YOGA FORM AND SKYPE

The yoga form is a little bit long... As a matter of fact, it contains a lot of questions to which I never relate. They are about multiculturalism and they reach me as an individual who has relationships with a host community or with foreign people.

I never thought about a lot of things but sometimes I found some questions that I could not understand or did not concern my experience. Sometimes I found the yoga form too much generic because you have to make a distinction between occidental foreign people –like European or American- and African and Asian people. Being occidental gives you a certain standard behaviour. If I meet an occidental person I feel more relaxed, because I know better the differences and I know we have similar habits and behaviour; while if I meet an Asian or African person I know that I have to pay more attention to my behaviour and of course to my language, because I think the differences are bigger. E.g. if I meet a Muslim person I know I do not have to take her/him to have a spritz or to eat pig meat!!! So, I try to adapt myself to their customs, I adopt this behaviour only with people who are very far from my culture. It is clear that an occidental person has less culture differences.

This time Skype was more culturally engaged, and the theme terrorism was more interesting for the U.S.A. than Italy. American terrorism is more famous in this time, although in Italy some terrorist events happened e.g. the organisation of the Brigate Rosse made some victims, but it is a confined phenomenon. I made some questions to Brian but the audio was bad, and he asked me if I saw a movie which I even do not know the existence. What a pity!!!

FORUM

Hello Guys!

Something about the forum of group 4.

This time we reflect about the Italian word “raccomandato”.

In Italy we talk a lot about this word. On one hand we are against the recommendation, on the other hand we understand people who are recommended. It seems a little strange, but if we try to understand the Italian economy and education system we can understand this contradiction.
I think that economy in Italy is not working well. A lot of private companies closed and fired their employers and the public sector, because of privatization, does not hire employers anymore.
It happens that a lot of worthy people move far from Italy to do their work (“la fuga dei cervelli”), in a country where their work could be appreciated. It is time to change, but clearly in my opinion it is a job for politicians, because normal people cannot change this secular system.
Probably the American system is so different from the Italian system: when I was on Skype with Brian (one of the American student) he asked me: “Why is not good a recommended professor?” At the begin I could not understand. Finally he told me that in America the name and curriculum of the professors are online and a recommended professor is one who has an excellent curriculum. It was interesting that in America recommended is a positive word while in Italy it is very negative.
I’d like to have the same system in Italy, because I think it is clearer and I can check the skills of my professor, furthermore putting their curriculum online I know better my professor and may be take advantage of what he/she knows better.

SKYPE EXPERIENCE

Hi everybody!
On Wed I talk with Brian, a boy who is American but his grandparents are Sicilian. We had a long conversation on Skype. I used Skype other times but this is the first time I talk, I used it only for chat. At the beginning it was difficult because the microphones did not work, so Alessia and I changed a lot of times the computer. Finally we find two computers that worked!!
In the beginning of my conversation I find myself embarrassed, I did not know what to ask although I prepared some questions and the fact that in America it was early in the morning did not help! Brian was a little asleep or maybe he was embarrassed too!!!
Luckily the conversation –after these embarrassed moments- started and we talk a lot about the American system of education and also about the sanity system and we made some comparison. We talk about other things such as: “how old are you?” etc..
Problems with Skype:
I do not know why, but I could not see Brian..
The audio is not very good and sometimes I did not hear him and vice versa.
Furthermore, the American class was too much loud.
Why I like Skype:
Of course the free calls (also international)!!!