Dublin, Sep 2008

Hi everybody!

I came back from Dublin two days ago.

Wonderful capital, great people, good pubs, live Irish music every night, pints of Guinness.......but unortunarely a rainy weather. I cannot have everything, I suppose!

I spent a week in Dublin to make research for my thesis. I consulted many books of the Berkeley library inside the Trinity college. It was amazing! The atmosphere of the college is completely different compared to Italian Universities.

After three days, all spent in doing photocopies, I visited the town: Temple Bar, the Castle, the National Museum, the National Library, Christ Church, St. Patrick Cathedral, St. Stephen Green, Oscar Wilde's house, the Guinness storehouse. I also visited a little seaside village and fortunately there there were few tourists. I enjoyed a little bit the real heart of Irland. There were only me and the seals swimming near the lighthouse.

Great experience!

Intercultural competence ICC

Now it's time to reflect upon this exciting intercultural experience we have had in the past two months: in other words our skype exchange.

Assessing myself is not an easy task. It needs a lot of awareness and objectivity. However, I feel that I gained some new competences. During this period I felt myself like a sponge, but this experience was not merely an exchange of information, it was more like a dive into a new culture. I improved my writing and reading skills, thanks to our wiki page project, and my listening too. Sometimes our American peer spoke fast and so it was a good training for us.

What I appreciated most of our exchange is the fact that it aroused my curiosity about various aspects of the other culture: music, movies, politics, immigration, university life, etc. I learnt how to be more well disposed towards other cultures. I realized that my opinions are influenced by my culture and that people of other cultures may have different opinions. I'm able to accept these differences and I'm always curious to know different points of view. For example I feel not offended if what the majority of foreigners know about Italy is mafia. I know this is merely a stereotype. I had many stereotypes about Americans too and during the exchange I tried to understand if they are true. For example one of the first things I asked to my American peer was: 'Is your life in the university campus as we see it on tv and movies?'. Of course not. So, I think I became more conscious of my own perspective and I think that my position is a good one because I can help people, who don't have the same awerness, to approach and understand other cultures.

I also developed my ability of changing perspective. I mean, during the course I started to look at my culture from American perspective. I realized that after we discussed about politics (Italian and American) I started to see Italian politics from a different point of view. I think American and foreigners are more objective about our politics than we are. If we read some foreigners newspapers the world seems to go in the opposite direction compared to Italian politics.

I also learnt how to discover new information and new aspects of the other culture for myself. First of all I use Web 2.0 tools like del.icio.us and then I try to compare my information with my foreigner peer to have a more informal exchange of opinions.

The most interesting thing about the wiki project was that we had the possibility to choose as a group a topic and to develop it exchanging opinions, ideas, sources, etc. This aspect of working in groups was fantastic, it makes me appreciate more and more our course.

To give you an idea of my self assessment have a look to this link.

I want to tank you all my peers (American and Italian) and our teacher because I had the opportunity to make this unforgettable experience.

I want to conclude my post with a quotation taken from our wiki page:
'In short someone with some degree of intercultural competence is someone who is able to see relationships between different cultures - both internal and external to a society - and is able to mediate, that is interpret each in terms of the other, either for themselves or for other people. It is also someone who has a critical or analytical understanding of (parts of) their own and other cultures - someone who is conscious of their own perspective, of the way in which their thinking is culturally determined, rather than believing that their understanding and perspective is natural'.

Skype 5 Final Project

Second step of our final project:
Choose the topic for your final project together with your American peer and your Italian peers.

It seemed to me a quite simple task but it turned out to be a very difficult decision to come to. The group are changed and now I’m with Alberto, Alice, Martina and Kelsey. You couldn’t imagine how difficult it was to choose a topic on which everybody agree. We started with Alberto’s proposal to develop the idea of ‘American dream’. Fantastic, exciting! Everybody agree…wow! No, not everybody. Our teacher was very doubtful about this topic because it has little to do with Italian culture. After half an hour of talk we had to start again our discussion in order to find a new topic, but this time things were more difficult. We discussed about immigration, music, health care but none of these topics was really appealing. In the end we chose to compare American college university life with Italian college life. I noticed that there is at least another group that will develop our topic but I think we will compare different aspects of American and Italian college life. We decided to focus on funny aspects like papiri, feste di laurea, goliardia etc.
This Skype session was really packed, but it worked as well. So, we decided to continue to talk in five each week. Probably next time we have to give Kelsey more chances to speak in Italian. I think she felt a bit overwhelmed by Italian people talking in English and she didn’t practice Italian to much this time. We decided to use del.icio.us to exchange useful websites and to use our blogs and our wiki page to communicate.

