Perception of beauty and identity

Hey-oo! We have something a little different for ya today. YouTube videos! In case you're wondering, no, we haven't become Youtubers ( not yet, at least ;)). These videos are based on our research papers carried out during this semester, and we were told by our lecturer, Dr Fiza, to present the findings in the form of our videos. Since me and Nana belonged in different groups, we have TWO videos for y'all to enjoy! Let's start with Nana's video first!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KntuHb36m28  

Nana and her teammates made a research entitled Cross-cultural Perception of Beauty. I've watched it myself, and it is such a heartwarming video. I'd tell you more, but it'd be better if you see it for yourself. Nana hopes you guys will like it :) 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpFUfLAdo0Y&feature=youtu.be 

Here is my video. Me and my teammates decided to re-enact our findings by making a short film. It's three minutes long, but the message is there. Do watch it, and tell us what you think. I can tell you this though, it's not heartwarming (though I suppose you can tell, with the creepy mask :P) 


That's all for now. Till next time, lovelies~~

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Delightful Delicacies

Hello lovelies~~

Here we are again with another post, with more news from Alexia and Mehdi! We've heard some interesting things from them ever since they decided to visit Johor during their free weekend. SO without further ado, heeeeere we go!

Here is Alexia and Mehdi, settled into their classmate's home in Simpang Renggam, Johor. You can see Alexia is wearing a black and red 'baju kurung', a traditional dress worn by Malaysians XD They planned to explore as much as they could, and let me tell you, they were NOT disappointed! Their classmate brought them to a pineapple field in Simpang Renggam, and they were quite amazed by the view.

Isnt it beautiful? They certainly thought so.


Oh, and we haven't even told you about the food they ate! Whislt their stay in Johor they tried a variety of food. So we'll list here the food they tried and enjoyed. First up is: Otak-otak!

Best way to describe this dish? Spiced ground fish wrapped in banana leaf. It is a delicacy in Indonesia, Singapore, and of course, Malaysia. Otak translates to 'brains' in English. You're probably thinking what I though when I first heard of it; why name a dish BRAINS? Well, apparently its squishy-soft texture is how the dish earned its name. Alexia and Mehdi found that little fact interesting.

Next up: Urap!

Steamed vegetables with grated coconut. This dish is originally from Indonesia, but its also eaten here in Malaysia too. Among the vegetables used are spinach, cabbage, and long beans. It seems that Alexia and Mehdi managed to try this particular dish before we did. We need to travel around Malaysia more often, and try these dishes!

Finally we have, Nasi Jagung! (Corn Rice)

Apparently this dish is tricky to make. Nonetheless, it is well worth it, as Alexia and Mehdi said although they haven't tasted anything like it, they did enjoy it. You heard that right, the foods just mentioned have each earned a stamp of approval from Alexia and Mehdi! Woot Woot~~

Well, that's all from us. We hope that our international friends will have more to share with us in future, so that we can share em' with you guys ;)

- Nana and Shiffa

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Cultural Differences :)

*waving (tired of saying hello...)

Well, we hope you guys aren't tired reading ;P, because we still have a lot to share!

In this post, we will be sharing about the cultural differences that Mehdi and Alexia experienced while staying in Malaysia. This time, the issues we discussed were more casual and relaxed than the previous posts :) 

The roads

Back in Belgium, Mehdi drives. When he rented a car here in Malaysia and started driving around, he said that the roads in Malaysia were quite a mess ;P

Naturally, Mehdi has already spotted a fault with most Malaysian drivers, as he says that they don't always follow the rules, for examples, merging without signalling, or sounding the horn. This led us to believe that the roads in Belgium could be a lot more civil. Indeed, the behavior of these Malaysian drivers could enforce the stereotype of 'Asians can't drive' which is really a shame.

Climate

When Mehdi and Alexia were asked about the weather, they both agreed that it was much hotter in Malaysia than in their home countries. It was a cooler climate back in Europe, they admitted. But they did say it was a nice change :)

Exchanging experience and opinions with Mehdi and Alexia really helps us in understanding their culture and how to react on a certain situations. In short, we would like to highlight that in every intercultural communication, nothing is more important but tolerance and understanding, in order to build a relationship and achieve a successful communication :)

-Shiffa and Nana

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Religion #CulturalDifferences

Hello awesome readers!
How's your day? Hopefully all went well :)

So today, InshaaAllah we will continue sharing awesome things we discussed with our international friends, Mehdi and Alexia. Now we realised that the word 'culture' is actually very wide, general and many things can be discussed under the topic. Our first thought that 'Culture is bored' is definitely wrong! *smacked on the head

This time, the main topic of our discussion is about religion. Just like we mentioned in previous post, Mehdi and Alexia are both Christians. It means that they believe in religion and God, and they are not among the atheists.

When Mehdi and Alexia were asked about the difference between the religion practiced in Malaysia and their country, Mendi said that he found Malaysia places a great deal of emphasizing on religion. When he compares to his own country, they does not have a specific religion, but here in Malaysia we specialized that the main religion in Islam. He also mentioned that they are less mosques in Belgium than in Malaysia, where he found quite a lot. Nevertheless, he still sees Muslims from time to time in his country.

