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I live in Langley situated on the traditional lands of the Coast Salish peoples, and in particular, we acknowledge our relationships with the q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie), q̓ʷɑ:n̓ƛ̓ən̓ (Kwantlen), Máthxwi (Matsqui) and Se’mya’me (Semiahmoo) First Nations.

An early experience of differences in culture was when I was visiting a friend's house and they were wearing shoes in the house. I hesitantly took off my shoes before I entered their house. I had my socks on but my friend's mom aghast and told me to put my shoes back on or else my socks would get dirty.

My household’s custom was removing shoes before entering a house. The only two things that were allowed to touch the floor was socks or slippers. My household had spare slippers for guests who came to our home who didn't have socks.

What was interesting was my family's custom was to keep shoes out of the house to keep the house clean. Whereas my friend's family's custom was to keep your shoes on to keep your socks clean. It was wildly different and I never felt comfortable wearing my shoes in the house.

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Hello,

First things first, I want to acknowledge that I'm currently living on – the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

About my background, I can proudly say that I've had the opportunity to live on two continents and explore over 15 countries – pretty amazing, right? I have lived in Canada for 5 years.

Now, let me share my story about cultural surprises within my family. There's this one time when I visited my cousin who's been in the USA for over 20 years. In my home country, it's customary for the family to prepare delicious and TRADITIONAL HOMEMADE food when you visit. So, naturally, I was excited to savor some traditional treats.

But guess what? She serves store-bought food instead! While the food was of good quality, it wasn't what I had expected! Quite surprising, and even more, I felt offended, I must admit. However, as we chatted, I understood that living abroad can shape people's choices and habits. She embraced the convenience of store-bought food, blending it with her American lifestyle. Quite an eye-opener, indeed! I learned a valuable lesson: cultural surprises can happen even within the same family.

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Hello everyone, nice to meet you!

When I was a Dental Hygiene student here in Vancouver, I was walking by a dental clinic and was immediately approached by a man who appeared irate and very obviously distressed. The only problem was, he did not speak English. He waved his arms, raised his voice, and paced back and forth several times. As much as I wanted to, I felt I could not help him. He appeared Middle Eastern, and thus, my immediate reaction was to find my coworker who spoke Farsi, hoping my assumptions were correct; luckily, I was. After she translated, it appeared the gentleman was worried, as he could not find his elderly mother, and assumed she was inside the dental clinic. From that experience, I learned to try to understand where people are coming from first, before jumping to conclusions.

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Greetings all,

I currently live and work in Vancouver, BC, Canada. I want to acknowledge that I am on the traditional unceded territories of the Coast Salish Nations of xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh). I also want to acknowledge that I live, learn, and breathe on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands. I am grateful to all the Indigenous peoples who have cared for these lands, and I'm privileged to learn from their strength, leadership, and resilience.
I have travelled, and I hope to do more. I love exploring and meeting the locals who live and work in their towns, villages, countries, and other visitors. I was fortunate to live and work in the UK for almost three years. That experience greatly impacted my life in many profound ways.  There were numerous times when I did understand what colleagues were referring to, even though we spoke English. Some terms and references took me so much time to learn, plus I had to learn to drive, work and adapt my professional knowledge for a very different way of doing accounting and auditing in the firm, with different standards and practices, in a very competitive work environment. I often wondered why I had done this work transfer; I felt alone and isolated and, quite frankly, incapable of learning what was expected I should know!

I am a part-time teacher at a contractor at BCIT. I work at a large multinational firm with people from various cultures, backgrounds, disabilities, some known and unknown, and experiences. I never take for granted my life and my opportunities.  I have had to overcome some challenges, and I realize that I am stronger and more self-aware due to those challenges. Hopefully, I am empathetic when I meet others always.

I wish to develop knowledge and skills on this topic in our diverse and beautiful world.

“In diversity, there is beauty and there is strength.” ~ Maya Angelou

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I’d like to first acknowledge that I live and work on the unceded and traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Watuth peoples (in what is also called Kitsilano).

As a former journalist, I over-research before travel, so I won’t be surprised. But there’s only so much research you can do. Most intriguing was my time in Russia. I was there for a World Press Briefing ahead of the 2014 Olympics. Typically, everyone involved in hosting these events is friendly, engaged and overly helpful. That wasn't the case in Russia. Most of the Russians I met — officially within the organizing committee and unofficially in Sochi — were none of those things. Eye contact was avoided, smiles were rare with strangers, requests for help brushed off. I later learned that before the Olympics in Russia, there was no word for “volunteer”; the concept did not exist.

150 words was hard!

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I have checked theHofstede Insights country comparison tool and the results from Canada-Mexico comparison made sense to the cultural shock I experienced, mainly the indicators of individualism and Masculinity the competence and equity factors are consistent with what I experien ced years ago.

thanks for watching.

