While doing research for this blog, I was shocked to realise that there’s more than 160 definitions for the word culture! To me, the one that makes the most sense is to define it as, a set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group. One of the most obvious ways to observe a contrast of culture is to look at different country. From obvious differences such as language, race and religion, to the not so obvious ones such as behaviours. As someone so used to the typical life of living in Singapore, when travelling, it’s unavoidable to face with some culture shock.
A few years ago, my family and I went on a trip to Korea. The very first culture shock is of course the language. It has never been so difficult to communicate with others. Thank god there’s still the universally known calculator for me to use when bargaining with the shop owners, the wonders of sign language when asking simple questions. Those are actually stuff that we kind of expected even before arriving there. However, with regards to behaviour differences, that’s something we never knew what to expect.
While walking around the malls, this guy and me happens to nudged into each other, I wanted to apologize, however, he just continued walking as if nothing happened. In my mind I was like, “probably he’s in a rush”. I ignored what happen and continued to walk around. A while later, there’s this other guy who I am sure banged into me, however, he just continued to walk away. I was quite shocked as I was expecting him to at least turn around and say sorry or something. Back on the tour bus, our guide started to ask us about our shopping trip. She goes on to comment about the huge crowd and as its very pack, Koreans are actually used to such crowd and to them, banging into each other is a very common thing. It’s only then that I realised their indifferent reaction about what happened earlier.
Oh wells I guess it’s just their culture, at least for those living in the crowded cities. Guess every different place will have its own unique culture.
xoxo,
Student A
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Hi Andy,
ReplyDeleteI too had similar experience when I did my summer exchange over at Korea. I also realize that they are extremely fierce when we are bargaining over the price of the clothes. Well, I guess all these misunderstandings probably come about due to our lack of understanding of their culture. In your case, if you have learnt the cultural differences before all these pushing and shoving takes place, you will realize that these physical contacts are not directed at you; rather, it is a part and parcel of how people behave over there. Hence, I feel that if one is more aware of each other culture, a lot of misunderstandings and conflicts can actually be avoided. Thankfully, with the help of internet and globalization, people are able to learn and appreciate the different cultures in different places, resulting in the minimizing of such misunderstandings as well as the forging of great interpersonal relationship between people of different nationalities. =)
Hi Andy,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this cultural difference with me! If I ever go Korea, I would be better prepared as to how I react if someone bangs into me.
Having known this fact, I still think it would be polite to apologise because you have hurt someone in the collision process. If I were to bang into someone in Korea, I would still apologize to her. Afterall, I believe people from almost all the culture respond well to politeness.
And if someone bangs into me in Korea and just walk away, I would continue walking after I've been enlightened.
Knowledge and understanding about other cultures are indeed the keys to resolving cultural conflicts =)
An interesting post, Andy. Different cultures and values do bring about different behaviours. Many a time, it is not until one is truly immersed in the culture, and interacting with the locals on a daily basis, to realize that there is so much more to learn!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments. After reading the class’s blog post, I realized that, every different country is unique on its own, be it the way they behave or their etiquette. Hence we should all be more understanding. Glad to learn so much from you all !
ReplyDeletexoxo,
Student A