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＞ＴＯＰ ＞ＵＷＰ ≫ ２００５春NEWS JOURNAL
２００５春NEWS JOURNAL
Vol. 2, No. 2, 18 Mar 2005
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Click here for student journals
Click on any photo to enlarge
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Boston Library in Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
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Follow the Tour
North America
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
21 Feb 2005 - 27 Feb 2005
Waterville, Maine, USA
28 Feb 2005 - 6 Mar 2005
New Britain, Connecticut, USA
7 Mar 2005 - 13 Mar 2005
Scarborough, Maine, USA
14 Mar 2005 - 20 Mar 2005
Boston is the capital of Massachusetts. Its old statehouse was called "the hub of the solar system" by Oliver Wendall Holmes. Time has altered the statement, and it is now remembered as "Boston is the hub of the universe." Today, Boston is called "The Hub."
The historic city is also known as Beantown and is known for its diverse neighborhoods, high-tech business and educational institutions, including Boston University, Simmons College, Tufts, University, University of Massachusetts Boston, Northeastern University, Emerson College and more.
Massachusetts has 7,838 square miles of land and 1,519 miles of shoreline.
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Delayed. Bob Sloat giving the news about the flight delay to the WorldSmart crew at Denver International Airport Feb. 21
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Travel Day and Host Family Living
Priceless!
By Katie Caylor, USA
One airplane flight delayed three times, eleven hours in the Denver International Airport, $400 in vouchers to McDonalds, one overnight stay in a Cincinnati hotel without luggage, one complimentary hygiene packet, countless hours of bonding with group mates….. PRICELESS!
Who could have imagined such a simple trip would be so complex? Not us.
But, after many hours and adjustments we made it to wonderful Boston, Massachusetts,
USA. We were excited to experience new families, new roommates, new sites,
and new community impact!
I would have to say my most interesting
first experience in Boston was traveling with my new roommate, Kozue, to
our new hosts' house. After arriving in a huge, new city, our challenge was to
use the T metro, and the commuter rail to reach our destination, with 70 lbs. of
luggage. Let's just say we had a ton of laughs!
We were greeted by our host mom and host sister with open arms and an
amazement of the amount luggage we brought. But we piled into their van and
headed to our new home.
Our experience with our host family in Boston was extremely pleasant. We were
welcomed with a delicious hot meal and brand new Boston t-shirts. We felt
extremely comfortable and honored to stay with such a caring and interested
family. We really enjoyed getting to know our host dad, Aaron, and host sister,
Kali, as well. Our host mom, Mari, moved to the United States from Japan. She
shared her culture and experiences from Japan and America. My roommate
Kozue (from Japan) and Mari shared observations on the similarities and
differences of their home country. It was such a wonderful experience for me,
and increased my excitement to travel to Japan in the coming weeks. Listening to
Kozue, Mari and Kali speak Japanese at dinner was fascinating. Eating,
laughing, and conversing were our evening family rituals. Learning to knit
scarves was also an activity that all the girls enjoyed!
At the end of the week our host family, Mari, Aaron and Kali, joined us for
the WorldSmart Celebration. We were able to share our experiences in Boston; our
community involvement work; goals and visions; and what we experienced and
accomplished throughout the week. We topped it off with an elegant evening of
Boston lobster and a lot of laughs! Our experience in Boston was truly cultural
and eye-opening. The citizens of Boston were very helpful and hospitable.
Overall, Boston was a priceless adventure!
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WorldSmart students visit Harvard. (L to R) HardTom Coreynen,
Belgium; Manuela Buchting, Germany; Kathleen Reisch, Germany; Meghan Lazier,
United States; Anna Haeger, Sweden; John Nguyen, Australia; Lin Wang, China;
Crystal Sanderson, Canada; Tomi Otudeko, Nigeria/United Kingdom; and Rebecca
Chen, China
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Personal Development
WorldSmart Students Attend Classes
At Harvard University
By Crystal Sanderson, Canada
Ten of us
were given the opportunity Feb. 22 to visit Harvard University, the oldest
institution of higher learning in the United States, which is 369 years old this
year. Tomi Otudeko, from Nigeria, has a sister who attends Harvard
Business School and was able to invite us to sit in on several classes.
