Michigan Time: Isn't it for everyone? My excuse for a late blog entry. May 23rd, 2007. (Alexander Yu)

After a long day of school yesterday, we were all ready to enjoy the city of Zurich.

So, like a true Michigan student, we went out, stayed up late, but woke up in time for another day of exciting classes. Unfortunately, also like a true Michigan student, we arrived ten minutes late. Who knew the Swiss don't have Michigan time? Luckily, Sam wasn't mad; none of his students had arrived on time either! I can tell that the best part of this experience will be watching Dan, one of our facilitators, stress out about being on time, while Jimmy and Luis trail an average of 20 paces behind everybody.

So after entering our non-airconditioned lecture room (I love the energy efficiency of the Swiss) we got down to the issues at hand. Sam gave several lectures in his field of research, Intercultural Management. We began the day looking into the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity, or DMIS for short. Quite simply, this model looks at six stages of sensitivity among intercultural boundaries. The first three, which are Denial, Defence, and Minimization, fall into what is referred to as Ethnocentric Stages. On the flip side, Acceptance, Adaptation, and Integration fall into the Ethnorelative Stages. One of the most interesting points we discussed was how important it was to enjoy the differences between people (Acceptance) and not to believe in a universal value system (Minimization). Though Minimization allows for people to treat others equally, we must realized that there will always be biases surrounding people of different races, creeds, and genders, and accepting the differences ultimately allows for the growth of intrapersonal relationships as well as global intercultural sensitivity.

Sam has been an amazing professor, and I believe all 17 of us (students and faculty) have really enjoyed his presence. After a long day's lecture, we reunited (and it felt so good) at the GIEU reception in the lobby area of the Winterthur satelite campus of the University of Zurich Applied Sciences. With a great selection of food and light refreshments, we were able to talk casually amongst each other, interacting with the Swiss students as well as the faculty from both Zurich and Michigan. It was a very memorable ending for a great experience at the University, in a comfortable environment (party with the professors? No way!). One could tell we all enjoyed our stay at the University and the company we kept. Dan has pictures. Like a thousand.

Finally, after the reception ended, we had to say goodbye to half of the GIEU students because they were taking an overnight train to Amsterdam while Voni, Sophie, Minna, Kate, Alex R. and I stayed behind for a flight the next morning. Save the tears of goodbye, we knew we would be together once again at SIT the next day. Our experience in Zurich was amazing, one filled with good times, good friends, and a great team. See you in Amsterdam!

Alex Yu