ICHSODUSO: Perspectives and reflections from two students
ICHSODUSO is a German book about diversity and otherness.
This book was the basis for a supra-regional Goethe-Institut project from the area of SAN Southeast Asia, in which over 41 High School German learners across 9 different countries participated digitally. For one month, we met online at set times on a weekly basis for a three hour duration. The culmination was a joint event at the end of the day. Two participants from New Zealand also took part and reported on their experiences.
The bonding element of this project was the German language. It was a unique experience to see the diverse results all digitally honored in a festive setting. The whole ceremony was musically supported by the international band Paper Thieves (New Zealand, Germany, Turkey).
Interview with Maddelana Dal Sasso (Wellington, Wellington Girls’ College) who participated in the ICHSODUSO project 2022.
What was the ICHSODUSO project about?
In the ICHSODUSO project I chose, we explored what ‘normality’ means to us and how it differs between cultures; through comics. Using our knowledge of the German language, we drew, wrote, sketched, and discussed together to express and share our ideas regarding this topic. For one month, we met online at set times on a weekly basis for a three hour duration. During these meetings, we most often answered questions about ourselves and our culture through drawings in a restricted time frame, then shared our sketches with each other and reflected on them together. We were also instructed with homework for the following week which we could do at our own pace with huge amounts of creative freedom and flexibility!
Who else was involved?
In the weekly Zoom meetings, I met with the workshop teacher and illustrator Tanja Etsch, a couple Goethe-Institute representatives and roughly half a dozen other German students all from different countries in Oceania and Southeast Asia - Philippines, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and more.
What did you enjoy most?
I really enjoyed the flexibility in the home work, and the way I could draw my comic in my own unique style by manipulating shape, colour, symmetry, symbolism, speech boxes, thought bubbles and size of each element in the comic. My favourite task was choosing one of several questions to answer through a four page comic. One week, I answered the question regarding what I ate in one day, and the next week I answered the question of what I did last weekend. It was so fascinating to see how my answer to the questions through the comics I drew differed from those of my peers due to our geographical, cultural and social differences.
What's your take away?
I learnt more about how our culture shapes who we are, what we value, how we spend our life, and most interestingly for me personally, how we think. These differences in how we think can be represented in understandable ways through comics, and ultimately provide insight into what each of us deems ‘normal’ or ‘abnormal’. We all experience life differently and very beautiful things can come out of simply putting these experiences on paper and reflecting on how that differs from our own life!
Reflection from Yi Fei (Auckland, Green Bay High School) who participated in the ICHSODUSO project 2022.
The project that surrounds itself with the beautiful and yet confusing topic-- what is normal? Culture differences, family and friend's habits and similarities-- what do they all have in common? Everyone's morals and way of living is different, which in fact should be celebrated- otherwise everything would be so boring if New Zealand was the exact same as Germany, right? I love the IchSoDuSo project because it is an amazing opportunity to talk to people from all around the world, to learn about small things in their lives that makes them "different" from me, best of all... I get to practice my German! The German Goethe- Institut’s wonderful members-- as well as teenagers from Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand all come together to creatively write, act, make films, create comics and cartoons and play around with shadow puppets!
I was lucky enough to be in the theater group. Personally, I found it so hard to choose from all the options because I was so drawn to everything to do with the project-- but I am happy that I chose theater. From warmups to laughing about comical traits that our made-up characters had, my favourite part about it would definitely be acting out our play. Everyone is so patient! It's unbelievable how funny and creative people can be, even when I don't understand where they got those ideas from! To discuss ideas about our play and characters in both German and English was something I always looked forward to every Saturday.
I made so many new friends-- I can't wait for the main show with my creative, not "normal" theater group.
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2022 - German - Term 2 Newsletter Articles
ICHSODUSO: Perspectives and reflections from two students
ICHSODUSO is a German book about diversity and otherness.
This book was the basis for a supra-regional Goethe-Institut project from the area of SAN Southeast Asia, in which over 41 High School German learners across 9 different countries participated digitally. For one month, we met online at set times on a weekly basis for a three hour duration. The culmination was a joint event at the end of the day. Two participants from New Zealand also took part and reported on their experiences.
The bonding element of this project was the German language. It was a unique experience to see the diverse results all digitally honored in a festive setting. The whole ceremony was musically supported by the international band Paper Thieves (New Zealand, Germany, Turkey).
Interview with Maddelana Dal Sasso (Wellington, Wellington Girls’ College) who participated in the ICHSODUSO project 2022.
What was the ICHSODUSO project about?
In the ICHSODUSO project I chose, we explored what ‘normality’ means to us and how it differs between cultures; through comics. Using our knowledge of the German language, we drew, wrote, sketched, and discussed together to express and share our ideas regarding this topic. For one month, we met online at set times on a weekly basis for a three hour duration. During these meetings, we most often answered questions about ourselves and our culture through drawings in a restricted time frame, then shared our sketches with each other and reflected on them together. We were also instructed with homework for the following week which we could do at our own pace with huge amounts of creative freedom and flexibility!
Who else was involved?
In the weekly Zoom meetings, I met with the workshop teacher and illustrator Tanja Etsch, a couple Goethe-Institute representatives and roughly half a dozen other German students all from different countries in Oceania and Southeast Asia - Philippines, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and more.
What did you enjoy most?
I really enjoyed the flexibility in the home work, and the way I could draw my comic in my own unique style by manipulating shape, colour, symmetry, symbolism, speech boxes, thought bubbles and size of each element in the comic. My favourite task was choosing one of several questions to answer through a four page comic. One week, I answered the question regarding what I ate in one day, and the next week I answered the question of what I did last weekend. It was so fascinating to see how my answer to the questions through the comics I drew differed from those of my peers due to our geographical, cultural and social differences.
What's your take away?
I learnt more about how our culture shapes who we are, what we value, how we spend our life, and most interestingly for me personally, how we think. These differences in how we think can be represented in understandable ways through comics, and ultimately provide insight into what each of us deems ‘normal’ or ‘abnormal’. We all experience life differently and very beautiful things can come out of simply putting these experiences on paper and reflecting on how that differs from our own life!
Reflection from Yi Fei (Auckland, Green Bay High School) who participated in the ICHSODUSO project 2022.
The project that surrounds itself with the beautiful and yet confusing topic-- what is normal? Culture differences, family and friend's habits and similarities-- what do they all have in common? Everyone's morals and way of living is different, which in fact should be celebrated- otherwise everything would be so boring if New Zealand was the exact same as Germany, right? I love the IchSoDuSo project because it is an amazing opportunity to talk to people from all around the world, to learn about small things in their lives that makes them "different" from me, best of all... I get to practice my German! The German Goethe- Institut’s wonderful members-- as well as teenagers from Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand all come together to creatively write, act, make films, create comics and cartoons and play around with shadow puppets!
I was lucky enough to be in the theater group. Personally, I found it so hard to choose from all the options because I was so drawn to everything to do with the project-- but I am happy that I chose theater. From warmups to laughing about comical traits that our made-up characters had, my favourite part about it would definitely be acting out our play. Everyone is so patient! It's unbelievable how funny and creative people can be, even when I don't understand where they got those ideas from! To discuss ideas about our play and characters in both German and English was something I always looked forward to every Saturday.
I made so many new friends-- I can't wait for the main show with my creative, not "normal" theater group.
