APARTAMENTO 5D

April 2013

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

Adapting to the culturally distant Crdoba with a limited understanding of the people and language.
Cathryn Kempe 15 April 2013

Apartamento 5D

Copyright 2013 Cathryn Kempe

APARTAMENTO 5D

April 2013

The flight from Chile to Argentina was the easiest segment of our twelve hour journey. The snowcapped mountains and beautiful coast made flying over Adelaide seem so dull. Even with jetlag and an urgent need for a shower, the beauty of the Andes left me awestruck. I had a window seat so my eyes were fixed on the scenery for twenty minutes until we passed into Argentina. The terrain became flat and expansive, interrupted occasionally by a hill and a bit of greenery. This was more like the landscape I was used to. In no time at all we were preparing for landing and I found myself stirring with excitement and nerves. This was my first time travelling without family, and it was to a city so different to Adelaide. The plane descended and landed smoothly and upon landing I made my way through the security checkpoints, returning to reality when I realised people were speaking to me and I couldnt understand them. I seized up and forgot the simplest of Spanish words. I couldnt even say no hablo mucho espaol, I dont speak much Spanish. This is what a year of language study brought me1. I finally made my way into the public waiting area and was surprised to find it so quiet. I saw who I assumed was the Projects Abroad volunteer coordinator waving to me and my travel companion, Josh, and she approached us with a smile. I thought Stephanie would be holding up a sign like the email briefings informed over a month ago. I saw within five minutes this wasnt necessary though, because Josh and I were the only white people with blonde hair and light-coloured eyes in the airport2. I just assumed this was because no flights had come in recently from outside South America; even my flight came in from Chile. We followed Steph into a taxi and began an awkward journey to our homestay. In between the frightening driving techniques of our taxi driver and everyone else on the road, Josh and I replied
1 When applying a second language to real life situations with false expectations the communication is likely to fail. A language learner must hold realistic beliefs about the time needed to become a fluent speaker and the difficulties of language, particularly in the country that uses it as a first language. Anxiety, negativity towards learning experiences and losing confidence in speaking the new language are common consequences of unrealistic expectations (Mohebi & Khodadady 2011, p. 292). Under the constraints of a classroom one feels more secure with the guidance of a teacher and may not be prepared for native fluency and cultural norms. Gudykunst (1994, p. 150) says successful second-language students are to be given opportunities to use the dominant language in different contexts. A language learner must know that language and culture are not separable, but are acquired together (Mitchell & Myles 2011, p. 235). 2 An airport is often viewed upon as multicultural. It could be said an airport is like a thirdspace, or an intercultural space that integrates both the local and global world we live in (Jackson 2008, p. 40). We see glimpses of this on airport signs written in multiple languages, and in the diverse airport community. This may not carry through, however, in smaller and more isolated airports such as Crdoba airport. While Crdoba is a big city it doesnt offer mainstream tourism. Similar to a case study of Naha airport in Japan (Gottlieb ed. 2011), Crdoba finds many tourists from countries of South America and many visitors across cities in Argentina, but not from overseas. Even so, both airports not only display the host countries dominant language on most signs, they display English. This likeness spreads across the world and demonstrates the way English is seen as the international language. By communicating you should know either our language or English, airports distance many cultures and classify them as inferior. For this reasoning, the airport in specific contexts could not be seen as a thirdspace.

Copyright 2013 Cathryn Kempe

APARTAMENTO 5D

April 2013

to Stephanies attempts at small talk with short, half-hearted answers. When we finally arrived at our homestay apartment I looked up and down the building, unimpressed. However after what I saw from the plane window it wasnt surprising that the building was old, run down, with a matte white finish and a boxed shape. Stephanie called our new host mother on the bronze callbox. They spoke in Spanish faster than I could hope to comprehend, and we were buzzed inside. We continued to the small elevator and climbed to level five. In a zombie-like state I followed Steph and Josh down the long and straight hallway to room D.

Hola! Our host mother Lily shouted from the open doorway of apartamento 5D. Stephanie introduced us and Lily showed us to our rooms in silence. My room was connected to the bathroom and contained a bookshelf, an empty TV stand, a writing desk, a woven chair and the most important part the bed. I laid my over-packed suitcase across the chair and sat down, but my heart sank because my body didnt. My bed was like a rock, great. Lilys bright smile appeared around the corner and she invited me to a house tour. Suddenly I felt bad for being unappreciative of what Lily was providing us. I smiled back and followed her while she pointed out four more bedrooms and the kitchen, trying her English which I noticed was very poor. Thee Keechen she would say slowly and carefully, but I admired her attempt to make me feel at home. The most I would ever hear her say in English was please, o-pen thee door, which seemed a strange choice of phrase to memorise for a very small English vocabulary.

