| Valli Sridharan reporter |

Bafa bafa. Gi na no na no. Gibberish?
No, this is what a group students actually said in the cross cultural simulation, Bafa Bafa, held on Thursday, Nov. 13, in Grubbs Hall. This annual event, organized by Harriet Bachner, associate professor of psychology and counseling, and her co-leader, Grant Moss, tries to help students understand the difficulties of being in a different culture.
“Dr. Bachner and I believe strongly that this experience teaches students about feelings that one has about their own culture and other cultures, particularly when one has to attempt to understand the other while in it,” said Moss, associate professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literature.
The participants were divided into two groups, the Alphas and Betas, and each group developed a culture of its own based on instructions. Later, when members of one culture were exposed to the other, they tried to make sense of each other’s idiosyncratic behavior. The struggle to understand each other and to feel accepted gave the participants a glimpse of culture shock.
“After Bafa Bafa, I realized that going to a place that you have never been and having to learn their rules and customs can be very scary,” said Lacy Ivicsics, an Arma resident.
Although it appears as a fun-filled activity, such cross-cultural simulations can often trigger strong emotions. A few years ago, some of the international students who were participating in this event got into an argument.
“I noticed that they had probably felt the same feelings and lived the same experiences personally in their own lives when they arrived in Pittsburg only a short time ago,” said Moss. “The simulation created the same situations and their negativity came out.”
As the members of each group struggled to understand the other culture, Bachner and Moss said they learned a lot, too.
“As the co-leader, I have learned that the participants actually interpret the other culture from their own make-believe lens in less than 15 minutes,” Moss said.
“Imagine, we have spent much more time in our culture than 15 minutes.”
The students said the simulation helped them become more sensitive to individuals from other cultures.
“You are around strangers, and you don’t exactly understand what you’re doing,” said Ivicsics. “It can be quite challenging.”
Ivicsics added that the exercise may even change her behavior.
“I would definitely be friendlier to people from a different culture,” she said. “I would try and help them out as much as I can, as well as try to get to know them.”
The cultural mishaps resulted in some humor as well, said one Beta member, Lauren Woodall, graduate student in clinical mental health counseling.
“The best thing about tonight’s experience has to be one of the Betas mistakenly calling the alphas ‘strippers’ instead of ‘stippers,’ (as they were known),” Woodall said.