REFLECTION OF CROSS CULTURAL EXCHANGE--- PHILIPPINE
Chan Tin Wai, Toby BSW Year 1
In this summer, I went to Philippines with ten students for cross-cultural exchange. In my view, it was a fresh and excited trip because I did not go for a trip for 20 days without any tourist package before. We must need to contact and join the organization by ourselves in a strange place. So, it is a good experience for me in the study life.
Before going this trip, I did not have much expectation. In my mind, I would like to use “Dirty, dark, crowd and hot” to describe Philippines. In addition, there was some kidnapping targeting at luxurious beach resorts. So, Philippines only brought me the negative feeling. But after going this trip, it totally changes my mind. Generally, Philippines is not so bad. The climate is quite comfortable. The people is very nice especially the organization KAMPI. Only some areas are poor. Also, Philippines is a large country. So we are safety that the kidnapped will not affect to us.
In this journey, I really learned lots of things and gain much experience. Firstly, we knew more about the social welfare issues and the social policy in Philippines. We found that the problem of widening gap of the rich and the poor was quite serious. Also, we visited the community, some centers and school for the deaf. In the deaf school, we were very happy. Although we had the communication barriers, they also kindly taught us some sign- language, which was very interesting. Besides, we visited the University of Philippines. The students were very nice and eager to share their social work experience in the university. It can broaden my view to know more about the oversea university whatever the school policy or the school life.
Besides, we can learn something that cannot find from the books. We learned to have the team spirit and made the discussion in different situation. For example, we needed to find a place for dinner everyday. Although there were eleven guys, we were easy to have the commitment to find a place. Since our group leader held the discussion and helped us to conclude the opinion. So, we learned to have the sense of commitment when there was a group of people. Also, our team spirit greatly showed in the journey of “Rice Terraces”. Since, there were many small rocks on the ground and in addition to raining, the ground was muddy and rocky which was very difficult to walk. Some of the slope was very steep and slippery. So, it was quite dangerous. However, we had our team spirit. Every group-mates took care with each others. Although, this journey was very hard, we could finish it and see the terraces. I think it was very valuable.
Apart from the team spirit, this journey affected my personality. As I was a treasure in this trip, I felt much pressure because I was afraid that I would lose the group money. After the trip, it is very luckily that the money is safe. It can give me confidence and gain my responsibility. Moreover, we needed to speak in English whenever in the small groups or the large groups. It could force me to speak the English. It increased my confidence to speak with the foreign people.
To conclude, the cross-cultural learning project can enrich our knowledge and broaden my view. There is no doubt that it can improve our communication skills and increase our degree of independence. It is a time for us to grow up.