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I am a grateful settler of European descent, living on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples – the Squamish-speaking people and the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓-speaking people including the Kwikwetlem, Musquem and Tsliel-Waututh.

I love living in a multi-cultural city, where I get to have experiences without leaving the country. One experience that stands out was a fabric shopping trip to Little India in Vancouver.  We were buying a large quantity of chiffon fabric for dance costumes and went to a warehouse sale held by one of the Indian fabric stores.  When we arrived, we were the only white people in the huge, crowded warehouse. No one was speaking English and I felt like I had arrived in another country. We found the fabric we needed, and I told the seller how many yards I needed – but he kept saying “No - one and quarter yards”. I asked several times for the quantity I needed, and he kept repeating the amount. I finally realized that this fabric was usually purchased for scarves of that specific length. I found a way to communicate what I needed and in addition to getting the fabric I needed a learned a bit about Indian clothing!

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Hello, Everyone

My name is Annie. I moved to Canada 25 years ago from China. One of my earliest experiences in Canada involved trying French cuisine in Downtown La Crocodile with my roommate, who was also from China. As I open the menu, I was shocked by my inability to read it. Being unfamiliar with both French and English and with no pictures to guide me, I felt completely illiterate. The only sections I could read were the ones labeled "Appetizer," "Main Course," and "Dessert." So, embracing my adventurous spirit, I decided to order one item from each category to create a complete meal. I had no idea what I was ordering until the dishes arrived at our table.

While we were waiting for the main course, the server kindly asked what kind of drink we would like to have with the appetizer. Without much thought, I requested hot tea as a starter and didn’t notice the strange look of the server. However, it didn't take long before I was served a glass of hot water accompanied by a tea bag on the side. What? This wasn't the upscale dining experience I had envisioned. I was disappointed but kept quiet due to my lack of English skills. Nevertheless, I learned an important lesson that day—never order hot tea in a French restaurant.

For someone who may not be familiar with Chinese tea culture, we don’t serve tea bags to our customers or guests.

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Hi, my name is John.

I have been fortunate over the past 15 years to do a lot of traveling both internationally and domestically. I have lived in many regions in BC, including the Kootenays, Okanagan, Lower-Mainland, Vancouver Island, and the Peace.

While it is always a learning experience being immersed in foreign countries while traveling or being around different groups, such as indigenous nations, it has always amazed me how areas of the province seem to have their own culture. People who theoretically look the same can have very different views and beliefs based on their history and those around them.

This observation has changed my view of culture from the more general sense to looking at groups more specifically by the area they live, what they believe in, or how they act.

I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks and hearing everyone's views on such an important topic in our diverse part of the world.

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I am grateful to write to you today from the traditional lands of the Semiahmoo, Katzie, Kwantlen and Coast Salish peoples.
I have been able to travel to some beautiful parts of our world. The one place in my travels that was intriguing to me was/still is Australia. I was born in England and only speak English. I have always felt disrespectful traveling to countries where I am unable to communicate with people. When I went to Australia I had comfort in knowing I would be able to communicate with people as we spoke the same language. To my surprise even though we all spoke English there were statements made that I did not understand. I think that is when I started to understand culture. Cultures can be completely different or have slight differences, that either invoke feelings of exclusion or curiosity. I am excited and curious to learn more in our cohort, and gain insights from you!

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Hello fellow classmates,
Firstly, I’d like to acknowledge my presence on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded tm̓xʷúlaʔxʷ (land) of the syilx / Okanagan people who have resided here since time immemorial. I recognize, honour, and respect the syilx / Okanagan lands upon which we live, work, and play.
Back in 2006 my husband and I travelled to China to see the historic sites and visit the Great Wall. To make the trip from Beijing to the Great Wall we enlisted the help of a tour guide, “Andrew.” It was humid and hot in the city and not much cooler once we arrived at the wall after a 45min drive into the mountains. We hiked the steps up to the towers and walked the long stretches in between. For the tourists, they had vendors with magnum icecreams and ice cold drinks in coolers along the way. Every time we stopped we offered to buy for Andrew as well. But every time he declined. He was sweating just as much as we were but continued to refuse. I was confused by this. Didn’t understand why he wouldn’t accept the offer of a nice refreshing drink or ice cream treat. He had a room temperature bottle in the car with loose tea leaves in it. And that’s the only thing I saw him sip throughout the day.

Fast forward to 3 weeks ago, and the shipping and receiving guy is dropping off a package to me and noticed a bottle in my class with loose tea leaves. He asked if I had an Asian student and I said yes how did you know. And he pointed to the tea. I told him about Andrew, and he explained that in many Asian cultures they believe everyone has a fire in the chest, and they don’t drink ice cold drinks because they don’t want to extinguish the fire. I thought this was pretty cool to finally have it explained. I find different cultures and beliefs to be so fascinating. Humans all share the same physical makeup but simultaneously have the ability to be so unique.