IIUM mosque ;P

Above all, as IIUM is also a community who practices Islam, Alexia and Mehdi have no problems with it and they respect other religions just like how they want to be respected. That's the tolerance that we need in a  multi-racial society, as well as in an international communication :)

Thank you Mehdi and Alexia for your great responses ;)

-Shiffa and Nana

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Prejudice? #Controversy

Hello handsome and beautiful!
What? Of course you are ;)
I  hope you guys are always in a good health and happy running your days.

So today, lets discuss about something more sensitive and controversial, spelled P-R-E-J-U-D-I-C-E. Prejudice.

A simple introduction, prejudice is a preconceived opinion which is not based on reasons of actual experience. Thus, sometimes it is undeniable that prejudice can occur in any communication, especially communication across cultural. It is because, when we are different, in terms of background, race, religion and culture, we tend to have these negative things in our mind. Do you?

Still remember our international friends, Mehdi and Alexia?
When we asked them about this issue, they shook their heads and say they have no prejudice towards anyone. (fangirling: we love you Mehdi and Alexia ^^. )
We did ask if they encountered anything while they are in Malaysia, and about the races they have met, they said that they met many Malays but not many Chinese or Indian. However, they hope to travel more in Malaysia and see more 'Malaysians'.

Then, when we asked Mehdi and Alexia if they ever been a target of prejudice or biasness, they were glad to say that nothing of the sort have ever happened to them. Alexia did mention however that when they arrive in IIUM, many of the students love to keep themselves. She said she wasn't sure if they're actually being prejudice to her, but then when she tried to talk to them, she noticed that their English actually was not very good. Thus, she thought maybe that's why they don't really talk to her. It's because language barrier existed between them.

After having a quite fruitful discussion with them, we are glad to conclude that from their opinion, prejudice is not something that centered as an issue between people from different cultural backgrounds. To them, prejudice is a small problem that can be encountered by having positive thoughts and judgement towards everyone. Hence, it is also one of the key of successful communication, isn't it?

Thank you to Mehdi and Alexia. We have gained a lot from the discussion.
In brief, prejudice is something you learned, not something you are born with. Surely, it is something that can be changed and encountered.

Prejudice blinds us.
See you on our next posts!

-Shiffa and Nana :)

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Meet Alexia and Mehdi!

Hello readers!

As our course (Intercultural Communication) requires us to converse with people from different cultures and try to understand them, we were assigned to find international person(s) to make friends with in order to gain as much information about their culture.

So right here right now, right on this moment (I guess I'm excited), we are glad to introduce to you our International friends, Mehdi and Alexia!

From left: Mehdi and Alexia

Now a bit of their background information.

Mehdi :)

23 years old

Belgium

Speaks French and English

Course: Automotive Engineering

Christian

Loves to travel

Alexia :)

23 years old

France

Speaks French, German and English

Course: Automotive Engineering

Christian

Loves to travel

Mehdi and Alexia are foreign exchange students from Belgium and France respectively. They arrived in IIUM together at the same time, which makes them become close with each other. They also share the same hobby, which is to travel, and they have visited many places here in Malaysia. Great isn't it? I guess there must be many interesting things that they are going to share with us soon.

Thank you Mehdi and Alexia for your willingness to help and share with us the knowledge about your culture :) (Oh I hope they will read this >.<)

Stay tuned for our next post.

InshaaAllah we will sharing a lot about their culture ;)

See you 

- Shiffa and Nana <3

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Of Portraits and Poems

We're feeling a bit artsy today. Here's a self portrait by Nana and a poem by yours truly.  

I am.

I am Groot
I am Iron Man

Nah, I'm just messing with ya.  

I am a girl, unwilling to call herself a lady
For I have much to learn in the art of femininity 

I am Spartacus 
I am Batman

I'm pretty much ordinary 

I am a student who has much to learn in life
I do have a tendency to get into strife 

I am Legend.
I am Wrath.   

I'll let you be the judge of that 

I am a good listener, I rarely speak
When surrounded by many, I admit I am meek

I am Fire 
I am Death   

At least my mum thinks im extraordinary   

I am not afraid to speak my mind
Though when I do it, I try to be kind  

Hint: Read it according to font type  

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What do you mean?

"People often don't say what they mean and they often don't mean what they say." 

Hey peeps. Take a look at the phrase above. Do you understand it? Probably after reading it the first time you might be confused, and you'd read it again to try and understand what it's trying to say. Well, here's our interpretation of the phrase.  

Let's dissect the sentence, by taking a look at the first half:

"People often don't say what they mean..."  

We don't say what we mean. 

Random Reader: Is that it?? 

Okay, let's break it down for you. We spend most of our waking hours communicating with other human beings. When we want to convey a message, often there is meaning behind it. Say for example, when we want to let someone know we are sad. We say the words, "I feel sad." 

But what if you don't want them to know how you're feeling? 

Come on, you've been in this situation before, haven't you? Consider this situation...

