Interacting with other viewpoints and cultures is very important to one’s personal growth. In order to solve problems, be more outgoing, and have more independence while studying abroad in Madrid, Spain, I knew that I needed a firm grasp on the concept of cross-cultural communication. Communicating cross-culturally encompasses knowing what to do in another culture in order to be polite, conduct business, and be proficient while using the language in order to help you do those things, whichever language it may be. The student organization Buddies Beyond Borders as well as my Management 250 class helped me to learn and practice cross-cultural communication and to be ready to put it into action during my travels.

 

Management 250 is a required class for all business majors, and it teaches communication within the workplace. We learned how to formulate written communication directed at different levels of a business.  We also discussed how to construct memos regarding different workplace issues such as calling meetings, shooting down ideas, announcing news, and sending reminders. The class culminated with a group project that included a presentation and a guidebook on how to communicate within a certain country. My team was assigned Ukraine, and we focused on the differences in government, customs, and culture. I learned the importance of cultural sensitivity and that certain things are expected or not appropriate depending on where you are in the world.

 

Management 250 gave me skills that I utilized in Buddies Beyond Borders before I went abroad. The Buddies Beyond Borders organization pairs a domestic student with an international student studying abroad at USC. I have participated in this program every semester for the last three years of my degree, except for when I went abroad myself. During the spring of 2017 at IE University in Madrid, I was assigned a domestic buddy of my own, and it was interesting to be on the other side of that relationship as the international student. Being a domestic Buddy at USC has been a great experience for meeting new people and learning about different cultures. During each initial meeting, my buddy and I would spend at least an hour just chatting, getting to know each other, and talking about cultural differences, which I always found fascinating. During these meetings, having respect for other cultures is of extreme importance. Our job as a Buddy is to make the international student feel welcome and answer any questions they may have, in addition to sharing cultural knowledge. Communicating with international students and asking about cultural differences that I had learned in my management class was amazing practice for when I went abroad and had to communicate in the “real world” and everyone around me was part of a different culture. From speaking with my buddies, I learned the appropriate way to behave in many different cultures, such as Italian, Norwegian, Chinese, and Brazilian.

 

While living in Madrid, I was immersed in the Spanish culture. I had one roommate who did not speak English, so that was a great opportunity for me in that I was able to practice my Spanish communication with him. During my first few weeks in Spain, I stayed in an AirBnb while I apartment hunted. This was before classes had started, and my only friend was my AirBnb host. She told me about events called Language Exchanges, which were gatherings of internationals, as well as locals, at a bar or restaurant to meet new people and practice speaking whichever language you liked. These were also known as “meet and speak” events. When I found my more permanent flat, my roommates and I went to a Language Exchange almost weekly in order to meet new people. I became more outgoing and also utilized my knowledge of cultural sensitivity to talk to everyone around me. What I learned in Management 250 also helped me while I was traveling outside of Spain, as I felt confident talking to locals, and the overall experience helped me to become more independent. Finally, upon my return to the States, I was able to share all of my travels and what I had learned about Spanish culture during a Sigma Delta Pi Spanish Honors Society meeting as well as at the 2018 EcoReps Conference.