Harvard, which is one of the most
prestigious universities in the USA, is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The
campus is beautiful and old and has a heritage feel to it, as all of the
buildings look like homes from another era.
We divided our group into three
classes-Ethics, Leadership, and Finance. Even though all classes were of
different titles, a common subject was discussed-Enron and auditing. The class
was very diverse with students from all over the world. All of us found it very
interesting and different from our own university experiences, as it was
student-run as opposed to facilitated only by a professor. We observed that the
students in these classes learn through discussion of current topics, not only
from books.
It was a wonderful experience having
the opportunity to sit in on a Harvard class and to see what it takes to be a
prospective student. All that attended left with a wonderful impression.
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Participants visit MIT in Boston Massachusetts, Feb. 24 (L to
R) Naina Goulart, Brazil; Hugo Ariza, Mexico; and Adriana Mesquita, Brazil
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Personal Development
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Hosts WorldSmart
Participants
By Naina Goulart, Brazil
One of the best things
that the WorldSmart? Leadership Program provides us with is the possibility of
unique destinations during our time in the cities we visit. As brand new
visitors to Boston, Adriana Mesquita from Brazil and I had the
opportunity of attending a macroeconomics class at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT).
The professor of this class was Roberto Rigobon from Venezuela. He talked
about topics such as Balance of Payment and the Labor Market, giving examples
from Singapore, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Rwanda and United States.
The class itself was really interesting, but what attracted my attention the
most was the diversity of its students. There were people from North America,
South America, Europe and Asia. The professor's approach was to encourage
students to give their perspective during the discussion, thus providing us with
different points of view.
It was amazing to see how different opinions create such productive
discussions. It was really inspiring seeing how the students were interested in
adding their points and thoughts during the class.
My visit to MIT made me realize how unique the WorldSmart experience is, as
we are exposed to so many different ways of thinking and acting. Culture shock
may come with that, but that is the great thing of being in this kind of
program-facing new situations and seeing ones' self change while experiencing
them.
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Kevin Sampson of Eaton Consulting Group discusses communication
styles with WorldSmart crew members
(L to R) Serah Adegbenro, United Kingdom; Tomi Otudeko,
Nigeria/ United Kingdom; and Els Kolster, Netherlands participate in the Eaton
Consulting Group workshop
WorldSmart Students visit the cultural integration specialists
at Eaton Consulting Group in Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Professional Development
WorldSmart Students Participate
In Intercultural
Business
Communications Workshop
With Eaton Consulting Group
By Scott Reeder, USA
On Friday
afternoon, Feb. 25, a small group of WorldSmart students had the opportunity to
visit Eaton Consulting Group in Boston, Mass. Kevin Sampson, the manager of
training operations at Eaton Consulting, provided the group with his insights
into his company's role as a cross-cultural consulting firm. Specifically
catered toward the globally savvy organization, Eaton Consulting Group's focus
is to build their clients cultural competencies while focusing on practical
skills that lead to more streamlined processes. As international students
representing various cultures and backgrounds, we found it interesting to learn
the strategies that these companies are implementing in order to become more
globally competent.
We began our afternoon with a discussion about personal traits that can be
both observable and unobservable as represented in the iceberg model. Often
times, those traits that are on the surface only compose a fraction of what
defines an individual's character. Furthermore, an individual's personality has
characteristics that can be classified based on specific cultural traits.
For example, we learned about three distinct cultural models that highlight
the differences in how we establish relationships. The European model is
characterized as a coconut; that is, it is initially more difficult to break
through the "outer shell", however, once you succeed, you find that there is
more openness and "softness."
The American model is characterized as a peach. Americans are viewed as very
friendly and personable in the beginning, but as you try to get to know them on
a deeper level, you realize that there is a tougher, more protected inside.