You're angry at your sister. She was supposed to attend your play, but she never showed up. You call her a few times, but she doesn't seem to answer. The next time you meet her, you refuse to smile, or be yourself around her. She notices this. She asks, "Are you okay?" 

What Would You Do?  

You silently shake your head, incredulous that she has no idea what she did wrong. You want her to realize this, so you say in a rather offhand voice "Yeah, I'm fine." 

Random Reader: This sounds an awful lot like a memory-- 

FINE, yes, I went through this. You happy? 

The point is, more often than not, we tend to say things which do not reflect what we mean. 

"You okay?"

"Are you sad?"

"What's wrong?"

It often takes a lot of coaxing for us to say what we mean. To quote Justin Bieber,

"...and they often don't mean what they say."   

Sometimes people say things they don't mean. Most of the time it's when the person is in a fit of anger, which can easily cloud our judgement. For example, two friends, A and B, are arguing with each other about money. Out of nowhere, A calls B a 'slut', which causes B to become even angrier. But the moment A says it, she knows she doesn't mean it. Alas, the word is already out of her mouth, and although she said it, she didn't mean it.     

When we take the whole phrase into consideration, we see that miscommunication is the main key problem, whether it is not saying what you mean, or not meaning what you said. This happens frequently in everyone's lives, whether they like it or not. However, this does not mean it can't be avoided. We need to be truthful when conveying our feelings to others, but we should also not let our feelings get the best of us.  

But hey, that's just our opinion ;)

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Toothbrush

Hello everyone! 

I know you guys have been waiting for us to post right? ;) Awwh, thank you for being patient anyway.

SO, In shaa Allah, today we will be sharing with you guys a short post about miscommunication :)

Before we begin, let me introduce you an awesome figure, Mr Riccardi, through this following video. 

Cross cultural communication | Pellegrino Riccardi | TEDxBergen

In the video, Mr. Riccardi highlighted a few points to encounter miscommunication. Just like people always said, experience is definitely the best teacher ever. Mr. Riccardi also shared a few tips to communicate across cultures from his previous experience, so that we can learn from it.

Well, different people may have different experience in their lives, so do we. This time, Nana is going to share her story :)

I have a sister who is studying in Japan for about 9 years (until now), and she is still struggling to finish her PhD there. For the first time being there, she only came back after 3 years (if I'm not mistaken). The first time coming back home, I think she really adapted Japanese culture in her daily activities. Usually, in our culture, after waking up in the morning, we will go straight to the washroom to brush our teeth and take a bath. However, what I observe from my sister is that, after waking up, she will go the sink and wash her toothbrush. When she starts brushing, she will walk all around the house and talk to everyone, and sometimes she would do it while watching television!  

Also, she takes a very long time to finish. To some of us, her act may be a bit unpleasant, but when we ask, she said that routine is normal for her and the students there. She really believes teeth is one of the most important parts of the body to take care of, thus she should take more time brushing her teeth. Because of that, she chose to do it while doing something else,  or not she will feel bored staring at the mirror in the washroom alone :D 

If we didn't take communication across cultures as a serious thing, we would not care about other cultures and the miscommunications that might occur. Therefore, tolerance, acceptance, patience and positive expectation are very crucial in understanding other cultures of whom we communicate. 

Just like what Mr. Riccardi highlighted in his speech, do learn from our experience and give our best to accept the differences exists in different cultures. With this, miscommunication could be avoided and successful intercultural communication could be achieved! :)

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US

Hello Internet! Welcome to our humble abode!

So before we begin our blogging, we should probably introduce ourselves. Yes, there's two of us.

See that creature on the left? That's me! My name is Shiffa, and I am the most interesting person you will ever meet. Okay, okay, so that might be slightly exaggerated. As you can see, humbleness isn't exactly one of my strong traits. I will admit, however, that I am one of the weirdest people you will ever meet.

 Luckily my weirdness is concealed from behind a computer screen, so you're in luck. I'm 22 years old, and I'm currently a student at International Islamic University Malaysia. I'm taking English for International Communication (EnCOM), which is an awesome course. I actually have another blog detailing how I managed to switch courses to EnCOM (shameless self-promotion alert), Okay, let's move on!

The lady on MY left (capitalized to show how I'm not wrong, take THAT grammar nazi's!) is my bae, Nadia Farhana! And by bae I mean Best Allie Ever

You can call her Nana though. Like me, she's taking EnCom in IIUM. She hails from Terengganu, which is located in the north of Malaysia. She may look timid, but believe me, this girl packs a real punch. I should mention that she enjoys harassing me (the friendly kind, don 't be getting any ideas) and she has a good spirit.

Okay, so there's good news and bad news first. Good news is, since there's two of us running this blog, it will be updated weekly and on time, which means more stuff for you guys to check out!
And the bad news, you'd have to deal with the ramblings of two female university students. Yeah...you may want to brace yourselves...but hey! We're gonna make this blog as interesting and informative as possible, with a dash of humour to keep you smiling throughout.

Random blog reader: This sounds strangely optimistic...
Us: Yes. Yes it does.

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