Fostering Intercultural Communication

Being a free thinker, I tend to make friends from all across religions and cultures.

Therefore in order to really understand them well, fostering good inter-cultural

communication is very important. Even a simple handshake can mean very

differently to people of different cultures, sometimes tensions and conflict might

even occur.

When I was at the age of five, I entered this Christian child care center due to some

reasons. I did not really merge in well due to the fact that I am not a Christian and

did not really understand their culture at that age. Thus I was always excused from

performing their daily duties, prayers etc, which made me feel being out casted.

Whenever we were having out meals, the other kids always had to say their prayers

and thanking god for their food before they can start their meals. As for me, I could

start without doing anything at a seperate table all by myself. Then there was this

one time when a friend of mine came over and asked me why am I not praying and

eating together with them and this excited all the other kids and everyone starting

asking and made the situation out of control. I felt so embarrassed and did not know

how to answer them. Therefore I ran to a corner and hide behind one of the cabinets.

Luckily there was this teacher who was very loving and kind to me slowly explained to

me what exactly were they doing and even suggested me to try the prayers before

meals out together with them. At that time I was really shy and couldn't reject, simply

nodded my head. so from then on, I learnt all about daily practices of Christians with

the help from this teacher who i became close to and lived out my two years as a

Christian.

Being able to understand my peers at my child care center have helped me make

a lot of friends and even helped me escaped the fate of being out casted in what ever I

do in school. Therefore when dealing with different people from different culture, by

being sensitive and respectful would help greatly in understanding each other. And

only by understanding each other can any two become friends.