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.It also gives an indication of your ownindividual perception of time, because we don t all conform to our cultural stereotypes when it comes topunctuality.Of course, many Germans and Swedes always arrive late at meetings, just as the only person Iknow who has never been late for anything is a Spaniard (who obviously doesn t share the mañana mentalitythat is supposed to characterize many Latin cultures).Punctuality is about prioritizing clock time above other things, whether that means leaving a discussionunfinished, a task uncompleted, or a colleague ungreeted.People who follow clock time believe they are beingefficient, but is that always the case? Many cultures, like Turkey, India, and most of Latin America and theMiddle East, believe that time is an endless rolling cycle in which many things can be done at once.They alsobelieve that time includes what you want it to and should not be used to exclude activities that do not happento fit into neat bite-sized pieces.The area of intercultural contact where problems and misunderstandings are most likely to arise is how weregard time.How we divide it up, the practical and symbolic value we place on it, and what it s for are allquestions that divide cultures, but because it s easier to define differences in the way we present businesscards or hold our cutlery, it s an area that is often ignored.Whichever group you fall into (the clock watchers or the more relaxed types who believe that time is elasticand will always stretch sufficiently to allow them to do what is important), you will have to spend some timetrying to understand the other group if you don t want to drive your counterparts crazy.Why not arrange ameeting to discuss the subject? Just make sure you arrive on time!MORAL We grow up with attitudes and beliefs about time that we rarely question.When we go abroad it simportant to re-examine them. Calendars and HolidaysIt s important to know as much as possible about the calendars and holidays of any country you re likely to dobusiness with.The first reason is obvious: You don t want to spend a couple of days flying to the opposite sideof the globe only to find that shops and offices all shut the moment you get off the plane.The second reason isthat if you know what your counterparts celebrate, you will learn what is considered important in their culture,and that knowledge can only help strengthen any future relationship.The Chinese calendar, for example, is still used for determining festivals, and the Chinese New Year is themain holiday of the year for more than one quarter of the world s population, yet it exists alongside theGregorian (Western) calendar in the People s Republic of China.Similarly, the Muslim states around theArabian Gulf use the Western calendar in addition to the Hijrah calendar (which is based on the date ofMuhammad s emigration to Medina).In Russia, the Orthodox Church still follows the Julian calendar, not theGregorian one, which means that Russians celebrate Christmas Day (if they celebrate it at all) on January 7,and oddly enough, the Bolshevik revolution, which started on October 25 in 1917, is currently celebrated onNovember 7.There are three main kinds of national holidays: there are the ones based on religion or a set of beliefs, theones that commemorate a historical event, and the ones that reflect the seasons.(Of course, a few holidaysdon t fit into any of these categories, including international holidays like Labor Day and International Women sDay, which are observed more or less enthusiastically from country to country.)Festivals of the major world religions or belief systems Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, andJudaism can be included in the religious group.Not all holidays (a word whose origins lie, appropriatelyenough, in holy days) are celebrations, but may be occasions for contemplation, prayer, or fasting, anddeserve to be treated with the utmost respect by believers and non-believers alike.The second category celebrates historical events that have played a part in shaping the national identity.These holidays are often expressions of national pride and identity, and visitors should treat thesecelebrations seriously: not to do so is asking to be labeled as an arrogant and ignorant foreigner [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]
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.It also gives an indication of your ownindividual perception of time, because we don t all conform to our cultural stereotypes when it comes topunctuality.Of course, many Germans and Swedes always arrive late at meetings, just as the only person Iknow who has never been late for anything is a Spaniard (who obviously doesn t share the mañana mentalitythat is supposed to characterize many Latin cultures).Punctuality is about prioritizing clock time above other things, whether that means leaving a discussionunfinished, a task uncompleted, or a colleague ungreeted.People who follow clock time believe they are beingefficient, but is that always the case? Many cultures, like Turkey, India, and most of Latin America and theMiddle East, believe that time is an endless rolling cycle in which many things can be done at once.They alsobelieve that time includes what you want it to and should not be used to exclude activities that do not happento fit into neat bite-sized pieces.The area of intercultural contact where problems and misunderstandings are most likely to arise is how weregard time.How we divide it up, the practical and symbolic value we place on it, and what it s for are allquestions that divide cultures, but because it s easier to define differences in the way we present businesscards or hold our cutlery, it s an area that is often ignored.Whichever group you fall into (the clock watchers or the more relaxed types who believe that time is elasticand will always stretch sufficiently to allow them to do what is important), you will have to spend some timetrying to understand the other group if you don t want to drive your counterparts crazy.Why not arrange ameeting to discuss the subject? Just make sure you arrive on time!MORAL We grow up with attitudes and beliefs about time that we rarely question.When we go abroad it simportant to re-examine them. Calendars and HolidaysIt s important to know as much as possible about the calendars and holidays of any country you re likely to dobusiness with.The first reason is obvious: You don t want to spend a couple of days flying to the opposite sideof the globe only to find that shops and offices all shut the moment you get off the plane.The second reason isthat if you know what your counterparts celebrate, you will learn what is considered important in their culture,and that knowledge can only help strengthen any future relationship.The Chinese calendar, for example, is still used for determining festivals, and the Chinese New Year is themain holiday of the year for more than one quarter of the world s population, yet it exists alongside theGregorian (Western) calendar in the People s Republic of China.Similarly, the Muslim states around theArabian Gulf use the Western calendar in addition to the Hijrah calendar (which is based on the date ofMuhammad s emigration to Medina).In Russia, the Orthodox Church still follows the Julian calendar, not theGregorian one, which means that Russians celebrate Christmas Day (if they celebrate it at all) on January 7,and oddly enough, the Bolshevik revolution, which started on October 25 in 1917, is currently celebrated onNovember 7.There are three main kinds of national holidays: there are the ones based on religion or a set of beliefs, theones that commemorate a historical event, and the ones that reflect the seasons.(Of course, a few holidaysdon t fit into any of these categories, including international holidays like Labor Day and International Women sDay, which are observed more or less enthusiastically from country to country.)Festivals of the major world religions or belief systems Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, andJudaism can be included in the religious group.Not all holidays (a word whose origins lie, appropriatelyenough, in holy days) are celebrations, but may be occasions for contemplation, prayer, or fasting, anddeserve to be treated with the utmost respect by believers and non-believers alike.The second category celebrates historical events that have played a part in shaping the national identity.These holidays are often expressions of national pride and identity, and visitors should treat thesecelebrations seriously: not to do so is asking to be labeled as an arrogant and ignorant foreigner [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]