Journal Entry- Culture Shock

Today in field study preparation class we talked about culture shock. We talked about an assigned article called "Coping with Culture Shock" by Ferraro.

In this article, there are stages in culture shock that travelers go through:

• The Honeymoon Stage
• Irritation and Hostility
• Gradual Adjustment
• Biculturalism

When we talked about these stages in class, our teacher, Ashley, said that she didn't want to number them because it's not that black and white or straightforward. In fact, we will probably go from one stage to another and then back again, maybe even to square one, throughout our trip.

Current Events

Today in my field study prep course we talked about current events in the Tibetan-in-exile situation, and how they might affect our experience in the field. One major one that was talked about was the current elections that took place recently, and about how the results will be announced a little before the time we will be entering the field, which will mean that the community will be buzzing with the changes and fresh faces in government.

Another subject we talked about was the tug-of-war going on between India and China over Nepal, and how this took a toll on the recent elections. Many exiled Tibetans were not allowed to vote in the recent elections. Is this possibly a result of the recent generous donation China gave to Nepal? Having Nepal on its side, China has an advantage over the Tibet-India alliance.

Another event we talked about was the possible retirement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from his role as political leader. I just found a brief article moments ago that says that this retirement was accepted, but I will continue to search around for some more depth in this subject.

So after a class full of current events and a few questions about our upcoming lives in McLeod Ganj, I feel as if I'm a square one again. It's a different square one than when I started my journey in developing a project, IRB protocol, finding a mentor, etc etc etc. This square one is purely on a board of knowledge. Knowledge about the religion and politics of the people with whom we will be working. Sure we are learning and researching and trying to piece together enough to understand something, anything, that can help us in the field. But reading and living are two very different things. I can research and read as much as I can, but the plain and simple fact is, I am not living there and don't understand the effect that religion and these current events are having in the lives of the Tibetans. These events are going to affect their lives, and because I will be living with them and working with them, they will affect mine as well.

Journal Entry

In my field study prep class, we recently talked about perspectives and culture, and how they relate to each other. In a writing exercise, we were challenged to write what we think the definition of culture is. This was difficult because it seems as if culture isn't something that can be defined by words, or really defined by any means at all, but is to be observed and reflected upon, and is something to which one later refers in sentences such as "it's part of the culture" or in phrases such as "culturally acceptable." The definition I settled on is: culture is a term used to define what and how individuals believe based on their religion, history, geography, etc. and how their actions and lives/lifestyles express those beliefs.

Now when it comes to perspective, I think that culture is viewed differently from different perspectives. An individual views their own culture as the norm and other cultures as unique, kind of how I talk normally and people from England have accents, but from an Englishman's perspective, I have an accent.

Now in relation to my project, it's important to remember that there will be things I do and viewpoints that I have that will be unique to my culture and from the perspective of one in the Tibetan community, will definitely not be considered the norm to them. It goes both ways. There will be things I see that do not seem the norm to me. The way Tibetans parent may be completely different because they have a different culture, and from their perspective, that is the norm.

So, then, it is my goal to be able to see through the Tibetans eyes rather than being an outsider looking in. In order to understand their culture, I'll need to change my perspective.

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Journal Entry 3

NOTE: 25 Questions and Project Question are posted under my Project Development page

First: my thoughts on Inquiry-based learning.
I really liked the excercise we did as a large group class, asking questions about statements posted about questioning. 3 of my questions were:
1) What questions should be asked to find truth?
2) When a question is asked, is the truth found in the answer, or is it found on the path towards the answer?
3) What is the difference between doubting and questioning?

With these questions in mind, I began to develop my project question.