After the tour Steph, Josh and I sat at the kitchen table with Lily to talk about general house rules and expectations. It was a hot, humid and windy day, so on the fifth level, sitting by the open window in the kitchen was heaven. I remember the rules came to no surprise to me, and I would have no problem adhering to them because they simply required me to be respectful. Clean up after yourself, dont bring people home for meals, dont invite people to stay overnight, and of course, leave bedrooms doors open. After what seemed like hours, Steph left for the day and Josh and I made for our separate rooms for a long awaited sleep. Unfortunately my pillow was as firm as my bed, but that day, nothing was going to stop me from sleeping. I napped for four hours and woke up at 9pm for dinner.

The first meal was simple yet delicious. Sausages wrapped in a mustard-filled pastry package which crunched and melted in my mouth. I ate about six, along with a salad of lettuce and red onion, half a stale break stick and to drink: half a glass of chilled water. Gracias Lily, este es muy bueno! I smiled at Lily appreciatively and Josh nodded with agreement.

Copyright 2013 Cathryn Kempe

APARTAMENTO 5D

April 2013

S, muy muy bueno. Gracias chicos she answered. The three of us knew we couldnt really talk further because of our limited knowledge of each others languages, and Josh and I felt uncomfortable speaking English and excluding Lily. When we did speak, which was usually to thank Lily or make very small talk, the conversations seemed to consist mainly of smiling and exaggerated hand signals to explain the message3. Lilys skin was a light shade of olive and her face was covered with subtle age lines. Her smile was narrow and her eyes held warmth and kindness. I found out through the homestay that Lily is divorced with four children, most of whom live outside of Crdoba. It was clear why she hosted international students and volunteers the house was very big and lonely.

After dinner I met Lesley, a girl from the US studying a semester abroad. She had been living with Lily in Crdoba for seven months and she spoke Spanish fluently. This came in handy for Josh and I because often Lesley would be our translator4. She offered to show us around the city, so at 9:30pm we left apartamento 5D for the tour. We walked down the dimly lit hallway and stopped at the elevator, which I paid more attention to this time. It had rusty grated doors that opened manually by a long and thin handle. I hesitated inside and was startled when we started moving. Our descent was very rigid and the mechanics sounded, to me, very dodgy. I thought to myself dont they have safety regulations? I dont want to die in an elevator! 5 Now, Im just glad it wasnt
3 Nonverbal communication in the form of body language is used and interpreted by everyone daily. Humans can see emotions and will make impressions of people based on nonverbal communication (Andersen 2008). When people cant interact linguistically it is important for them to communicate through face and body. Eye contact, a smile, enthusiastic gestures and friendly touches such as a kiss on the left cheek in Argentina, portray warmth, and provide benefits to both the native speaker and secondlanguage speaker. For the parties involved, these cues will encourage further communication and create attention (Andersen 2008, p. 147). 4 Particularly in the situation of putting forth ones own ideas and beginning and holding a conversation, the second-language learner may have to venture out of their comfort zone to assert a positive, native-speaker-like identity (Mitchell & Myles 2004, p. 248). Resistance to speak the new language common if the speaker loses motivation and confidence in such situations. A person may completely withdraw from language interactions and maintain first language identity (Mitchell and Myles 2004, p. 248). A milder form of resistance may be to instead avoid particular dialogues that require lengthier and freer responses than those of service or classroom encounters. One may choose the easier alternative to verbal communication by relying on a translator, sign language or body language. 5 Every human is ethnocentric in some form. Ethnocentrism is the view of things in which ones own group is the centre of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it (Sumner 1940, as cited in Gudykunst 1994, p. 77). While we are all ethnocentric, some people are more so than others. In the example of a faulty elevator, this attitude may cause people to compare safety standards of two different societies or claim superiority. It is important, however, to remember all cultures function

Copyright 2013 Cathryn Kempe

APARTAMENTO 5D
until much later that I met a scruffy-bearded and thick-moustached Canadian man in his late twenties, who told me about this time he was in Egypt.

April 2013

I took the elevator at this dodgy hotel I was staying at every day, and it was always clunking and squeaking and it sounded broken. One time I was waiting on my floor and I pressed for the elevator which must have been waiting at one of the floors above me. I could hear it start to make its way down, but then I heard, like a snap sound... not the cable snapping, but something must have come loose or wore away or something. Anyway, it fell right past me and kept going down. I waited a while and I was flipping out and then I heard a CRRASSSHHH!! So I ran down the stairs to the ground floor and when I got there I was puffing and my heart was beating so fast, and I saw all these people gathered around because the elevator was there in the shaft all mangled up. I hung around for a while until staff started clearing us out so I left for the day and when I came back later the elevator said Out of Order.

