Developing Intercultural Awareness
As the world becomes more and more global with people migrating, travelling and working outside of their own countries, the World has become more and more diverse. Bringing intercultural awareness is essential for better understanding of our own cultural conditioning, assumptions and values which lie outside our awareness, but influence every part of our conscious lives. It also requires that we learn to develop those skills which allows us to maintain relationships with people from different ethnicities and cultures, sometimes quite different from our own.
Adapting to new environments takes time and special skills we all need to cultivate so that we may communicate our needs and understand the needs of others, especially in the emotional area of our lives. When we understand contrasts in values, such as, concepts of time, religion, family structure, hierarchy and equality, directness and openness, to name a few, we are better connected to those around us, and so we will live with more peace and hormony.