Evaluation

As I sit on my bed, back in the comfort of my own room, I have had time to reflect on my own intercultural communication. I could not be happier that i got to have this experience. When I was in Ecuador, I didn't get the time to look at some of the other things other people had to say. Below are a couple of examples of effective intercultural communication and one example of ineffective intercultural communication:

When Eli said, "This morning, I had an omelette with noodles inside. What an interesting combination! And, as one can imagine, I did not like it at all." it is clear that he was judging their food. Because the breakfast food was different than the U.S., he assumed that it was going to taste disgusting. He could've been more open-minded when saying this; however, I can relate because there were foods that I tried there that I also didn't enjoy. I just told myself that it was something new. By doing this, it helped quite the voice in my head saying "this is weird."

When Tyessa said, "I’m looking forward to what seems like little luxuries the U.S. has to offer, like lighter water pressure, consistently hot showers, a greater variety of food, etc." This is slightly ethnocentric. She is explaining that the U.S. has more to offer than Ecuador. She does acknowledge the fact that this is ethnocentric, but it shows that we are only human and we do believe things in the U.S. are better than things in other countries.

Lindsay makes a good point when she says, "I will miss people speaking in Spanish all around me because it was very helpful when trying to make progress in my Spanish speaking abilities." Even though speaking Spanish came as a challenge, she tried her best. She looked to those around her and was able to become more comfortable speaking the language.


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