When we think of culture, we associate it with social behavior and forget that culture is a much more complex subject. Each one of us belong to one or more cultural groups, even when we are living in our own country. Sometimes we try to switch from one group to another. Cultural groups can be determined by several factors, such as family, profession, and even geographic location, among others.
Thinking about Brazil, we can assure that we have a true cultural universe within the country. Just look at the folklore, musical, and culinary differences from one region to another and that were influenced by different people. Imagine these cultural differences when we are referring to different countries. Yes, what seemed to be simple becomes much more complex.
Understanding the culture in which we are inserted is very important to understand the facts within a certain context, which is certainly impacted by the culture. To be clear, I will bring an example that caught my attention when I came to live in the United States. In Brazil, when we go to a restaurant, we usually like to be served with tranquility and if we go with a group of friends, the most important thing is having fun with friends. We usually take a long time to place orders because we are involved in a good conversation. Only when we feel hungry do we call the waiter and order the food. And when we want to leave, we ask for the bill.
When I got here, it bothered me a lot that I was still eating my meal and the waiter was already offering me the dessert menu. If by chance I didn't want dessert, he would bring the bill and say the following sentence: “no rush”. This sentence bothered me because I felt rushed and with the feeling of being pressured to clear the table soon. When I go to the restaurant, I like to take my time to have a nice quiet meal. Literally, no rush.
As I have always been very interested in understanding cultural processes, perhaps because of my nomadic life, I studied to deep understand the meanings of local culture and that moment everything started to make sense to me. Through my studies, I understood that promptness in service, anticipation in bringing the bill before I even ask, is a sign of efficiency. As a Brazilian citizen, I understood this behavior as a lack of education or training. This example that I bring here is something very simple, but that bothered me. However, this lack of understanding the culture of the place where you are living can greatly impact the adaptation process, especially when living abroad, and may even make you give up this incredible opportunity.
In this example that I brought, who is right and who is wrong? When we talk about culture, there is no right and wrong answers. There are different ways of seeing and understanding the world and define our behavior.
Visiting or living in a different country will require you to have an open mind, flexibility, and a willingness to understand new meanings. I can assure you that this opportunity to learn new things, different ways of doing the same thing, expands your horizons as a human being, even if at times these experiences bring you out of your comfort zone.
It is always easier to live with different rules and procedures when we are just passing through another country. When we go to live in these countries, our daily basis is different. That’s why is important to understand the local culture and all meanings so that things can make sense to us. In this way, we will be able to harmonize our own culture with the culture in which we are inserted, without suffering and extracting the best that all this experience has to offer.
Understanding that a certain concept has a meaning for me and for people of other cultures it has a completely different meaning, expands our view of the world. That's what we at Embrace Cross-cultural Solutions do, we help people to understand these meanings to bring them comfort and a sense of belonging, making the most of what the experience of living abroad can offer.