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How to Spark Conversations about Ideas
One of the coolest things I remember from college was finding a really interesting article or short story that someone has slipped under the door of my dorm room. A scribbled note might say “Thought...
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Intercultural Version of Your Mom Dresses You Funny
“Simple Rules during an argument: If you are losing, begin to correct the Portuguese errors of the other person.” Remember as a kid if you knew you were losing a fight and were grasping at straws for...
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A Primer for Brazilians on USAmerican Hospitality: The Summer Barbecue
I learned a few weeks ago that there were going to be 800 students from Brazil in Chicago this summer, studying at the Illinois Institute of Technology, University of Illinois Chicago and University...
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How to Be Really Important
After years of study and really important work in intercultural communication, I’ve been asked to contribute in an extremely significant way to the grand opening for I Grow Chicago’s Peace House*, a...
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Empathy and Innovation in Problem Solving
My husband can drive from Chicago to St. Louis in four hours. For my son and me, it’s a three day trip, via Rock City and Fairyland Caverns in Georgia, or perhaps down the “crookedest street in the...
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Learning to Blog at 70, Bena Shklyanoy Shines as a Natural Storyteller
Over the past three years, Shklyanoy, 70, has launched a new website tracing 150+ years of her family’s Soviet Jewish history, become an avid (and often very funny) blogger, is on Facebook and Twitter...
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Perspective
Some days when it’s time to write I feel like Andy McDowell in “Sex, Lies and Videotape” when she’s talking to her therapist about how sad and paralyzed she gets by reading the paper and seeing the...
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Three Strategies to Have Fun and Not Gain Weight over the Holidays
Forget trying to lose weight over the holidays. It’s not going to happen. But a very good goal is to not gain weight over the holidays. Well, to not gain weight but also to not miss out on fun...
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Intercultural in Action: Define the Word Epigenetics
The back of my business card says “Is your message getting lost in translation from English to English?” Sometimes that can mean cultural differences but more often it has to do with areas of expertise...
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Intercultural Version of Your Mom Dresses You Funny
“Simple Rules during an argument: If you are losing, begin to correct the Portuguese errors of the other person.” Remember as a kid if you knew you were losing a fight and were grasping at straws for...
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Lochte Caught by Intercultural Ignorance and Arrogance
Photo credit WBTW Channel 13/CBS How not knowing the culture and cultural arrogance tripped up Ryan Lochte Any Brazilian or anyone who has been to Brazil knew that Ryan Lochte and friends’ story...
View ArticleFamily as Boot Camp for Intercultural Communications
Grandma Studies Sports Page to Connect to Grandson We were sitting at the dinner table at Fitz’s in St. Louis last week. While my husband, son and I chatted at one end of the table, I overheard my mom...
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August 2 is Independence Day?
I read this morning that the Declaration of Independence was signed today… August 2nd. Which I don’t get because we celebrate Independence Day on the 4th of July…the day the Declaration of Independence...
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Jerk, Irrelevant or None of the Above?
You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do. – Eleanor Roosevelt My son is always positive his teachers don’t like him. The feeling comes from his...
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The 606 New “L” Park about Elevating Ideas, Too
I have a client who talks a lot about creating a teaching and learning culture. The context for him, which he captured in his book about active grandparenting, was how grandparents, parents and...
View ArticleStand Still for 5 Minutes? Now That’s a Communication Style
I’m subbing a stretch/relaxation class for a colleague on Thursday night. It’s not that I’m not qualified—AFAA certified group fitness instructor, former gymnast. I can do the stretches. It’s her...
View ArticleNew to Chicago? 10 Things to Help You Find Your Way
I love to talk about how to adapt when moving from one culture to the other in terms of international cultures/countries. But lunch yesterday with a colleague moving to Chicago, cold turkey, on her...
View ArticleIntercultural in Action: Define the Word Epigenetics
The back of my business card says “Is your message getting lost in translation from English to English?” Sometimes that can mean cultural differences but more often it has to do with areas of expertise...
View ArticleIntercultural Version of Your Mom Dresses You Funny
“Simple Rules during an argument: If you are losing, begin to correct the Portuguese errors of the other person.” Remember as a kid if you knew you were losing a fight and were grasping at straws for...
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