Finally, the Japanese model suggests that their personality characteristics
are a combination of both the coconut and the peach…a fuzzy coconut if you will.
Initially, a Japanese person is warm and friendly, however, it is more difficult
to get to know them on a deeper level. Once you break through that shell, you
will find that they are very relational. Throughout this conversation, Kevin
continued to reiterate that these are generalities about each culture, and that
variation exists whenever you to treat one culture as an "individual."
The majority of our afternoon was spent discussing theories developed by
Geert Hofstede. Eaton Consulting Group has expanded these theories to create
more than twenty dimensions of cultural difference. Our group examined the
relationship between the U.S., Japanese, and German cultures based on their
cultural distinctions. After plotting these countries on various cultural
dimensions, we became more aware of the behaviors that both hinder and
facilitate effective communication in a cross cultural setting. It was
fascinating to learn the different tools you can use to effectively solve
problems related to cultural differences.
We finished our afternoon with a question and answer session with Kevin. It
was great to get the opportunity to pick his brain and learn a new perspective
on cross-cultural communication in business.
Our experience with Eaton Consulting Group proved to be both educational and
entertaining. I was able to learn some valuable tools that I can apply to future
situations that involve cross-cultural communication and I also learned some new
things about my fellow classmates. I believe we all walked away with new
communication tools that we can apply to our travels and the cultures that we
encounter on the road. Kevin and everyone at Eaton Consulting Group were very
generous with their time and their insights. Those of us that were fortunate
enough to attend the workshop will apply what we have learned over the next
fourteen weeks so as to communicate more effectively and appreciate the
diversity that surrounds us.
We want to offer a special thank you to Dave Eaton, an Up with
People Alumnus, for making this training possible. Eaton Consulting Group
provides consulting and training services for companies such as Dell, Bechtel,
ENKA (Turkey), Cisco Systems, Godiva's and Starbucks. For more information
please visit their website at www.eatonconsultinggroup.com.
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Waterville, Maine, USA
New Britain, Connecticut, USA
Scarborough, Maine, USA
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Follow the
Tour
North America
Waterville, Maine, USA
28 Feb 2005 - 6 Mar
2005
New Britain, Connecticut, USA
7 Mar 2005 - 13 Mar
2005
Scarborough, Maine, USA
14 Mar 2005 - 20 Mar
2005
Waterville, Maine, was indeed known for its water, with its rivers
supplying sites for grist mills, saw mills, clothing mills and card mills.
In 1849, the famous U. S. shirt maker--C. F. Hathaway-began making shirts in
Waterville, the same year the railroad came to town. In 1883 Waterville was
large enough to become a city, but didn't accept that elevated status until
1888.
Click here to read more about the WorldSmart visit to
Waterville, Maine, USA.
New Britain is located in central Connecticut, just southwest of
Hartford. This community started out as a farming community and eventually grew
into an industrial force in the region, attracting people from around the world.
Today it has a populations of 70,000.
There are many museums, theaters, and professional musical ensembles in the
city. New Britain's business community is a rich mix of manufacturing, medical,
high-tech industry and small to mid-sized businesses. Central Connecticut State
University also has proved to be a good partner for business development and
support through their main campus and CCSU's Institute for Technology and
Business Development, located in the heart of downtown.
Click here to read more about the WorldSmart Crew's visit to
New Britain, Connecticut, USA.
Scarborough, Maine, located in southern Maine, was named for the same
town in England.
The settlement of Scarborough was one of the earliest made on the New England
coast. John Jocelyn, writer, botanist and English nobleman, came to Scarborough
in 1663 to visit his brother Henry Jocelyn, who had settled on Prout's Neck. His
visit lasted eight years. His writings offer the best history of that time. He
wrote that the province of Maine had plenty of magistrates, husbandmen and
planters, but very few skilled craftsmen.
The town incorporated in 1658, and today as a population of 17,000.
Scarborough's sandy beaches and the rocky coastline were made famous by a local
artist, Winslow Homer.
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