Classroom Experience

In my short trip to Argentina I had almost two full weeks of class. In that time I discovered that the student-teacher relationship and overall classroom etiquette was quite different than it is in the United States.

First, all of my professors insisted that students call them by their first names, regardless of their academic prefixes. Calling my International Marketing professor Jorge, as opposed to Dr. Almada, never felt right. For professors at Marietta, this isn't unheard of, but feels generally unacceptable in a formal classroom setting. So this wasn't was earth-shattering, but it was odd at first. Calling an instructor by their first name made me feel more like peers, and admittedly, it eased communication in an otherwise foreign setting. That said, it would make sense that class had a more laid-back tone than I am accustomed to.

So, it is no surprise that student behavior in classes was also different. Local students had no issue speaking out in the middle of a lecture. I could tell by the faces of my European peers that even they were caught off guard by these tendencies. The local Argentine students didn't hesitate to stop the lecture to get up and change the thermostat or tell the professor that they were hot or cold. Something like that might seem arbitrary or rude in the U.S. At one point, two students went back and forth asking our professor to adjust the temperature to their liking throughout class. No one seemed to mind.

The last thing that I noticed was timeliness of classes. It's widely discussed how much the perception of time differs amongst cultures. The United States is notoriously time oriented and if you're not fifteen minutes early then you're late. In Argentina, the sense of time was not pressing, If dinner was said to be at 9:00 PM, then you just knew that it wouldn't actually start until 10. Further, it was weird to show up right at 9. In the classroom things weren't that relaxed, but it was certainly more laid back than I was used to. Students would come in nearly 20 minutes late with food in their hand. The professor would welcome them briefly without a sarcastic retort like, "nice of you to join us." These late-comers wouldn't rush to their seat either. They would make sure to find their friends, give them a customary kiss on the cheek and say hello before sitting down.

These are three major aspects of classroom life that I experienced in a short two weeks of class. I thought you all might find them interesting as the show obvious contrast to a classroom in the United States.

Making it Count

Hello all,

If you have read any of my previous blog posts, you know that the last two months have been a wild ride. I had finally squared away the details for my trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina and managed to get there at the end of February. Well, what was supposed to be five months turned into two weeks and ended with my "recommendation" to leave the country by the U.S. government.

Despite only being there for two weeks I believe that I learned a lot about Argentine culture. Over the next few days, I will share a few short stories about my experiences there and my cultural takeaways. This may allow you to apply the concepts from the book vicariously through my adventures. However, I don't want to generalize an entire culture based my sixteen-day experience. So, my takeaways may be light.

Additionally, even though you aren't required to respond anymore, please feel free to ask specific or general questions on this post and I'll happily answer to regard to my time in Argentina.

Chao,
Graham

Quick Update: Plans have Changed

Happy Tuesday everyone,

My plans to travel have taken a drastic shift. Instead of traveling to Shanghai, China I will now be traveling to Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

This is going to be a very different experience, but I am still excited to live in a new culture for five months. I leave on on February 27th, so stay tuned.

Adios,

Graham

Travel Scaries 101

Hello again,

I still haven't left yet, but risk is brewing as reports of the Coronovirus in China amplify. I am doing all that I can to physically prepare myself by maintaining good hygiene and updating necessary vaccines.

I'll be the first one to say that as long as the government of the US and the PRC allow it, I will be making my trip. However, that is a big question mark in my plans. It looks as if a shutdown in Shanghai is already set to push my semester back two more days.

Bear with me as I experience the woes of travel abroad and feel free to ask questions anyway.

谢谢,

Graham

Preparing For Take-Off

大家好!

I leave for China in 30 days, on February 20th. My semester will start later than yours because classes do not resume in China until after the Chinese New Year holiday. So, bear with me as I get off to a late start.

Before I take off I want to give you all some context for my trip abroad. As a student of international business and leadership, I chose to study the Mandarin language and consequently learned about the culture surrounding it. I find that learning about other cultures, foreign and domestic, is beyond interesting and what better way to learn more than by experiencing it first-hand? Well, my majors both require that I study abroad, so the decision to travel to China was a quick and easy one.

Now I'm gearing up, literally and figuratively, to live on the other side of the globe for over three months. I can't help but think about the parallels I experienced during my trip to Beijing last summer. My goal for the trip is to immerse myself in those societal parallels so that I can build understanding of life from a new point of view in the context of business and leadership.

Ultimately, I want to continue my liberal arts application of business and leadership theories with a "boots on the ground" approach. So, ask as many questions as you'd like along the way and we can all make the most of my time abroad.

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Graham Nesselrode