Training Examples

Bow, Shake or Kiss

Objective

• Practice greeting rituals.

Instructions

1. Clear a large area free of chairs and desks. Participants will need room to walk about and move.
2. Gather participants in a circle.
3. Ask students to start walking randomly and silently in the open space. Explain the purpose is not to walk to a destination, but just to walk around while keeping a comfortable distance from others.
4. After the participants have settled into walking in space, ask them to start making eye contact with those they pass.
5. After participants have settled into walking and making eye contact, ask them to approach each other for a handshake. Once they have completed the handshake, they should continue to walk in space then find another handshake partner. This is all done in silence.
6. While participants are walking in space and shaking hands, ask reflective questions.
   1. What is the proper amount of pressure to create with your hands?
   2. Where does the webbing between your finger and thumb connect with the other hand?
   3. How long does a handshake last?
   4. Is there a perfect handshake?
   5. Is there a confident handshake? A weak one?
   6. Can you judge someone’s character on a handshake? Confident? Dishonest? Domineering? Warm?

Debriefing

1. How did it go?
2. What did you notice about an activity you have done thousands of times before?
3. What did you notice about your own handshake?
4. Did you notice any judgments about yourself or others?
5. Did you realize any values imbued within the handshake?

Take Away

1. Greeting rituals carry enormous relational weight.
2. Greeting rituals can reveal, submissive, warm, distant, and various other positions.
3. Participants may have increased mindfulness of their greeting rituals. This increased mindfulness is an excellent place from which to discuss a new cultures’ greeting ritual.

Analogous Contextualization

Objective

• Develop the skill of using analogies to explain cultural difference

Instructions

1. Pass out Analogous Contextualization worksheet.
2. Allow 5 minutes for participants to complete the sheet.
3. Indicate that full title of the worksheet is a clue.
4. Ask the group to shout out the answers by saying, “ Dim Sum is like the……version of……”
5. If a participant indicates an incorrect or disputed answer, acknowledge that several countries may claim a particular dish.
6. Distribute ANSWER KEY.

Notes

• Taiwan is understood as both a country and as a province of China.
• Currently it is unclear whether the satay originated from Indonesia or Malaysia.

Debriefing

1. Which ones were easy to guess? Why were they easy?
2. Is kimchee sauerkraut? What is the limitation of an analogy?
3. Will you have students who are familiar with one of these foods?
4. Have you ever sought foreign food in your home culture?
5. Who has had experience seeking a familiar food while in a foreign culture?
6. Among your friends, would you invite someone to eat Phở or Vietnamese soup? Why the difference?

The Printed Handout