Immigration

The current law that governs immigration in Italy is called ‘Legge Bossi-Fini’; once known as ‘Testo Unico’ and then ‘Legge Turco-Napolitano’. All these names depend on the various changes made by different governments to the original law. You can find a clear summary of that law in the article of La Repubblica. If you want more information you can also visit the web site of the Italian ‘Ministero dell’Interno’ or this link to wikipedia, which is very clear. At the end of 2006 the immigrants who lived regularly in Italy were 3.000.000, 5% of the Italian population (59.131.000 ca). Most of the immigrants come from Albania, Romania, Morocco, Cina and Ucraina. All these countries are outside the European Union.

In Italy immigration is a quite recent phenomenon compared to other countries. We appear very distrustful of foreigners but not of all of them; especially of those people coming from east Europe. We tend to associate them with criminals. Our behaviour is probably connected with what we read on newspapers, but I think there’s something else which is connected with the difficulty to accept a new multi-cultural society. We are not ready. Not yet. The only explanation I can find is that, as I said before, immigration in Italy is a recent phenomenon. We are not born in a mixed culture like the US and we haven’t been educated to live within cultural diversities. I’m also convinced of the fact that Italy tends to have a very short memory. We don’t remember that in 1920s our country was a land of emigration and we as Italians have been for a long time emigrants.

Skype 4

This time we talked with Kelsey. Unfortunately during the weekend we didn’t have the possibility to skype at home as I had anticipated in my previous Skype post. This week we talked about coming election in America and Italy again. Our American peers created a wonderful and very accurate wiki page about both Italian and American candidates with the basic points of their platforms, their strategies of communication, their key words, speeches and gestures and so on. We had a look to this wiki page and then we thought about the issues we would like to know more about.

These are the questions thought by our group with both the answers that Brian Albanese gave to Alessia and those that Kelsey gave to me and Alberto:

Group 2:

1. Compared to the two Italian political programs, don't you think that the American ones completely differ from each other?

Brian told us that our assumption was not groundless at all and that the party system in the Unites States is a bit too extreme. Nowadays, it has really become hard to choose between the two main parties and there are no intermediate positions available. Hilary's and Obama's political programs are of course much more similar to one another but if we go and read Mc Cain's, we will find out that his objectives are completely different (especially with reference to the issue of the war in Iraq). So, it is very difficult to feel truly represented by any of the two main parties because they're so extreme and the opinions that people in America have formed on certain issues may be completely different from the ones of the main candidates. He thinks that here in Italy maybe we can have much more choices given the amount of little parties and intermediate positions. (Alessia)

2. Do you think that the question of the troops on Iraq could affect your vote more than other issues such as 'health care' and environmental concerns?

Actually, the issue of the war in Iraq DOES play a fundamental role in the next political elections and of course the fact that Americans have to decide if they are against or in favor of the war is deemed to have an effect on their vote for one of the two parties; in other words, if you are against you are more likely to vote for Hilary or Obama, if you're in favor you would rather prefer Mc Cain (I've put it in a rather simple way but of course things may also be a bit more complicated). Anyway, Brian is keen to point out that environmental problems actually represent a very pressing issue too! Maybe, (to us) it was not clear enough, but many countries in America are nowadays really trying to take the right steps in order to solve the problem of global warming, to reduce gas emissions and to find alternative energy resources, which should be cleaner but also cheaper. (Alessia)

Kelsey said that the problem of American troops on Iraq is a fundamental point of this electoral campaign. People feel this issue as more important even of other issues such as health care or environmental proposals. Talking about the war on Iraq Alberto noticed how American soldiers are very young and if on one hand he was shocked of this fact, on the other for Kelsey this thing was quite normal and provoked no particular reactions.

