Culture Clash
Culture Clash
Sven Janssen and Gail Ogawa found themselves chatting with each other after chamber of commerce meetings in Burlington, Vt. Sven worked for a frozen foods manufacturer and Gail worked for a bank. Both were romantically involved with other people. They first started talking with each other after a meeting where international business for Vermont's future was discussed. Expatriate life draws
strangers togetherBoth Sven and Gail contributed to the discussion. They approached each other and at the same time asked, "You've lived overseas, haven't you?" Sven said that he had been the son of Swedish missionaries and had spent time in several countries, including Ghana. Gail had been the daughter of military personnel and had lived in several countries where the United States had Army bases. Her high school years were spent in Germany.
After a few months during which they spent time together, people who knew both Sven and Gail could not figure out what they had in common. Friends would comment, "They have totally different personalities and don't have any shared hobbies or interests that we can see."
Sven and Gail share what is called a "third culture." It is not the culture where they were born or the culture where they are currently living. Rather, it is a third place that demanded that they adjust to different expectations about everyday behaviors, learn another language, attend schools with different philosophies of education, and so forth. This third culture does not have to be the same place. Sven and Gail may not have lived in the same country. What they share are international experiences and adjustments to cultural differences in places where their parents had not previously lived.
This incident developed from conversations with Karen Chung, College of Business Administration, University of Hawaii. Because of her father's work as an agronomist, she grew up in New Zealand, Cameroon and the Philippines. Another implication of third culture experiences is that people learn to set their own goals and work toward them. For example, if they are to make friends, they have to figure out ways of doing this in different cultures. Few junior high school students anywhere in the world come up to newcomers and say, "Welcome to our school! Can I introduce you to others?" Rather, the third culture newcomers must make efforts to meet others, form friendships and balance schoolwork with social activities. This leads to a "can do" attitude useful in later career development.
ents. Many people will replace weekend visits to parks and beaches with trips to libraries.
The purpose of this column is to increase understanding of human behavior as it has an impact on the workplace. Special attention will be given to miscommunications caused by cultural differences. Each column will start with a short example of such confusion. Possible explanations will be offered to encourage thought about these issues.
Richard Brislin is a professor in the College of Business Administration,
University of Hawaii. He can be reached through the
College Relations Office: cro@cba.hawaii.edu