Make it personal

It is impressive to watch how the participation level of the class improves if the teacher uses specific examples and ask people familiar with the circumstances to comment on it.
Just 10 minutes ago, we were discussing no frills airlines. As soon as the talk went into the differences between the consumer behaviour in Hong Kong and Europe, many people started contributing to the discussion. It was clear that everybody here is proud of where they come from and proud that they are well informed (and should be) of the situation in their countries and have this special competitive or almost privileged information.
So, as soon as the opportunity arises, they will make a point of spilling out this special information to the benefit of the class. Of course they are showing off (who doesn't like to speak to an avid and attentive audience?), but you also fill their desire to inform the class about their special context. And this is great, I just learned a lot about how people from Hong Kong value their free holiday time (they only have 10 days a year).
I heard before coming to the MBA that I was supposed to take more advantage of such informative situations than of the actual content of the classes. I might have been a bit (or a lot) arrogant before, because I considered myself a very well informed person with no need to learn too much else about all this intercultural chit chat.
But today I just enjoyed it immensily and learned a lot (now I know how to sell a trip to people from HK) and am eager to grab the next opportunity to talk about my country and show off a bit myself.
I personally also feel the need to straighten out some of the prejudices and preconceptions people have about my country and I believe that this is als a great driver for many of us. We do experience a lot of these badly formed conceptions still floating around in the class.
As long as nobody asks me or Cristiano about football, we should be fine.
Judging from the noise outside, coffee break is over and I have to get back to class.