The Cultural Divide

Our team here is made up of people from over 30 countries. That being said, you can imagine the variety of cultural misunderstandings, funny moments, and the huge learning curve we each have as we live so closely together.

Tonight I went for a walk with Lisa, an older German lady on our team. She is very regimented in her schedule, always punctual, and very tidy in her workspace and appearance. I would normally think this was just how she is, but another guy on our team is Swiss German and I also had a Swiss-German girl stay with me last weekend as she passed through HK, and they are both different from each other, but very similar to how Lisa is. Tonight, as I walked with Lisa, we somehow got on the subject of people in power, and how they can take it too far and hurt so many people. She used China as an example, meanwhile in my head I'm thinking, "You're German!" She did eventually bring up Hitler, and it was actually very interesting to hear her take on it, having grown up with that being such a large part of the history she learned. I love history, so I enjoyed hearing her talk about growing up in Germany in the wake of genocide.

Cultural differences can be funny as well. Maz and I spent many a night debating words we use, and what words are "right" to use. Examples: they say Maths, instead of Math (ie "He is working on his Maths for class." weird, right?); I say barette, she says hair clip; I say kitchen counter, she says bench; I say ground beef, she says mince; I could go on, and on, and ON. Just a few weeks ago, she asked me, "Have you heard the phrase 'more cowbell'?" (those of you my age reading this are now laughing hysterically). I laughed, then calmed myself and told her I had. Josh showed her the SNL clip so she'd know what it was, but she didn't find it that funny. But most Americans in our generation know immediately what that means, and think it's funny. Go figure.

Another lady here, Indian, was telling me how when she first moved here and had two Westerners as her roommates. She said for the longest time she thought they didn't like her, because they would just come and go, they didn't eat together, and just generally kept their own schedules. In her culture, you prepare the meal together and eat it together, so it took her a while to adjust to this. Also, while us Westerners sometimes opt for very casual ware, the Africans always look nice, especially the women. Even in their casual clothes, they are very put together. Asians can sometimes be a little offensive to Westerners, because to them, especially in HK, it's not rude to be straightforward (ie saying to a guy "You're fat"). We have a Filipino guy who recently joined us, and he said he feels lonely because he's used to having six people sleeping in the same room with him.

It can sometimes be very challenging in this environment. To some cultures, it's normal to sit close together, while some of us find that uncomfortable. Some people think it's unfriendly if you don't eat your meals together, while others don't necessarily feel obligated to spend any time with roommates they don't know that well, despite being roommates.

It's taken a lot of adjusting, and still is difficult sometimes. At times, I just want to break out some old slang phrases or call it ground beef, but I adapt since I'm in the minoity here. I am looking forward to being home next week and just not having to think about it anymore, though I anticipate some reverse culture shock and I will definitely miss my multi-cultured friends while I am home.