Page 3: Reflections on the IDI and Intercultural Competency

           When I met with Mrs. Carbone for my coaching session, something that came up that I think is important is that just because I was placed in minimization doesn’t make me a bad person or someone who has minimal understanding of other cultures. I think it was challenging to accept that I was not at adaptation, or even acceptance. A question that remain for me are how do I get to acceptance/adaptation? Also, a question that remains is how I can better understand other cultures?

            When it comes to culture and identity, I am trying to understand this relationship in a better way, although I am definitely still learning. I still need some time to better understand culture and identity. I think that I can be aware of my own culture, and others’ cultures better by really looking around me more and making an effort to really understand the world around me. It was definitely a shock to me that whereas I put myself at acceptance, I was actually only at minimization, so I certainly feel like I can do a better job of making an effort to understand different cultures and that I don’t know as much as I thought I knew. I think to bring more attention to being inclusive and accessible for different cultures is ask questions to people of other cultures to make them feel more comfortable. For instance, if a practicing Orthodox Jew who I don’t know very well comes over to my house on a Friday night (Shabbat), I can ask if they would feel more comfortable if I turned the television off, since this might make Orthodox Jews uncomfortable because of how Shabbat is supposed to work in their form of the religion.