Blog
Post 7
I have very much enjoyed this
first class in my master’s education. I think the part I have enjoyed most is
the class time and hearing other people’s experiences with work and life, and
how they shaped who we are today. We
have all have had different journeys, and we are fortunate to have a range of
experience and professions in our small group. The blogs have been an extension
of the class experience, reading about people’s lives and how they interpret
the readings with their/our own lives.
I recently travelled into the
USA for a vacation, driving through the eastern states, stopping along the way
and finally touring around Florida. These days, a lot of people enjoy the
all-inclusive vacations, the type that includes everything from flight,
accommodations and, of course, food and drink. We’ve travelled this way
ourselves occasionally, and have enjoyed our time, but for us, it lacked
something.
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| Diner in CT. |
Travelling in a car (or train
I guess), stopping along the way in the various communities lets us experience
a bit of local culture and lifestyle. We just didn’t get that hopping on and
off a plane.
This time we stopped along
the way in New Hampshire, Connecticut, Baltimore, Washington DC, South Carolina,
Georgia, and Florida and many gas stations and restaurants in various
communities along the way. Each of these stops allows us to pick up a little
bit of local flavor along the way. On this trip, when we were in South Carolina,
we told the waitress about being from Nova Scotia. There was little reaction to
this from her; she likely had no idea where NS is located, which is pretty
common in the US. When I asked her what grits were, she told me they were
“sorta like ground corn, I have them with cheese and they’re real good”. I
ordered them with my breakfast but did not get them with cheese, I immediately
regretted not getting cheese, they weren’t as good, she gave me a local tip and
I didn’t listen, silly me. While in the restaurant, we were the only white
people there, an unusual situation, where we come from, it is often the
opposite situation. I think that is why I enjoy travelling. While these
experiences do not submerse me into the
whole experience of being a local in their communities, that would take far
more time. But travelling gives us a taste of other people’s way of life, even
if it is a brief stop in a gas station.
In class we discussed Wenger
and Lave’s Communities of Practice, and how each of us can belong to a
community of practice within our profession and our culture, as well how these
communities of practice can sometimes overlap or even collide.
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| Savannah Georgia |
In North America, english is
the predominant language, the only time we encountered a different language was
Spanish and one of the hotels down south and some French speaking people in New
Brunswick. But within the English language are various accents that define the
local community. It can be difficult to understand someone talking even though
they are speaking English. I can imagine someone from another part of the world
trying to understand someone from New Waterford or Ingonish. These communities
have strong local dialects and newcomers must listen attentively to understand.
This was our situation in some parts of the US, the southern drawls and local
expressions means listening attentively to what people are saying. “y’all ‘bout
to order ur meal”.
Travelling is such a great
experience. I truly love all of it, the sights we see along the way, the food
we eat, and of course the many people we encounter. I think travelling can
enable us to be more accepting of people and more willing to accept different
points of view. We all cruise in various communities of practice, if we are a
tiny bit aware of other people’s culture, we can be more willing to accept
people ways and accept their differences.
References:
Lave, Jean & Wenger,
Etienne. (1991). Situated learning Legitimate peripheral participation. New
York: Cambridge University Press.