3. Do you think that Clinton's and Obama's campaigns are more concerned with gender and race than mere political issues?

The possibility to have a Black leader or a woman as president is surely a great achievement for America. According to Brian, both of them can really give something more to politics because they can offer different perspectives on a large number of issues. Unfortunately, there has also been a lot of brainwashing from TV and that has contributed to turn the elections in a sort of gender or race struggle. Hence, many people still ask themselves whether these two candidates may have enough experience to rule the country, overlooking the great changes that their election can eventually cause. (Alessia)

Kelsey said that Clinton’s and Obama’s electoral campaigns are not concerned with gender and race. The only difference she noticed is that Obama is younger than Clinton and he could give a different and new image to the U.S.A..

Final Project

This week we are going to talk about our final project. I think that working in group could be a very funny experience but we have to find a topic on which everybody agree. I suppose we’re not obliged to choose among the cultural aspects on which we focused in class. We can drew our attention to a wider range of aspects.

Among the topics we discussed in class and with the Americans, the one I appreciated most is ‘immigration’. As Alessia said we can compare American and Italian immigration policies. Our two cultures had and have a completely different approach towards immigrants. It would be interesting to focus our attention on immigration laws, on how strict are the controls on immigration etc. I think things are changing rapidly in those years thanks to globalisation and new countries joining the European Union. So as a consequence of those facts are controls on immigration more flexible? Or we have to deal with the fear of terrorism and crimes? How do people react to this situation?

Skype 3

This time I talked with Michelle Mercogliano. She has Italian origins; her father arrived in America when he was 7 years old. She has come to Italy several times to visit her relatives in Naples.

We talked about American and Italian voting systems. We realised that unfortunately Michelle, like a lot of other young American people of her age, does not know much about this topic. She is 18 years old and she is going to vote for the first time in November. She thinks that in her country there is a proportional system but she doesn't know that there is also another voting system used in other countries of the US.

Then we talked about the Italian politics. Michelle didn't understand why Italians seem to 'hate' Berlusconi, but they continue to vote him. She got this impression after watching Nanni Moretti's movie 'Il Caimano'. I explained her that in Italy we don't vote directly for the Prime Minister. We elect the members of the Parliament and then it's the President of the Republic who choose the right person among the Magiority. Or at least this is what our system is supposed to be.

This morning I also received an e-mail from Kelsey Taylor, the American peer with whom I talked during my first Skype exchange. She apologized because the last two times she was absent and she asked to Skype together during this week end. Probably we are going to talk togethr on Saturday. I appreciate a lot her way of showing her interest in our Skype exchange.

Developing intercultural competence ICC

First of all I asked myself what’s the meaning of ‘intercultural competence’. Does it refer only to the correct use of a language? I mean a grammatical correct use? Of course not. I think it’s not only a matter of a second language proficiency. A cross cultural preparation also includes a range of other abilities connected with the awareness and knowledge of the other culture.

When you start studying a second language you also start to discover another culture, different from yours. It’s not an immediate goal that you achieve in a very short time. Intercultural competence is a developmental process which in my opinion takes ages and it’s different from one person to another because it depends on everyone’s experiences. Certainly someone who plunged in a certain cultural context developed the capacity to deal more appropriately with the other culture and with the field she/he chose.

When I have to assess myself I find always difficulties. Especially this time is difficult because I have to judge the process of my intercultural competence that is always in progress. For example during this course I feel that my competences changed a lot thanks to our conversations in class about culture and foreign traditions and thanks also to the Skype exchange.

Assessing myself with the YOGA form was not an easy task, but it can be useful to set myself new goals. Unfortunately I had to skip some parts because they don’t apply to my experience. What surprised me most was that within the five dimensions of the ICC (intercultural competence) there is what is called Attitude (the other four dimensions are Awareness, Knowledge, Language Proficiency and Skills). I tend to skip this aspect because it seems obvious to me. However, after the YOGA form I realised that it’s a really fundamental characteristic that is required by someone who study languages. If someone has not ‘Attitude’ towards another culture or language, can he/she achieve this dimension? I don’t know. Probably the answer is no.

2nd Exchange

Our second Skype exchange was a funny and strange experience. This time I was supposed to talk alone with my American peer Kelsey. Unfortunately she wasn’t there and so I joined Alberto’s conversation. He was talking with Leah Barreras, a girl of Mexican origin. We talked about the years of lead in Italy. What she knew of our ‘70s came from some Italian movies she saw. However, she ignored who the Brigate Rosse are or what happened to Aldo Moro. Then we focused our conversation on international terrorism and the problem of immigration after September 11. According to what Leah said it seems that there’s no great difference in the approach of Americans towards immigrants after that terrorist attack. Mmm, I’m a bit sceptical about this point. Then we ran to Bush’s policy and the Iraqi war and finally we discussed about American and Italian coming elections.

