Republic of the Philippines

POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
GEED 10013

Aguinaldo, Jhan Clarisse BSA 1-17

LESSON 3 – ACTIVITY AND ASSESSMENT

➢ ACTIVITY 3

Write your thoughts about these:

When have you experienced cultural differences?

Think about a setting in which you have worked/interacted with different people
from a range of backgrounds. These differing backgrounds may have been
about nationality but also about social class difference, religion difference, or
about other features, such as ethnicity. How did cultural differences and
differing ways of doing things according to culture become visible? List some
of these.

Since I am very active in my ministry in the church, I became one of the delegates
for an International Youth Conference held in Baguio last December 2016. Along with
my co-members in the youth department, we stayed there for a week. That is not the
first time I attended a youth conference, but it is my first time attending an international
one so, I was very nervous when we arrived at the camp. There are lots of different
cultures there. I met an American, Canadian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Spanish,
German, and many more different cultures. The most challenging part for me back
then is that we will form a group consisting of ten unfamiliar members. It is the
convention's way of introducing us to other cultures. I was very nervous when we
organized our group because talking to them is difficult for me back then. I am not that
fluent in speaking English, and I am afraid I might stutter because of nervousness.
Fortunately, I overcome the agitation when I figured that even some of my group
members are not fluent in English. In addition, I noticed that the foods served at the
conference are foods that are edible for foreigners. Compared to our menu during the
2015 conference, the foods in our 2016 conference were more of fried chicken, noodle

Page | 1
This study source was downloaded by 100000854846848 from CourseHero.com on 12-16-2022 10:14:21 GMT -06:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/113398802/AGUINALDO-JHAN-CLARISSE-BSA-1-17-LESSON-3pdf/
 Republic of the Philippines
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
GEED 10013

soup, meat, burgers, and dumplings. They also offered different kinds of coffee, unlike
before that they only offer black coffee. During our group's open forum where we may
share our realizations in the conference, our American groupmate shared that she has
a problem with her live-in partner White American. Her partner was a loving person,
not until they had money problems. Her partner will then throw everything and scare
her so that she will give him money. She said that it is not a problem if her partner will
use it for a good reason, but he is using it for drugs. Aside from being independent at
a young age, I also noticed that they see men as more powerful, especially white ones.
She wanted to escape from him, but she could not. She bears everything, and then
she knew about God. The rest is history.

I also observed that the coldness in Baguio is not enough for them to wear a jacket.
Most Filipinos there are already wearing a jacket, but the foreigners are just wearing
a shirt. Moreover, since they are not used to perform the bless me (mano po) gesture,
when they saw an elderly, they shake hands with them or give them a peck on the
cheek (beso).

Page | 2
This study source was downloaded by 100000854846848 from CourseHero.com on 12-16-2022 10:14:21 GMT -06:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/113398802/AGUINALDO-JHAN-CLARISSE-BSA-1-17-LESSON-3pdf/
 Republic of the Philippines
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
GEED 10013

➢ ASSESSMENT 3

Essay: Answer the following questions briefly.

Differences are influenced by where people live, socioeconomic backgrounds,

levels of education, religion, and individual lived experiences. These factors
influence how people view and read their world (Gee, 1996; Vygotsky, 1986).
Diversity exists within any cultural group. And it is common that people make
generalizations based on unexamined assumptions and perceptions that can
sustain stereotypes. Why is generalization dangerous and how do you avoid it?

Generalization is dangerous because we might misjudge other people. Every

person has different characteristics, traits, personalities, thoughts, and ideas. We also
address the same situations differently. So, every person is distinct from one another.
For example, we often see women interested in girly kinds of stuff. We should not
close the idea that some women are knowledgeable in the type of stuff that is
associated with men, such as cars, motorbikes, online gaming, basketball, boxing,
and many more. Misjudgment hurts the feelings of the person who experienced it. It
may also affect the individual's life in some situations. However, I believe that there
are ways to avoid generalization. First, we should always be reminded that we are
different from one another. By remembering this, we will not judge a person based on
gender or culture. Moreover, to avoid generalization, we should know the person's
story and background before judging a person. This will help us to have a more precise
judgment regarding the individual.

Page | 3
This study source was downloaded by 100000854846848 from CourseHero.com on 12-16-2022 10:14:21 GMT -06:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/113398802/AGUINALDO-JHAN-CLARISSE-BSA-1-17-LESSON-3pdf/
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)