Perception of self (Fisher)

   It is interesting that we never perceive the object itself and perception is experiential. This is because I think we lose personality if we all perceive the object in the same way and it seems boring. The difference of perception may make disputes but it may develop our ideas. Thus, it must be important for us to have own perception and not to perceive the real object. In addition, I thought this difference by experiences was related to the cultural communication. What we experience is somewhat effected by the culture so the way of thinking or perceiving is different from country to country. However, if we think our perception is right and the only way, we misunderstand others.Thus, I think we need to remember the difference of perception and its background.

Stumbling blocks in intercultural communication (Barna)

    I think the six stumbling blocks are proper and it seems that everyone know them so at first, this book seemed useless. However, after I thought about the good points of this book, I realized that it was difficult to avoid them so we needed to understand them objectively by this book. Of course, we should think about problems of intercultural communication by ourselves but it is also important to read books.

    Among the six stumbling blocks, I think High Anxiety is the biggest problem because it effects other blocks as the book says. However, the interesting point is that moderate tension is good for our challenges and sometimes we need it. I do not know what can be “moderate” tension and what can be “high” anxiety. Also, we can not control our anxiety. In my group discussion, we talked about the solution of culture shock and from this book we concluded that we needed to realize the existence of culture shock and become familiar with many kinds of people. It is one of the good solutions but I think each person has different ones. Thus, this book may be a key to intercultural communication and we should think about what is problems or that solution.

Summer Reading

I read “High Fidelity” written by Nick Hornby. I chose this book because I like music and the content is related to it. Also, the main character is strange so seemed interesting for me.

The main character, Rob runs a shop and works with his friends Dick and Barry. One day, his girlfriend, Laura leaves him. After that, he falls in love with another woman or Barry makes his own band. However, he can not forget Laura and envies her new boyfriend. He decides to meet the most memorable split-ups to know why they left him. In such situation, he hears that Laura’s dad has died and goes to his funeral. After that, he gets along with her. In the end, he proposes to her and the concert by Barry’s band and the band produced by Rob goes well.

The main theme of this book is humans’ selfishness because Rob blames Laura about her boyfriend though he is a flirt or he kids customers because he dislike the music they are looking for. He does not notice his foolishness and only complains. However, he is not disliked by others and enjoys his life. Thus, selfishness is not good but I think it may be necessary to get rid of our stress or to enjoy life. Being strict with ourselves is sometimes necessary but we need to keep a balance of working hard and rest.

In my favorite part, one rich and satisfied man comes to Rob’s shop. Rob thinks “Do I want to be like him? I do not think so.”I like this part because he is not rich but he is satisfied with his own life. When I think about this critically, the rich man may live a better life. This is because He has much money and be satisfied but Rob does not. However, Rob has strong mind and enjoy his life so I think he is admirable though basically I do not like his personality. Thus,this book makes me think about the importance of self-satisfaction. It means we can not change our lives easily and our lives are not so bad as we think even when we are in trouble.

First Posting

I went to Croatia,Poland and South Korea during the summer. Plitvice National Park was so beautiful and large so I was impressed though it was a little hard to walk.  In Poland it was cold and rainy. I visited Auschwitz and it was gloomy and there were many people. In Korea, I ate Korean food and it was so delicious. Many Korean people speak Japanese so I was a little surprised. I had a good time during the trip.

From ARW autumn,I want to think about topics critically or deeply and will try to understand the books. Also, I want to learn how to get my ideas in shape well and write my essay because I am poor at thinking about many things in good order. I will try not to get confused soon.

I often get tired soon but I will try  to do my homework at least.