Developing a Culture Assimilator: Culture Training for German Exchange Students

Abstract

Cross-cultural contact is a topic that has fascinated and troubled people throughout the ages. Marco Polo, James Cook and Francis Drake are but a few whose vivid reports about their first encounters with foreign cultures still provide an interesting and sometimes amusing read. However, one of the major differences between the days when it was mainly merchants, adventurers and missionaries who went abroad and today is the amount of everyday cross-cultural contact that many people experience. Globalization, multicultural societies and common markets are but a few of the catchwords which are indicators of the fact that contact with people from different cultures is becoming a common aspect of modern life. Reduced relative distances between countries, and the growing wealth of the Western world increasingly enables private individuals to see other cultures. However, the major driving force behind the immense exchange of people remains business, which also affects the fluctuation of students, numbering about one million per year worldwide.

Wyrd sisters?

Markus, a German student, decided to take up an industrial placement in London. He rented a room with a family and realized to his delight that three young women, sisters, were also living there. He enjoyed meeting and chatting with them and they also seemed to be happy to have him around. Therefore he felt quite positive that he would not be alone in London. When the question of leisure time activities arose he turned towards the three sisters and they gave him a lot of useful advice. After some time he expected them to ask him whether he wanted to join them for a drink or a trip to the countryside. Yet to his great disappointment such invitations were never uttered. Markus was confused, as he had got the impression that he got along well with the three.