Misunderstandings caused by different cultures
By Porcospino
@Porcospino (31365)
Denmark
July 18, 2010 6:43pm CST
My teacher told us a story about a man from another country who was travelling around in Denmark as a tourist. One day he was waiting for a bus and he was the only person in the room. A Dane entered the room and he chose a seat very far away from the tourist.
The tourist felt hurt and rejected and he had thoughts like: "Why doesn't he like me? Why doesn't he want to talk to me?" etc. According to his culture is was normal to choose the seat next to the other person, and he interpreted the situation as a rejection of him.
The interesting thing about this situation is that the Dane did right thing according to Danish culture. It was his way of being polite and showing respect. He had thoughts like: "Maybe he isn't interested in my company. It is better to choose a seat in the other end of the room so that I don't disturb him"
The misunderstanding was caused by the different cultures and the different ways of thinking.
If you enter a room at a public place for instanse a bus station or a medical clinic, and there is only one person in the room and plenty of empty seats, how do you behave? Which seat would you choose? Would you sit down next to the person or close to the person or would you choose a seat in the opposite end of the room (very far away from the person)? Why?
Have you been a situation where you did the wrong thing in a other country because of cultural differences?
2 responses
@inu1711 (5285)
• Romania
19 Jul 10
I was in such a situation. I was travelling thru Europe by train. I changed the train at Vienna at 11am, and I was really hungry. So, as soon as I sat confortably in my seat, I took my bag and started eating my sandwich. Dozens of frowning eyes were looking at me. I didn't understand why, but as I was really hungry, I finished my sandwich and then I ate my dessert (an apple). At 12 sharp, everybody in the train compartment put out their sandwiches and started eating. Then I understood why they looked so disapprovingly to me while I was eating earyer. They all had lunch at 12, but I broke the rulle, and ate at 11. I was supposed to wait until 12 o'clock to have lunch, but I didn't know about their custom.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
21 Jul 10
Thanks for sharing your story. I might have made the same mistake as you, because I have never heard about a tradition or a rule like that. If we travel by train or bus in my country we can eat any time that we want, and I thought it was like that in other countries as well, but I can see from your experience, that some countries have different traditions.
@inu1711 (5285)
• Romania
22 Jul 10
The same in my country: you can eat at any time you want, and nobody is disturbed by that. (Unless you eat something with an acrid smell, or something, but this is another story...)
But, I can tell you from the look of those pasangers' eyes that I was doing something inappropriate.
@qianyun6 (2066)
• China
19 Jul 10
I'll behave more like the Dane. It isn't because of my culture, actually Chinese culture doesn't tell us anything about this. It's my personal preference, I don't like being too close to other people.
I haven't been abroad, so I haven't experienced collision between different cultures.
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