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Hello PIDP 3310, my name is Shannon and

I respectfully acknowledges the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), q̓íc̓əy̓ (Katzie), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), Qayqayt, Kwantlen, Semiahmoo and Tsawwassen peoples on whose unceded traditional territories I live, work and play.

In my role as an internship coordinator at SFU, I collaborate with a diverse group of international students. Some of these students started in the summer 2021 term, a time when disturbing findings emerged revealing the remains of 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. Two students reached out to me, seeking to discuss their distress over this discovery and their desire to offer assistance as a new immigrant. Despite my extensive experience in my career, I was taken aback and failed to fully comprehend the profound impact of this news on students who may have encountered violence or left behind families in countries grappling with ethnic conflicts (or any students who are not aware of Canada's historical mistreatment of Indigenous Peoples).  Since then, I have become much more attuned to how media can affect our students. While I refrain from explicitly addressing specific issues, I make it a point to inform students about the resources available to them as they navigate their new cultural and Canadian experiences, recognizing the challenges they may face and my own need for increased sensitivity and awareness when working with students.

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Hi everyone,

My name is Larisa, and I am lucky to live and work on the unceded and ancestral lands of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the q̓íc̓əy̓ (Katzie), qʼʷa:n̓ƛʼən̓ (Kwantlen), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), and qiqéyt (Qayqayt) First Nations.

While traveling in Israel, my friends invited me on a hike in the Golan Heights, a beautiful hilly region. As an avid hiker, I was excited to explore this less touristy place.

As we walked, I noticed other hikers kept their eyes down and did not acknowledge us when they passed.  This intrigued me because I was used to smiles or quick hellos when I have passed hikers on the trails at home. I wondered if it was about me -did these other hikers know I was a tourist, and they did not want me here?

When we arrived at our destination, I mentioned my observations to my friends who explained that many Israelis maintain a high level of self-protection due to the ongoing conflicts in this part of the world. Avoiding eye contact was their way of staying safe. This led to an insightful conversation about how our unique life experiences can create differences in the way we make sense of our interactions with each other. I was so thankful for that conversation as it further opened by eyes and mind – such an amazing day of hiking!

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Greetings! My name is Shaunna (she/her). In 2018, I made the boldest decision I could think of, which was to spend my holiday traveling to places where I didn't speak the language. I had a couple friends living in Italy and Vienna so I had some focal points in the overall trip, but I spent most of the of time in transit and by myself. I covered 7 cities in 3 countries in 10 days!  Everything intrigued me-art, architecture, cars, food, technology, transit, and of course, people! I had to figure out how to get train tickets as well as navigate public transit. The rules and procedures were very different everywhere I went.

My favorite exchange happened when I tried to get on a bus that just rolled up to the station in Bratislava. As passengers got off, I got on and headed to the back to sit down. The driver started shouting at me and waving her hands. I was almost a week into my trip so I got used to smiling and shrugging my shoulders to indicate I didn't understand much, especially spoken language. She then made a motion to me using her index and middle finger to indicate "smoking", followed by a c shape with her hand to mouth and then pointed to another area away from the stop. My friend was bewildered as I waved to the driver, smiled and nudged us off the bus.

As my friend was wondering what just happened, I shared that I was pretty sure the driver just said she was going for a drink and a smoke then would pick us up later at the other stop. We walked a short distance to another bus sign and waited. Some time later, the driver got back on her bus, and came over to pick us up from the other point, no issues. The communucation worked! I had a good chuckle that getting the message across for "I'm on a break" is surprisingly universal.

By the time I got back home, I had to re-learn how to use Canadian public transit! I appreciate the intricacies of travel and communication with other humans so much more because of that trip. Most of the time, we can find common ground with some patience, humor, and humility.

Nice to meet you and I look forward to getting to know you!

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Creating a commitment to climate in the classroom

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Creating a commitment to climate in the classroom

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Hello all - my name is Barb Fay. I respectfully acknowledge living and working on the traditional and unceded territory of the Okanagan Syilx people. As an instructor at Okanagan College (Kelowna), I am fortunate to work with many international students. Last term I was approached by three students from Jamaica who seemed concerned about the commitment to climate (creation of a safe, confidential, inclusive space based on respect and understanding) the class had created collaboratively. They seemed genuinely confused how as the instructor I was not taking offence or action to when 20 minutes before the end of class many domestic students began to pack up their belongings. They explained in Jamaica no one in a classroom setting would ever dream of being interruptive during class time before the instructor indicated class was dismissed, and they felt they may be missing vital information due to the interruption. As part of a WEIRD society (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) I had not even considered this viewpoint until it was mentioned, and had just thought I was ‘going with the flow’. After this conversation, as a class, we revisited the commitment to climate and opened conversation about different learning styles and educational systems and how the climate extended to instructors and the overall environment. Adaptations were made. It was such a positive learning experience for me as an
instructor!