Of course, he cleared up soon after that no one was injured.

Lesley, Josh and I proceeded through Crdoba city and Lesley pointed out important streets and landmarks to remember. It was very busy, loud and there were Argentineans of every age roaming the streets. My ears were constantly filled with honking of horns and what I assume was swearing in Spanish. It didnt surprise me because even though there were lanes marked on the road, not a single driver was actually using them. People were selling roasted or caramelised nuts at small stalls and the scent wafted through the streets. I couldnt help but notice though, that almost every eye was looking at me. I stood out here even more so than at the airport, and to make matters worse I was also taller than most of the men and women. I mentioned this to Lesley who told me not to worry because you just get used to it. Even though I initially doubted this was the case because she blended in more than me, she was right. I eventually stopped noticing. After walking for ten minutes we approached the main square. A stage was set up so we stuck around for a while and listened to a catchy Castilian melody while people danced. De dnde sos? Where are you from? I heard a man ask Josh, who was standing beside me. Nueva Zelanda. Ah! All Blacks! The man flexed his muscles jokingly, imitating the Rugby team of New Zealand6.
differently and there are many alternatives to ones own (Gudykunst 1994). 6 Television has contributed to globalisation by connecting people around the world through moving pictures and sound (Mitu 2011, p. 897). Watching TV shows and movies has become a social activity people are expected to take part in, discuss and gossip about (Gauntlett & Hill 1999, p. 128). Both film and television play a role in creating certain images and ideas about societies all over the world. Latin America is often depicted in film as a place of crime, drugs and sex. It is, however, often skimmed over that Latin America consists of many countries with different cultural practices and lifestyles (Friedrich,

Copyright 2013 Cathryn Kempe

APARTAMENTO 5D

April 2013

We laughed, listened to music for a bit longer and walked back home.

My sleep that night and every night to come would be restless and uncomfortable. The fan was too far from my bed and I was always overheated. I had no choice but to sleep with the sheets over me, otherwise I would wake up with puffy and red mozzie bites, aggravated by the sweat on my body. I only left the window open on a windy night because the breeze offered relief, and even then I was paranoid about bats flying into my room after it happened during dinner one night. The window had a good habit of waking me up as well when the thick, rectangle door would slam shut in the wind. Every morning the first thing Id do is have an ice cold shower, and the water on my bitten skin was the best feeling in the world.

Josh and I spent our first two weekends exploring the city, but after that there was nothing left to explore. Each time I had my Nikon DSLR around my neck and a map in hand. We looked like lost tourists who took a wrong turn to end up here when the beautiful beaches of Buenos Aires were just an hours flight away. Crdoba is beautiful though. A country of heavily catholic influence meant a city of beautiful architecture and churches. Wandering through the city and finding one church after another was a great day for me. I always hesitated to walk inside and see the brilliant gold statues lining every wall of every cathedral. I regret this now, but at the time I was afraid it might be rude to enter the cathedrals with a touristic rather than religious mindset. I discovered after a few weeks that many of the people who entered the churches were in fact tourists from around South America. None-the-less, I still hesitated to walk inside because unlike these visitors, I stood out and fit too easily into the category of a naive tourist7.
Mesquita & Hatum 2006). New Zealand was seen widely by the people of Crdoba as the home of the All Blacks, so the idea of strength and masculinity associated with Rugby is extended to New Zealand as a country. 7 Groups of people will often act in the way they are stereotyped to be. For example, students stereotyped to be academic achievers will strive to meet these expectations and work hard in their studies (McInerney & King 2012, p. 220). For a new language speaker to fit into society they must change their self-identity. While this identity is in many ways formed internally, external factors such as physical appearance, skin colour and language usage play a major part as well (Jackson 2008, p. 32). Jackson (2008) says the more our self-image is influenced by the majority culture, the more likely we are to practice the norms of that culture. In this way it may be possible for someone who is seen as an outsider and a tourist, to alter themselves to suit that expectation. People may not wish to socialise with the outsider because it is assumed their ability to speak the host language is poor. Further, the outsider may begin resisting the culture and language in order to fit into this expected image. Over time the outsider usually proves they belong through events such as service encounters in shops or banks and job interviews, as well as through

