In my last blog I wrote about "finding your kind of people". Based on the book "Belong" by Radha Agrawal. Today's blog is about nurturing your community: once you found your kind of people, how do you make them coming back for more? As with everything in live: you sow what you reap. The more…
In other words, how to create your personal community in the Netherlands? A big question or quest, for all expats arriving in the Netherlands. Although work related passion has let you to this country, most expats don't want hang out solely in the "expat bubble", where to find like minded Duchies though? How to create…
I have been writing about this subject before: the importance for employers of a team that can understand and work with people from different cultural backgrounds. If you are reading this blog you are most likely an expat in the Netherlands and you will know as no other that cultural competencies are a necessity to…
Continue reading ➞ Being culturally competent in the Netherlands
Intercultural competence cannot be reduced to a simple personality trait, or some abstract textbook knowledge. It's for a large part related to language, to the capability of managing conflicts, and to social responsibility. According to Edward Hall we can place these in the categories of context, space and time. These categories can help you interpret…
Looking in the mirror from time to time to evaluate how "things are going" is always a good idea. Taking personality tests online (on a regular basis because when you evolve so does your personality) can give your valuable insights in the way you live your life/want to live your life. Dialogue with the Dutch…
Continue reading ➞ Does your personality influence adaptation?
Levels of diversity Did you know that when we talk about diversity we often think about culture? Well cultural diversity definitely is one of the layers of diversity, but there is more to it than culture alone. Culture is actually the outer layer of the diversity paradigm, therefor it's very visible. No wonder this is…
In these hard times, where the world gets tortured with the Corona virus, intercultural communication in the professional life is a daily situation. There is a lot to learn from other countries in these difficult times. But there are so many different approaches, so where to start? It's a hot topic, intercultural communication in business.…
Continue reading ➞ COVID-19 pandemic and cultural differences
The more we can be our self, the more we can bring to the table. The “feeling we belong” comes from inclusion, and inclusion is a beacon and symbol for our possibilities. A hot topic is social inclusion, which is about improving the terms of participation in society for people who are disadvantaged. Many large…
According to Wikipedia ethnocentrism is the act of judging another culture based on preconceptions that are found in the values and standards of one's own culture. In the field of intercultural communication this is a major subject. Why? Well, because most of us can only respond to what we perceive based on our own frame…
After writing 6 blogs on internationalisation in higher education, there is still a major topic that gets, and deserves a lot of attention nowadays: the United Nations Sustainable development goals. There are Facebook pages dedicated to them, like this one and this one. Of course the United Nations have a dedicated page. The sustainable development goals,…
Dialogue with the Dutch 