Communication in a Global Village

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Assignment One: Communication in a Global Village “May I ask you a question?” a coworker at a woodworking shop asked me. “Sure, why not?” I replied. He proceeded by politely saying, “Do not get me wrong, but I am confused about your nationality. I know you told me many times, but I am still confused.” I replied, “I understand. I am confused myself.” I laughed and explained that my mother is Serbian, my father is Croat, I was born in Sarajevo, lived in Africa, went to high school in Serbia and now am American. He started saying something, I stopped him and added, “The only important thing is that I am a human being just like you, and that is all you need to understand.” He shook my hand and said, “I think I do understand now”. In the story by Dean Barnlund, “Communication in a Global Village”, one of the many great statements is, “Once one becomes an Indian, an Ibo, or a Frenchman-or even a priest or scientist –it is difficult to extract oneself from that mooring long enough to find out what one truly is.” This made me think, and ask myself a couple of questions. Is it possible to extract oneself and realize what one truly is? Am I the one that is stuck in my way or am I the one that made the next step and joined the Global Village? What does one gain from stepping out and finding out what he truly is? Being exposed to an immigrant community, one can understand the difficulty of extracting themselves from who they are and exposing themselves to a new world and a new culture. The older the person is and level of education achieved makes a big difference in one’s ability to blend in, extract themselves, and realize what they truly are. Big immigrant communities provide a good first step toward adjusting to a new culture, but there are also big handicaps at the same time. A good example is
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