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Please introduce yourselves on this Padlet by sharing a brief story of a time you were in a different cultural situation where something confused or intrigued you. You're welcome to use video, audio, or text format and include an image if you like - please include subtitles or a transcript if using video or audio. Be sure to clearly describe your post content in the subject header, for example:  Karen's Intro Story. In the interests of respecting everyone's time, please keep your stories to 90 seconds or less if using audio/video and under 150 words if using text.

If this is your first time using Padlet, to add a post, select the pink + button at the bottom right. To create a video (film) or audio post, click the three dots (...) tool and allow Padlet permission to access your camera and/or microphone. You will have options to review and redo before saving your video or audio story.

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https://youtu.be/jqELgmxXYQw
Hi Roger - sorry, you should be able to see captions here now!

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Hi Everyone, I am Shawnda. I feel fortunate to live on unceded territories of the first people of Canada, as well as travelled throughout the globe in my younger days. Travel these days are more comfort and rest focused and less adventurous than it use to be. I can think of many mishaps and misunderstandings that follow traveling in regions with different practices and languages then your home country. One that comes to mind, and I think of often, is when traveling alone in Turkey in my early and very naive 20s. While backpacking in Europe, I made a slight add on to include Turkey. My own ignorance lead me to believe that it would be similar to other European/ Mediterranean Countries. When I arrived, I was immediately hit with the beautiful sound of a call to prayer, I had this sinking feeling that I was no longer in Kansa. Given the time period, we did not have smart phones, so I was very unprepared and uneducated in my position as a traveler in a Muslim Country. Of course, there is a variety of tales I could tell, as I managed and learned so much from being in this Country. It certainly furthered my understanding of the Muslim religion, family practices and the role of women. Of course it is always so wonderful to try new foods and learn the stories and preparations of such new things. But, I ended up being stuck there longer than planned. Stranded I would say, with no way to get to a larger center, and the promise of ride in 24hrs. So I stayed, alone, very alone, in a small room in a nearby hotel like building. It was clear, that the owner rarely had guests, and had no interest in communicating in anyway, and would have one thing they could offer as a meal. But there was a cat. This cat offered so much comfort. His communication and body language was the same as the ones in my own country. I could understand him, and he could understand me (and it was starting to feel as though I didn't understand anything). And this made me cherish him, as he was reminding me that we are all humans. The Turkish cat didn't know my values or belief system or my preferred language or my passport number. He knew I was a person, and that kindness can be the same and does not need words.

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Hyeyoung Kang - Intercultural introduction

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Hyeyoung Kang - Intercultural introduction

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Janine Harrison

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Hi PIDP 3310 Class! I'm Roger. I'm Deaf and communicate in ASL- so if I did a Youtube video, you guys likely would not be able to understand me! I see that we are supposed to introduce ourselves here on Padlet. Unfortunately Karen's video does not have captions so I may be missing out on some instructions. Thankfully I was able to watch Hyeyoung Kang & Janine Harrison's videos on Youtube with their closed captioning feature.
I am Caucasian; a mix of French, English, Dutch and Indigenous. I did not grow up with any of those as a culture. I was born here in BC, my Dad is from Quebec and my mother is from Ontario.
I was born Deaf and grew up Culturally Deaf. Being Deaf is a cultural mindset, not a disability. I teach Beginner ASL (American Sign Language) at VCC.
I often encounter people that perceive being Deaf as being disabled and lament how sad it is I don't get to enjoy music. It is annoying! I never had hearing to begin with, so I did not "lose my hearing" at any point of my life, I simply never gained hearing but instead gained being Deaf and the beautiful rich language that is ASL.
Everyday among the "hearing" community, I am a foreigner, unable to understand what people are saying around me at the stores or the streets. Only if everybody knew and used ASL!
Being Deaf does not disable me, it is society's inability to be truly accessible that disables me.

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Hi this is Roger! My cat Bane in the background

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Good day. My name is Elliot Wiseman. I live and work in Duncan BC.

One of my lifelong friends is first nations. We grew up together on Hornby Island into our early twenties. He moved to Haida Gwaii to pursue a Haida artist apprenticeship, and I moved to the greater Vancouver area to pursue an apprenticeship in refrigeration. In our late twenties, he asked me a confusing question “Do you feel like you are privileged?” We had the same upbringing in a small, isolated community, and I had always worked hard to overcome adversity and achieve success. But looking back, that is not what he was asking. It wasn’t until 2021, when I volunteered for an anti-racism seminar, that I was able to understand his question and fully acknowledge my privilege that he was referring to. The small conversation has always stuck with me, and I will never take it for granted again.