From Workshops to Plank Competitions: Connecting Across Cultures

This morning started early, with a prepared breakfast of meats, cheeses, green jello (do not recommend), and tea. Then we started our workshop, "Transatlantic Cultures."

The workshop was designed to get us talking, and trust me, we did talk. As a group of students who barely know each other, most of us were more extroverted than we have ever been, including me. I am someone who makes connections with people easily, but I do not consider myself "outgoing". But, in this environment, I feel as though I've separated that introverted part from me, and I finally can say what's on my mind. In many ways, it is a game of "social survival," make friends now or risk being on the outside of groups once they start to solidify. And trust me, that is no fun. I've met funny, considerate, curious, kind, and open-minded individuals who make the camp so much more fun. If we were sitting in workshops all day with people who weren't as engaging, the experience would be much less meaningful.

"Transatlantic Cultures" was taught by a couple of wonderful AFS organizers and volunteers. First, we started by introducing ourselves, asking ourselves what individual societies we identify with, and mostly how stereotypes are not constructive at all. Of course, none of this information was new to me, but seeing how Germans thought about stereotypes was interesting. We drew multiple illustrations (pictured below) to show our journey to becoming global citizens and how "culture" is part of our identity. We also explored different analogies for culture. One was the tree, with its branches representing the surface-level aspects of culture, while the roots symbolized the deeper, more invisible parts of culture. Another was the sandberg, or sandbox model, where the shifting sands at the top represented the external forces that influence culture, and the deepest layers represented the core values. We saw the same concept in the Iceberg model, reminding us how much culture lies beneath the surface (or underneath the water).

We also had exercises to explain how generalization can damage a person's image or identity. We had many exercises where we split into groups: on one side, the American students, and on the other, the German ones. We wrote down what stereotypes we had heard about each other (see below for a picture). It represented how quickly stereotypes can be turned negative, and how untrue most of them really are. Stereotyping is just a way to distance yourself further from meeting different kinds of people, and I believe it's one of the dividing features of American (and other) societies.

Lunch, then dinner came, and after each meal we returned to the workshop. Yes, it was long, and yes, by the end, most of us were half-asleep in our chairs, but I think it was worth it. I realized that German teenagers and American teenagers are more similar than we like to think. We have similar values, we use jokes to cope (Germans are funny, the stereotype is wrong), and we all communicate through memes on the internet. So far, this has been a rewarding and enjoyable experience.

The night ended with a game of Uno (I did not win), lots of laughter, and an impromptu planking competition. Read more tomorrow when my group and I tour the city of Hamburg, and get ready for more photos!