De 1. Decembrie...

De vineri ma laud ca azi e ziua noastra, a romanilor.
"Asa, si ce sarbatoriti?"
Cum se face ca ceilalti nu stiu ce sarbatorim?
"Aaaa, 'scaparea' de sub comunism?" Deh, oare asta se sarbatoreste?
"Aaaa, rezultatele voturilor de azi?" (asta pt ca toti colegii mei sunt up-to-date cu ultimele stiri in acest sens) Cu siguranta, daca asta este ce ne uneste atat de mult...! De aia am fost ieri in numar atat de mare la vot! grrr.

Hai ca le-am zis, am scris si pe facebook, m-au felicitat toti, am mancat cozonac si salata de vinete virtuala.
Dar in general ziua a fost faina. M-am trezit dupa cateva putine ore de somn, mi-am finalizat articolu despre gender in higher education (juhuuu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), am mancat niste pateu de ciuperci, am fugit la servici, am dat cu raportu la sefu cum sta treaba in proiect, am dus cozonac la colegi, care in parte s-au bucurat, in parte nici nu le-a pasat (nu e semn rau ca nu le pasa... e ... diferenta culturala :)). Am fugit mai departe la e-MaHE, unde am primit o noua membra in echipa si am pierdut unul vechi.... dar viata merge inainte, suntem entuziasti si motivati pana pana-n China si ce e tare... ca facem voluntariat!!! (Nu se intampla toata ziua pe-aici). Am venit acasa si mi-am facut salata de vinete (mniami), dar nu o mananc azi, ca ma duc in Campus Club si na... dar am mancat mamaligutza cu tocanitza de ciuperci... DELICIOASA!!!

Acum trec in a doua jumatate a zilei, in care, bine-venita acasa, ma apuc sa pun in practica discutiile de la e-MaHE, sa lucrez la excursia din weekend la Dresda (tre sa descriu in 2 pagini dezvoltarea spirituala si culturala a Europei, din epoca antica, pana azi... asta asa ca sa inteleaga si colegii nostrii chinezi sau venezueleni cum a devenit Europa Europa). Si mai am onoarea de a da feedback primei revistutze a instigatorilor Bologna de la Universitatea din Freiburg, unde o sa am si eu un articol despre super cursul de psihologie sociala de la UBB.

Si-mi dau seama ca ma apuc sa-mi traduc din engleza sau sa caut in dictionar cum se zice in romaneste la....
Pana un-alta, hai sa mancam niste sarmale de la "Romanian Specialities"!

La multi ani voua si mie si tuturor!

Se intampla lucruri...

Inca tot mai citesc si scriu la tema aia despre Gender si am gasit ceva ce m-a facut sa zambesc... asa un zambet a satisfactie.

"Proiectul Cartea neagra a egalitatii de sanse intre femei si barbati in Romania din 2005, in care am realizat o analiza a principalelor hibe ale miscarii de femei si am initiat un dialog pe marginea lor, s-a nascut pornind de la un nume despre care am intuit ca ar prinde la finantator (imi picase intamplator in mana o brosurica intitulata 'Bologna - cartea neagra scrisa de studenti'). Pe marginea lui am cladit un proiect de reflexie critica colectiva care ne-a depasit asteptarile in ceea ce priveste impactul la diverse niveluri." (Grünberg, 2008, p.26)

Chiar daca proiectul imi pare putin timpuriu pentru a avea legatura cu BBB-ul nostru, este totusi un semn bun!

Reference:
Grünberg, L. (2008). biONGgrafie. AnA - istoria traita a unui ONG de femei. Romania, Bucharest: Polirom

What is a culture?

I'm sitting in the train to Dortmund, surrounded by many people, but most of grannies… modern grannies, with mobile phones, digital photo cameras, mp3 players, etc. That's not my image of a grandmother. And if you ask me, why not, maybe I would say… it's not like this in my culture, it's not like grandmothers behave in Romania.

But now I am really thinking if there is not even a grandma in Romania having a mobile phone? I think there should be! At least, having one of those big mobile phones with big buttons, to keep in contact with the young family members. Or there are grannies, having their own satellite antenna, even if it's just a Digi.

Coming back to "it's not like this in my culture, it's not like grannies in Romania behave": It's very common to find this kind of "excuse": this is how WE do it, this is how WE think, this is how WE behave. But who is this WE? Me and my family, me and my friends, me and my university colleagues, me and the people in my city, in Transilvania or in the whole country?

Think a little bit how you present your country, your culture, and your traditions to foreigners? I remember the country presentations at the 2007 EFPSA Congress in Turku. We did a presentation of Romania, including all stereotypes about the 3 regions: Transylvania citizens are slow but very tidy, and are dancing in a circle, when they go out. Moldova citizens are poor, starting the day with a glass of "palinca", and are dancing "hora" every evening, Muntenia citizens are hectically, loud, rich and dancing on the bars. I'm sure my friends from Bucharest will laugh and say, that it's kind of true, remembering my way of saying "Uuunde va grabiti?" (= Where do you hie?) but you got the point. Oh I don't want to think about Germany's presentation

I could tell you tones of stories about Germans, and this only because I always meet so many different Germans that I cannot say anymore: They are like THIS ! (friendly, but distant; clean; tidy; organized; always on time; have good food; etc.)

Although, there is always a group you belong to, a group that has some characteristics. But people don't belong anymore only to one group (Feuser, 2008). You have one nationality, live in another country, study at one certain university, work in a certain company, have certain friends, go to sports, play in a band, or in a theatre, live in a WG etc, etc. And think that all these groups have an influence on you

I always hear from people who get to know me: "You are not like Romanians!" (he? How are they?), or "This is your German part" Do you believe me, that I'm more often on time in Romania then in Germany, and that it happened in Germany, that I couldn't finish a task on time and that nobody killed me?

Well, my train is almost in Dortmund! So… Happy glocalisation! (Ups, my spell checker doesn't know this word)

Ha, can you believe it that I was able to write this post in a German train, because trains in Germany use to have plugs!

Reference:
Feuser, F. (2008). Intercultural Communication. Training for tutors. University of Kassel. Germany