Every mobility should be prepared in advance and with care. The following aspects should be taken into consideration:
Grant beneficiaries will be traveling abroad, which requires organizing documentation to present in Portugal and in the host country/organization. Below is a checklist that may be useful.
It is recommended that all documents related to the mobility be placed in a folder and digitized beforehand, so that a copy is always available on a USB pen drive or in the beneficiary's email. The documents include:
Explore the institution's website to learn about its mission and values, team, areas of work, and other elements that may be considered useful.
Exploring official websites about the tourism of the destination country and city can be a good starting point.
Mobility, of any kind, is always a great opportunity to gain knowledge about other peoples and cultures, making it a valuable chance for personal and professional development. In addition to the attractions you may discover during your mobility, it is useful to gather information about national or local holidays and festivals, cultural habits, currency, and potential dangers and risks.
More than a professional training experience, the various Erasmus mobilities provide a unique experience of communication and intercultural dialogue, that is, learning about Others, understood here as those who are different from us. This learning about Others ultimately becomes a learning about ourselves as well.
The benefits of intercultural relationships are numerous, including, for example:
Communication and intercultural dialogue are not always easy. They involve a process of adaptation and some challenges:
It is likely that the first contacts with the host organization and its representatives will need to be made remotely, via email, especially if there is no prior acquaintance between the parties. Therefore, it is recommended that this initial contact be semiformal, as what is being negotiated is a stay abroad. In other words, we are asking permission to enter someone else's 'home,' so we must show respect and avoid an informal tone as if we were 'old acquaintances.'
During the first in-person contacts, it is important to consider the social and cultural habits and behaviors of the destination country. For instance, in Portugal, people commonly shake hands and even kiss strangers. This is unthinkable in some European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, where a short and firm handshake is the most common greeting, and closer physical contact is avoided as it may be considered invasive. In the Middle East and Asia, physical contact is also avoided, and it is crucial to pay attention to religious considerations to avoid misunderstandings that could become insurmountable obstacles. For example, consider the fact that a man should not kiss a Muslim woman, as such a greeting is reserved for close family members.
Behavioral subtleties are learned over time and through observation during social interactions, although it may not always be possible to avoid moments of tension, even if unintentional. If you notice that you have made a faux pas or been inconvenient, the best way to remedy the situation is to apologize and act naturally. Below are some illustrative situations that might cause discomfort:
It is essential to use good manners (even if they are not always used by your interlocutor). Always remember to greet people (a ‘good morning,’ a ‘hello,’ or a ‘see you tomorrow’ are fundamental), to say please when asking for something, and to thank people whenever they do you a favor. In many countries, there is a 'noise law,' also known as the 'quiet hours law.' In other words, after a certain time, making noise is prohibited to avoid disturbing neighbors. If this rule is not mentioned, beyond relying on your common sense, try to find out from what time noise is not allowed in a university residence, a shared house, or a condominium.
There is one aspect that is simple but can make a big difference in relationships with others in a shared house or workplace: your tone of voice. There is a stereotype that Latin-origin peoples, besides being very loud, speak very loudly and even shout during interactions. Try to control your tone of voice. Using a tone that is too loud can be considered offensive or inappropriate.
During the internship, teaching mission, or training, if something displeases you or does not comply with what was agreed upon in the ‘learning agreement,’ seek to speak privately and politely with the person in charge to clarify the problem. If the issue is not resolved, contact your internship tutor or a representative from the International Relations/Internship Offices of your home institution to explain the situation and seek advice.
There is so much more to discover about Others and ourselves during a mobility experience. An interesting idea is to keep a small journal and organize digital photo albums, in addition to the posts on various social media platforms. It will be interesting and rewarding to look back on all the moments in the future and assess how much has been learned. Here’s a suggestion for a journal divided into three parts: "Before," "During," and "After." In the first part, you can record your expectations, wishes, and the details of your mobility preparation. The second part can be dedicated to noting impressions, surprises, fears, anxieties, funny moments, linguistic and cultural misunderstandings, new and delicious recipes to share with family and friends upon your return, and feelings of longing and nostalgia. In the third and final part, you can analyze your experience with some temporal and critical distance after reading the first two parts. This will likely be the section where nostalgia is tempered by the satisfaction of having completed a significant life milestone. Those who invest in journal writing will know how to organize it according to their interests and creativity.
Another way to make the most of the Erasmus grant opportunity is to learn more about the European Union. The Erasmus+ Program (which started as the 'Erasmus Program' in 1987) is a remarkable success story in the history of the Union of countries. Since its inception, it has helped consolidate the core values on which the Union is built—a mission in which we are all invited to participate: human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, human rights, pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, and solidarity.
Before leaving, it might be interesting to learn more about the European Union, as your mobility experience is also a way of exercising European citizenship and reinforcing European values. To learn more about the values underpinning the European Union, watch this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNOCbekaAcw.
A final word to emphasize that interacting with Others fosters the development of what is called "intercultural competence," which, with the progress of globalization, has become a global skill (Wilkinson 2012, 302). Indeed, advancements in communication and technology have allowed for greater flows of people, ideas, and cultural artifacts, enabling us to encounter people from different cultures in our daily lives—people with habits different from ours and who speak different languages. These differences do not prevent everyone from seeking to "feel at home," an image that aptly applies to the ideal of the European Union. Put another way, the Erasmus+ Program enables all grant beneficiaries to try to "feel at home" in diverse countries. To do so, it only requires being open to an experience of otherness, which, at the end of the mobility period, will provide a fresh perspective on oneself, one’s country, and one’s culture. The famous 'Erasmus generations' are proof of this.
Safe travels!