Copyright 2013 Cathryn Kempe

APARTAMENTO 5D

April 2013

I soon found out that it would be necessary for my success as a volunteer to take Spanish classes. I went to ablespanish for the first time on the Monday of my second week in Crdoba. Class ran from 9am until 1pm and I was one of three students. Felix and Katarina were both volunteers from Germany. We were in level two Spanish, a jump I was allowed to make because of my prior study at University. Now I wish I had started at level one, because my spoken Spanish was so poor I struggled to keep up in the class. My teacher, Jos, insisted I was doing fine, but you need to improve your vocabulary! was a daily reminder that often wore me down. I could tell that Katarina in particular grew impatient of my slow advancement, a fact that did not help me build confidence to practice Spanish in class. I was often told my slow progress was due to being around people who spoke English every day and I wasnt making the most out of immersing myself into the culture8.

Some days I would take the bus from class to work feeling emotionally, mentally and physically drained. My brain was switched on all the time and I often felt isolated from everyone around me. The constant heat offered no help either. By the days end when I walked from the bus stop to apartamento 5D I would be aching to forget where I was. On these days I tried to zone out the countless stray dogs begging for attention on the streets. On these days I would have to try very hard to ignore staring eyes. On these days I would enter that rickety elevator and just look at my reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror and force myself not to cry. By the time the elevator crawled its way up to level five I composed myself enough to hide how I was feeling. I hated these days.

When I could write and research at work I was happy. My project was based around the use of natural therapy to treat cancer and it would take me to the end of my placement with a few projects on the side. In my own pace I translated different videos of interviews with Latin
observing how others handle social situations. When the second-language speaker can take part in and hold conversations, the insiders will accept them into their society (Mitchell & Myles 2004, pp. 240-243). 8 Acculturation refers to the changes that arise out of sustained first-hand intercultural contact (McInerney & King 2012, p. 209). Allowing oneself to immerse in the new cultural situation assists in this process. The ways in which one can adapt may be psychological and/or sociocultural. A persons wellbeing, life satisfaction and self-esteem are psychological factors, while a persons ability to communicate effectively with people from the host culture, and their ability to handle daily problems, are sociocultural factors. It has been found that social support from a persons home culture is important to maintain a healthy well-being and self-esteem, while friendships with people of the host culture is helpful to ones overall adjustment and acculturation (McInerney & King 2012, pp. 209-224).

Copyright 2013 Cathryn Kempe

APARTAMENTO 5D

April 2013

therapists and attempted translating documents without Google Translate9. When I got started on my writing, no matter what mood I was in, I became consumed in the work in front of me. Often I was on my own and I could forget about the struggles of living here. Whether working on my own articles or the main project, the only known constraints were in my mind10.

My spoken Spanish began to improve rapidly from week four. My co-worker from Germany, Julie, was one of the biggest contributors to this change. She spoke Spanish well, having lived in Crdoba for six months. She spoke English slowly and she often forgot words. We walked together or took the bus home from work each day starting from my third week in Crdoba, and we only spoke Spanish. I felt comfortable talking to Julie because she was so patient with my disjointed speech. Occasionally, when I didnt understand what she was saying in Spanish, she would try to repeat it in English, often mixing the two languages together11. When we reached my bus stop each day we would share a typical Argentinean kiss on the left cheek, followed by ciao! and the reply ciao ciao! I would then make my way to the back of the bus, saying with confidence
9 With the rising use of electronic devices such as smart phones, e-readers and tablets there has been higher demand to take learning online (Thomas, Reinders & Warschauer eds 2013). An important component of language learning is communicative competence, which uses techniques that encourage the use of context, world knowledge and argumentative strategies (Mayo, Mangado & Adrin ed. 2013, p. 24). These techniques can be found online through contextual videos and pronunciation exercises. In an age where electronic dictionaries, translators and automated spell-checking are accessible to many people, spelling and vocabulary receives less attention in real-life situations. Oral communication must receive heavy focus in order to develop fluency and understanding of the culture, but written communication is just as important with the rising use of instant messaging in social media (Gee & Hays 2011). One must be able to write responses quickly and accurately. Learning language via social media allows flexible, dialogic, interactive interpretation to written language in a quite widespread and pervasive way (Gee & Hays 2011, p. 125), however, online learning still presents flaws because the language used is often too informal for classroom and verbal use. 10 Writing is often used as a therapeutic technique to heal people who have experienced trauma in their lives. It encourages the sufferer to break down the stressful event into manageable pieces, drawing attention to the sources of stress and emotions associated with the traumatic life experience. Creative, biographical, letter and journal writing are commonly used in the field of therapeutic writing (Feldman 2011, pp. 94-95). Adapting to a new culture is an event which stimulates many emotions and introduces the traveller to many stressful situations. These will generally involve career, culture, social life, and sometimes language (Wright 2009, p. 624). 11 Code-switching (CS), or switching languages or dialects at sentence boundaries and code-mixing (CM), or switching languages or dialects within a sentence (Jackson 2008, p. 37) may be used between second-language speakers who share two languages in common. The use of CS and CM can be signs of limited language proficiency or intergroup connection (Walt 2009, p. 31). In a learning situation some believe they may lead to language decay and encourage bad practice for future learning, while others argue it is important to allow students to use CS and CM as they remove limitations for new students and boost confidence in using the spoken word (Viakinnou-Brinson et al. 2012, p. 73).

