Exchange

Exchange (in particular of students) may be positioned between a duty trip and expat assignment with the one or two-week school exchange on the one hand and the six month Erasmus fellowship on the other. Students exchange have an enormous impact on students’ personal development, even more so than an expat assignment over a much longer period. The reason might be that students are still in their formative years, more open to new experiences and more willing to engage in them.

Student exchange encompasses the following key steps (in consecutive order).

▽ Prior to defining culture an

exchange student may well

start with the Difficulties in

Studying Culture, because

these difficulties are working all

the time in the background of

the few months abroad and

also form the starting point for

dealing with cultural difference.

It should help to clarify why

such an intangible concept as

culture is having such an

impact on their experiences

abroad.

▽ Getting an idea of culture

through Definitions and the

Triangle model.

▽ For a relative short stay abroad

a focus on National Cultures

may well be sufficient, although

for instance the culture at

another university might be

quite different in terms of

organisation and procedures.

▽ In dealing with cultural

differences the focus is on

Bridging Cultures, trying to

create a situation in which

cultural similarities and

differences are reconciled. A

positive benefit is not a given.

Quite a few students

mentioned the difficulties, the

barriers to overcome and

negative experiences.

Furthermore, a few students

ended their exchange period

prematurely and some found it

an experience not to be

repeated.

▽ Regarding individual aspects

the focus is on Attitudes,

Adaptation and Living Abroad.