<p>We were motivated to conduct a business fest called Euro Tag as a result of spending a trimester in Germany, where we lived and interacted with students from a totally different country and culture,” say the MBA students from Christ University, who are in the German programme.<br /><br />They say, “Cross-cultural knowledge and skills have become increasingly important as more and more people from different countries study, work and live together.” They feel the time they spent there helped them raise their awareness to a great extent of cultural differences and similarities that exist between the two nations.<br /><br />“We hope that our course will lay the groundwork for developing cross-cultural communicative competence. In Germany, we stayed on campus with students, visited their homes and went on trips in and around Europe. We learnt a lot about punctuality — a strong German trait, time management and the benefits of clear and transparent communication,” says Deepika Pillai, who is very gung ho about the experiences of living and travelling through Europe as a student. <br /><br />Sharing their views on fashion and music was one of the ways through which they connected with their German peers. “We are so similar and yet so different. That’s what made the whole experience so invaluable and unique. I had problems with the food since I am a vegetarian, so I often ended up cooking in my room,” says Trinita Irene, another student. <br /><br />On a reciprocal note, the University in Wurzburg has a course in Indology — the study of India. Students who opt for this course have to do a compulsory stint in India and many of them have visited Bangalore and stayed on the campus. <br /><br />“We took them for shopping, sight-seeing and on cultural excursions, introducing them to local cuisine and customs. Because we also specialise in language study, we have a certain level of awareness of cultural difference due to the links between language and culture,” says Ashwin.<br /><br />“With rapid globalisation an everyday reality, student exchange is one way of raising awareness of the role of culture on our perception and understanding of the world. It can also make a difference in the quality of our interaction with people from other countries,” he adds.<br /></p>
<p>We were motivated to conduct a business fest called Euro Tag as a result of spending a trimester in Germany, where we lived and interacted with students from a totally different country and culture,” say the MBA students from Christ University, who are in the German programme.<br /><br />They say, “Cross-cultural knowledge and skills have become increasingly important as more and more people from different countries study, work and live together.” They feel the time they spent there helped them raise their awareness to a great extent of cultural differences and similarities that exist between the two nations.<br /><br />“We hope that our course will lay the groundwork for developing cross-cultural communicative competence. In Germany, we stayed on campus with students, visited their homes and went on trips in and around Europe. We learnt a lot about punctuality — a strong German trait, time management and the benefits of clear and transparent communication,” says Deepika Pillai, who is very gung ho about the experiences of living and travelling through Europe as a student. <br /><br />Sharing their views on fashion and music was one of the ways through which they connected with their German peers. “We are so similar and yet so different. That’s what made the whole experience so invaluable and unique. I had problems with the food since I am a vegetarian, so I often ended up cooking in my room,” says Trinita Irene, another student. <br /><br />On a reciprocal note, the University in Wurzburg has a course in Indology — the study of India. Students who opt for this course have to do a compulsory stint in India and many of them have visited Bangalore and stayed on the campus. <br /><br />“We took them for shopping, sight-seeing and on cultural excursions, introducing them to local cuisine and customs. Because we also specialise in language study, we have a certain level of awareness of cultural difference due to the links between language and culture,” says Ashwin.<br /><br />“With rapid globalisation an everyday reality, student exchange is one way of raising awareness of the role of culture on our perception and understanding of the world. It can also make a difference in the quality of our interaction with people from other countries,” he adds.<br /></p>
