things I would like to improve is making more friends. To make this happen, I often have to alter my routines to join other people despite the fact that I do not enjoy doing so very much because I see and believe that joining and spending with friends grant me a number of occasions to build up networks, communication, and knowledge. In addition, I am now better at maintaining my emotions and thoughts. Instead of getting upset when people do not see things in the same way as me, I seem to be more comfortable now than before and I am more willing to allow myself to be disagreed with, for every person and culture is unique and different from me and mine. Additionally, listening to other people's arguments makes me see other possibilities which I normally do not see when I reject their disagreement. Furthermore, while allowing myself to be disagreed with also makes me become closer to other people, they also start to be even more open to me. To put it differently, I can learn a lot from being able to maintain my emotions.

 

         I do not think I have gained such a large amount of "Cultural-specific knowledge" as shown in the survey. However, I have certainly attained some useful cultural-specific knowledge from this program. This is owing to the fact that I am really tactful not to comment and disrespect any individuals or cultures. Besides, I am always curious to learn about new cultures and tend to adapt to those cultures when I hang out with their practitioners. In addition, whenever I encounter any unfamiliar cultures, I often use the most appropriate common sense to help understand those cultures. 

    I might agree with "Behavior and Attitude" because I once in a while feel a bit confused, upset and embarrassed when people I interact with do not comply with the most common universal rules of living such as cleaning up their dirty spots and mess after using the kitchen and shower room. Personally speaking, what I normally do when I am in a new area is to scan and observe to see how people in my place of residence live and I normally try to follow them. For instance, if the residents live clean, I also try my best to live as clean as them. Nonetheless, when people coming from different cultures fail to comply with that universal rules, I find it hard to understand. Then, I mostly start to be on my own even more and more. The same thing goes for interacting with other classmates. I eventually begin to ignore other classmates when I sense some differences in our cultures, which prevent me from understanding them or vice versa. However, overall, I am polite and considerate toward others. 

    I am really proud of this decrease in the intensity of my ethnocentrism. To be honest, I have never seen and considered my culture to be better than those of my friends. In fact, I am always excited to share and learn about new cultures with my friends and try to apply their cultures when I deem necessary. On top of that, in case I am uncertain how to react to a certain cultural difference, I usually try to think of the most universal common response to that difference.   

    One of the benefits I have gained so far from this experience is a chance to expel my ability in using English, especially speaking, for now, I am able to articulate eloquently in almost any situation in this language, which I often did not have to do that in Cambodia where I only had to speak English in my workplace. As a result, I am now way more confident in my ability to express my opinions and argument in a clearer and more effective way in English than before.