It all started on Tuesday.
Students from Malawi, Brazil, and the USA filtered into the classroom early in the morning (okay, it was 10 am, but I’m really not a morning person, so for me that’s early) to exchange greetings and names. We launched into ice breaker activities, trying to find things we had in common and the weirdest, most unique things we had each done, from skydiving to hiking a mountain in Malawi. Then, it was time to familiarize ourselves with the Houston Zoo through a scavenger hunt. As fun as this was, it was really all set up for activities later in the week: “Engineering Bootcamp,” an intense review of the engineering design process. During this time, we will be working on an enrichment device for the giant anteaters at the Houston Zoo, as a mini training project. We took another trip back to the Zoo on Wednesday to talk to Kim Siegel, our client, and watch the anteaters up close and personal.
The best part of the week so far was a cross-cultural presentation. We were sorted into diverse groups, then created and presented Power Points on the culture, geography, and university life in our respective countries. My group comprised of myself, from the Chicagoland area; Jeremy, from the New York City/New Jersey area; and Chimewmwe, from Malawi. We gave a presentation on the social life, food, and entertainment in three different countries: Malawi, America, and Texas. In all seriousness, I’ve traveled to about a dozen different countries, but I experienced more culture shock while in Texas than I ever did in any of those countries. It’s just so different from anything else I’d ever experienced, from the y’alls to extreme friendliness of strangers, from the super-highways to the pervasive Texas flag displays by car dealerships, schools, and literally everyone in the state (I’ve seen Illinois’s flag twice and both times it was a state government building). So, we separated our presentation between big, urban centers in America, such as NYC, Chicago, and Houston, and Texas itself.
When putting together our presentation, Chimewmwe mentioned that politeness and friendliness was highly valued in Malawi and that you were always expected to greet people as you pass. Jeremy and I explained in big cities like NYC and Chicago, it is considered weird to greet strangers, especially when walking by or on shared, public transport. Even prolonged eye contact is out of the ordinary. Chimewmwe laughed!
I’m looking forward to next week, getting to know my fellow interns and the engineering design process better!