Intercultural Communication Reflection Paper

Before enrolling in the class, I was unaware of what intercultural communication was and what theories applied to my culture, values, and beliefs. During the first two weeks of the course, I learned that intercultural communication is the symbolic exchange process whereby individuals from two (or more) different cultural communities attempt to negotiate shared meanings in an interactive situation within an embedded societal system (Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2012). Single-parent system, small power distance, feminine culture, and personal identity have all impacted my culture, beliefs, and values.
According to Ting-Toomey and Chung (2012), a single-parent system refers to a household headed by a single parent. I was born in Columbia, Maryland and raised in Laurel, Maryland. I am the only child on my mother’s side, while I am the seventh child on my father’s side. My father was active in my life until I was five years old. Throughout my entire life, I lived with my mother. It was quite difficult to see my mother work full-time, attend school full-time and take care of me, but she always managed to make things happen. Although I would have loved to be raised by two parents, being raised by a single mother has shaped me into a

Although I was raised in a small power distance culture, Milan was raised in a large power distance culture. Large power distance cultures tend to accept unequal power distributions, hierarchical rights, asymmetrical role relations, and rewards and punishments based on age, rank, status, title, and seniority (Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2012). “For large power distance cultures, respect for power hierarchy in any system is a fundamental way of life” (p. 48). Some characteristics of large power distance culture include: emphasis on status-based structure, children should obey parents, older people are wiser, vertical self, and