mid-week Connect: 6/29/23 ~ Cultural Milestones
Greetings and Happy Midweek!
Since I just spent the past 2 days driving over 1,000 miles to move from central Pennsylvania to Florida, I thought we could explore the topic of Cultural Milestones today. Milestones are used around the world in every culture, literally and figuratively - let’s see what insights we can gain from them. This fits right into the PROcess Component of our Global SKILLs PROACTive Framework, because the dynamic of marking milestones involves the process of moving from one to the next, and so on.*
As I drove south, I noticed many kinds of milestones in the form of actual mileage markers but also flashing signs, banners, billboards. They were announcing the traveler was soon to arrive at their destination, or that the best whatever (cave, pizza, hair salon…) was coming up or that there were challenges ahead - road closures, workmen, reduced speed, etc. Then there were figurative milestones for me and for my tiny house (which was being transported separately): “Ok, I got through Virginia without getting a ticket - now, on to North Carolina…I’m so glad the dispatcher just called to say my tiny house was safely halfway”.
It all reminded me of the road trip card game Milles Bornes (“a thousand milestones”), which we used to play when my boys were young. The goal was to mark one’s progress based on miles already gone while obeying speed limits, avoiding challenges - and ultimately arriving first!
This Milles Bornes moment got me to thinking that working cross culturally is kind of like a road trip with all its milestones. A new understanding of my host community’s cultural celebrations = passing one more milestone! Confronting an issue (like a flat tire - or an unfulfilled expectation based on my limited cultural knowledge) and working through it = another milestone passed. Recognizing that the process of moving from milestone to milestone includes hassle free travel AND the occasional challenge popping up along the way, let’s check out milestones as we encounter them, and the process of passing them on by one - and see what they hold for us!
How about you ~ what is a significant cross cultural milestone (welcome or otherwise) you have passed recently?
Share about that with a friend or note it here.
And check out the Global SKILLs LINKs below for more on milestones.
Thanks for being part of this Connect community.
Until next week,
Betsy
Global SKILLs LINKs
~ lots more about the game Milles Bornes: https://thenewswheel.com/mille-bornes-classic-french-auto-racing-card-game-review/#:~:text=Game%20History,runs%20from%20Paris%20to%20Italy.
~ a cool milestones-based curriculum from indigenous people groups in Alaska: https://education.alaska.gov/apps/traumawebtoolkit/resources/Cultural%20Integration.docx
~ celebrating milestones around the world: https://www.venuereport.com/roundups/22-celebrations-of-culture-from-around-the-world/entry/2/
Notes:
Related Connect posts: (other games with cultural insights) 1/20/21 - child’s play; 3/1/23, crossroads; 6/7/23, laissez-passer
(you can find these by scrolling down to the date)
* Through my business Global SKILLs and several partner subsidiaries I offer unique cross-cultural consulting and training including:
3 Dimensional Dynamics Model:
1st dimension = HOME ; 2nd dimension = HOST ; 3rd dimension = HARBOR)
PROACTive Learning Strategies:
PRO = PROfile, PROcess (which we explored this week), PROgram
ACT = Application, Collaboration and Transformation
~ contact me for more information on this model and these strategies and how you might use them in your current programming: betsy.barbour@gmail.com
2023 ~ 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)