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mid-month Connect RAP: 9/15/22, TRAIN-ing 2

Updated: Feb 8

Greetings and Happy Midweek!

And since today is mid-month, it’s time for another of our RAP sessions (Review And Process, deeper and wider). Each RAP revisits a cross-cultural theme or topic from a previous Connect. This month we are going to revisit training * , and focus in on several key components of training PROcesses, which are part of our Global SKILLs PROactive strategies **.


As we live and work cross-culturally, a clear understanding of systems and infrastructure in our host communities is a vital part of our being able to integrate and contribute effectively and sustainably. Often times, well designed training including the process of moving from training to ‘real life’ practice and procedures serves a one pathway to this level of understanding,.


I feel like I have had an unplanned, crash course in some of this kind of training in the past few days! It has to do with my upcoming TRAIN trip across America, planned for mid-October. In a rather surprising turn of events, it has become apparent that our entire rail system here in the US is going to potentially be compromised to very serious levels, including for example the cancellation of “long haul” passenger services like the trip I have booked. This is all due, of course, to very complicated socio-economic and political issues but the bottom line is our American rail system depends almost entirely on infrastructure under the control of the freight industry (rather than the passenger industry) and a pending labor strike (slated to start at midnight tonight) is threatening to basically shut the whole thing down. I’ll leave this part of the story there for now, and keep you posted in future Connects where this TRAINing heads!

And I’ll finish this week’s reflection noting, in a broader cross-cultural context, that my newly acquired basic understanding of our American rail system is deeply impacting me as a student and teacher of cultural dynamics, and as someone who would love to take a train trip if the powers that be can sort themselves out.

How about you ~ what recent training insight has helped you better understand a cultural process impacting you personally?

Share about that with a friend or note it here.

And check out the Global SKILLs LINKs below for some more details on this whole TRAIN situation here in the US!

Thanks for being part of this Connect community.

Until next week,

Betsy


Global SKILLs LINKs

  1. The current problem: https://abcnews.go.com/Business/looming-railroad-strike-cripple-us-economy-transportation/story?id=89587287

  2. Hope for the future: https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/trams-trains-europe


Notes:

* using the blog link above, see previous Connects about training: 11/4/20 - Opportunities; 12/23/20 - Connect; 2/10/21 - World; 7/13/22 - TRAINing RAP (1)

** GS Content

PROACTive Learning Strategies: PRO = PROfile, PROcess (which we explored this week), PROgram

ACT = Application, Collaboration and Transformation

~ contact me for more information on these strategies and how you might use them in your current programming

2022 ~ Celebrating 40+ years of working in

intercultural communications and global community building

“It takes a community to build a community”

Please Note: this is copyrighted content.

Please do not reproduce or share without my permission (betsy.barbour@gmail.com)


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