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April 2013

permis, por favor 12 to the crowd so they would let me through.

When I was able to speak Spanish, even if it was slowly, I felt a sense of belonging, and I almost felt proud the people around me could understand what I was saying. I would eventually walk through the city with a strong sense of direction, checking my mobile phone for text messages from local people I met along the way and greeting the dogs on the street with a pat. On the hotter days I made a habit of visiting the deli next door to buy two 20 cent apple juices, one for me and one for Josh. Id pay with the pesos that became so familiar to me, thank the shop assistant with a smile and make my way back to apartamento 5D with my house key. Meanwhile Id be sipping my juice box and enjoying the refreshing burst of fruit I was lacking from a society that loves its meat. When getting back to the apartment each day the first thing I did was change into shorts and a singlet, sit at the kitchen table with my Spanish homework and juice box, and enjoy the breeze coming through the window. My night after this became a routine of watching TV shows or movies on Netflix, listening to the radio, playing a modified version of solitaire with Josh, and relaxing with Lily or staying out late with other volunteers. This was the routine I came to love in my everyday life as a volunteer in Crdoba.

12 People use communication scripts in everyday situations to help them decide what to say and what social cues to respond to. A script has a series of conventional actions that take place (Yule 2010, pp. 150151). A second-language speaker may observe the actions of the insiders to know how to act in order to be considered an insider. If one enters the situation as a cultural outsider the situation may be interpreted quite different and the situations context may need further clarification (Scollon, Scollon & Jones 2012, pp. 74-77).

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References
Andersen, PA 2008, Nonverbal communication, 2nd edn, Waveland Press Inc., Illinois.

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Feldman, D 2011, Beyond the classroom: Writing as therapy, Journal of Poetry Therapy, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 93-104. Friedrich, P, Mesquita, L & Hatum, A 2006, The meaning of difference: Beyond cultural and managerial homogeneity stereotypes of Latin America, Management Research, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 53-71. Gauntlett, D & Hill, A 1999, TV living: Television culture and everyday life, Routledge, London. Gee, JP & Hayes, ER 2011, Language and learning in the digital age, Routledge, Oxon. Gottlieb, N (ed.) 2011, Language in public spaces in Japan, Routledge, Oxon. Gudykunst, WB 1994, Bridging differences: Effective intergroup communication, 2nd edn, Sage Publications Inc, California. Jackson, J 2008, Language, identity and study abroad: Sociocultural perspectives, Equinox Publishing Ltd, London. Mayo, G, Mangado, G & Adrin, M 2013, Contemporary approaches to second language acquisition, John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam. McInerney, DM & King, RB 2012, Studying a thousand miles away, Advances in Motivation and Achievement, vol. 17, pp. 209-225. Mitchell, R & Myles, F 2004, Second language learning theories, 2nd edn, Hodder Education, London. Mitu, BM 2011, Culture and television: The televisual globalization, Economics, Management and Financial Markets, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 896-900.

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April 2013

Mohebi, SG & Khodadady, E 2011, Investigating university students beliefs about language learning, RELC Journal, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 291-304. Scollon, R, Scollon, SW & Jones, RH 2012, Intercultural communication: A discourse approach, 3rd edn, John Wiley & Sons. Thomas, M, Reinders, H & Warschauer, M (eds) 2013, Contemporary computer-assisted language learning, Bloomsbury, London. Viakinnou-Brinson, L, Herron, C, Cole, SP & Haight, C 2012, The effect of target language and code-switching on the grammatical performance and perceptions of elementary-level college French students, Foreign Language Annals, vol. 45, no. 1, pp 72-91. Walt, C 2009, The functions of code switching in English language learning classes, Per Linguam, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 30-43. Wright, J 2009, Autoethnography and therapy writing on the move, Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 623-640. Yule, G 2010, The study of language, 4th edn, Cambridge University Press, New York.

Copyright 2013 Cathryn Kempe