If I ask you: are you normal? What would you answer? What would be your comparison basis for answering whether you are normal? Have you ever stopped to think about it?
If you answer this question: "Yes, I am normal". Can I say that everyone else who does not fit your parameters is abnormal? Now think about this question while living outside your country. To make your reflection easier, imagine you are a Brazilian living in the United States, so your expansive way of hugging when you meet your friends? You suddenly find yourself in a meeting with Americans who "just" shake your hand in a friendly way. Who would be normal in this situation?
When we set out to understand cultures other than our own, we cannot make assumptions or prejudices because we would inevitably fall into the trap of stereotyping. Be careful with generalizations.
The path to a successful adaptation abroad begins with an open mind with a fertile mental ground so that the seeds of learning can germinate without (pre) judgments. Understanding the culture, you will live or work in is essential. Human relations will be established more efficiently and, most importantly, prosperously through the exchanges established between the people who relate to each other.
It is common to hear generalizations from people of other nationalities that Latinos are overly emotional, Americans are individualistic, Brazilians only arrive late, and so on. To understand the culture of others, we also need to perceive ourselves as these "caricatures" since the world sees us through them. The second step is to eliminate the stigmas of the prejudices and thus provide a broadening of our horizons and our worldview, especially when we are open to the new.
In other words, we need to examine the characteristics of our own culture and the characteristics of the culture in which we will live, and what our ethnic or national values are. A good example to illustrate what I just said is if we imagine a Scotsman and an Italian in a negotiation, where one doesn't know the culture of the other. Some the Scots perceive stubbornness as something positive, while the Italians, being more flexible, may perceive it as intransigence. What is the chance that this negotiation will prosper?
Intercultural Training is a differential in the success of any person who lives or intends to live abroad, which is why Embrace Cross-cultural Solutions is in the market, to facilitate your path in the cultural adaptation process.