When I said that this time I had a lot of fun I was not referring to the topics of the conversation but to the strange dynamic of our talk. During the first half an hour we were supposed to chat with Leah because in the same class room there was another lesson taking place. We explained the problem to our peer but she continued to talk instead of chatting. You must believe me when I say that it’s almost impossible to keep in silence when someone is talking to you or to answer him/her by writing. That new form of communication we experienced was really funny but at the same time it was also a bit difficult to keep it going on. Furthermore, it was really frustrating to listen Leah talking and we couldn’t answer in the same way. I realised that I find speaking much more interesting than chatting. The whole thing ended up in a strange experience with Alberto and me making a lot of noise and with Sarah who scolded and silenced us every two seconds. If you want to read the transcription of our conversation have a look to Alberto’s blog.

Happy Easter

Elections

In a few months both Italy and America will have elections. Italy has a different electoral system compared to the American one. Or at least it should be different. In America they have presidential elections; in Italy we are supposed to elect our Parliament and not directly our Prime Minister. However, the last two or tree Italian elections seems to go against Italian Costitution. Consider our coming elections. We know precisely who is going to be our future Prime Minister. They have decided for us. Berlusconi or Veltroni? That is the question! We are so good at doing such sort of things and make them appear normal and ordinary things.

Il progetto di riforma costituzionale del 2005 e il referendum del 25/26 giugno 2006:

Il Parlamento italiano aveva approvato una rilevante modifica delle disposizioni dell'attuale Costituzione (una cinquantina di articoli furono modificati da tale legge). Qualora tale riforma fosse entrata in vigore, si sarebbe prospettata la nascita di una Repubblica federale con un esecutivo nettamente più forte. Tra le principali disposizioni di tale (fallita) riforma costituzionale si possono citare in modo non esaustivo le seguenti:
Sostituzione del Presidente del Consiglio dei ministri, adottando la versione del sistema parlamentare detta premierato, con un Primo ministro che verrebbe designato direttamente dagli elettori.

What seems to emerge in our questionnaires is that both Americans and Italians are discouraged by politicians. What Italian and American politicians seem to have in common is corruption. But if Americans have such an idea of politics why do they have such an enormous campaign machine? It looks like a show and people seem to be really involved in caucuses and primaries. I'm really interested in knowing the opinion of my American peer.

Cultural differences

The fact that I'm doing an exchange with an American student make me think about cultural differences between America and Italy. The first thing that comes to my mind is the theme of the death penalty. I'm curious to ask my American peer what she thinks about it. More or less I agree with the following opinion:

Padova-Dickinson Xchange

This semester started with a wonderful activity: an exchange with American students. We introduced ourselves to the Americans writing a presentation on a Wiki page and they do the same. Wiki is a web page that we are aloud to edit, so it seems a work in progress where we add step by step our activities. There you can find also information about exchanges taking place between Padova and other foreign universities.

My first impression is that this exchange works. WOW! Hopefully this time the American students seem more interested in communicating with us compared with the students of the first semester. They study Italian so they are really motivated in talking with us.

It is the first time I use Skype and I have to admit it’s a surprisingly simple tool to use. It’s amazing how easy is to communicate with a person who is not – to use a euphemism – just round the corner.
Kelsey, my American peer, is very nice. During our first call we were supposed to talk about American and Italian education systems. But it is funny how the conversation developed in a different direction. It was the first time we talked together (Kelsey, Alberto and me) so we tried to know each others better asking questions about our interests and spare time. I was a bit envious because Kelsey has been to Italy, whereas I’ve never been to America. She visited Florence and she wants to come back soon and spend some time in Rome.

What I learnt from Kelsey is that we have a quite wrong idea of American colleges. Life in a college is not like that depicted in American movies: parties, brotherhoods and so on. We also talked about public and private universities. They exist both in America and generally the private ones are considered of higher quality compared with public universities. However, there are a lot of exceptions.

To conclude I found this first experience really amazing and I’m ready to talk again with my American peer. What I can reproach myself for is the fact that talking in three seems a bit unnatural to me. So I tended to listen instead of joining the conversation. May be this happened because it was the first time I used Skype. I’m sure next time would be better.