Response paper number 8 (chapter number 2)
The essence of cross-cultural understanding knows how your own culture is both similar to and different from the local or "target" culture. For this reason, those who pursue cross-cultural knowledge must sooner or later turn their gaze on themselves. People from other cultures, after all, aren't different by nature, but only different in relation to a particular standard they're being measured against. To even see those differences, therefore, you have to examine that standard. In the case of the Peace Corps, that standard is the American culture that Volunteers come from. This chapter contains a series of activities designed to reveal that American culture.
You might wonder why people from the United States would need to have their culture revealed to them-isn't it pretty obvious?-but the fact is that people from a culture, as you learned in chapter 1, are in many ways the least able to see it. They embody the culture, of course, but they would in fact have to get out of that body if they wanted to see what it looked like. In that sense, you might want to think of this chapter as an out-of-body experience, courtesy of Peace Corps training.
As was noted earlier, no one American is quite like any other American, but a handful of core values and beliefs do underlie and permeate the national culture. These values and beliefs don't apply across the board in every situation, and we may, on occasion, even act in ways that directly contradict or flaunt them, but they are still at the heart of our cultural ethos. It is some of these beliefs, with the characteristic behaviors that come from them, that are the focus of this chapter.
Remember as you do these exercises that whether or not you personally can identify with or believe in the typical American being constructed here, this is the image that many host country people have of Americans.
Dear Todd: Jan keeps in touch
It's time to catch up with Jan, who is now nearing the end of her training program and about to take up her Peace Corps assignment. Below is a letter Jan has written to her friend Todd back in the United States. In her letter, Jan makes a number of statements that reflect deeply held, characteristic American values or cultural assumptions.
Underline any statements of this kind you can identify and then go on to the rest of the activities in this chapter.
Dear Todd:
Please excuse me for not answering your letter sooner, but we're nearing the end of our training program here and life is quite busy as I prepare to take up my assignment. After all these months of anticipating (years), if you count all the time I've been thinking about joining the Peace Corps-it's finally going to happen: I'm going to walk into a village, find a place to live, and start saving the world. Well, maybe not the entire world. And maybe not on the first day. But I'll do my best.
Actually, if we have learned anything during this training (and we have learned a lot) it's we have learned a lot-it's to have realistic expectations of what we can actually accomplish here. Some of us, and I count myself among this group, were probably a bit ambitious about our work and the difference we could make, but I'm much more grounded in reality now. Thank goodness.
I know that making changes and improvements takes time, so I don't expect to see any results for the first few months. You've got to get people to trust you, after all, but once they do, then you can start to have influence. I think that once they're aware of my training and experience in the field, I'm bound to become more credible to them. People are basically well-intentioned, after all. You just have to give them time and the benefit of the doubt.
I know there will be obstacles, but I also know I'll be able to overcome them. If you put your mind to something, and it's something that means as much to you as this does to me, then nothing can stop you. I can give you an example of this from a recent incident here at the training program. We [trainees] wanted to set up a little co-op inside the training center, where we could buy soft drinks, snacks, etc., because the closest store is about half an hour from here, and we don't have time to go there and back on our breaks. When we approached the people who run this place, they said the stores in town wouldn't sell directly to us but only to the training center, i.e., to them, and they would arrange it for us. But we told them we wanted to do all the talking and arranging ourselves, so we could practice using the language in real situations and probably have a few cross-cultural experiences along the way. They said nothing like that had ever been done before and they didn't think it was a good idea.
But I wasn't willing to give up so soon, so I approached some merchants in town. And found there was no problem at all! They were happy to sell to anyone, and they would give us a bulk discount! It's a small example, but it shows you that you don't have to take no for an answer, and that the way things have always been done doesn't have to be the way they're done hereafter.
Maybe I was lucky this time, but I think a positive attitude (along with my stubborn streak) can get you a long way.
Well, there's a lot more I want to tell you, but it's time for class. You probably won't hear from me for two or three weeks now, until I get moved and set up in my town. But don't use that as an excuse for not writing! We LIVE for our mail around here.
Love,
Jan
The things we say: culture in casual expressions
Part one: A useful way to understand a culture is by examining the expressions people use in everyday conversation. These common expressions, after all, reflect what most people in a given society believe in or value.
Example:
He thinks he's better than so and so.
She's always putting on airs.
That person should be cut down to size.
It's gone to his head.
Value/belief: Egalitarianism
1. Talk is cheap.
2. Put your money where your mouth is.
3. He's all talk and no action.
Value/belief: honestly
4. She's always beating around the bush.
5. Tell it like it is.
6. Straight talk, straight answer, straight shooter: that's what we need.
Value/belief: directness
7. She did something with her life.
8. Nice guys finish last.
Value/belief: positivity
9. Every cloud has a silver lining.
10. Look on the bright side.
11. Tomorrow is another day.
Value/belief: optimism
12. Where there's a will there's a way.
Value/belief: Perseverance or self-determination
13. Stand on your own two feet.
Value/belief: Independence
14. Don't judge a book by its cover.
15. All that glitters isn't gold.
Value/belief: be fooled by appearances
16. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Value/belief: experimentation
Part two: Just as expressions common in the U.S. reveal aspects of the national culture, so do host country expressions reveal certain host country values or beliefs.
Using a host country informant or a PCV who knows the local culture well, try to come up with at least five common host country expressions, and then identify the cultural belief behind them. You may use proverbs, if you like, but in many cases, you may find that the same proverb exists in one form or another in many cultures, so that the value it reveals is probably universal and not specific to your host country.
1. Tomorrow is another day : optimism
2. God helps those who help themselves: effort
3. Rome was not built in a day: perseverance or effort
4. A good beginning makes a good ending: dedication or hard-working
5. A lie has not legs: You can't get away with a lie; the truth will always come out: honesty
Thirteen Cultural Categories: American and Host Country Views Compared
This activity looks at 13 categories or aspects of culture and compare the typical American position on these matters with that of your host country.
1. Attitude towards age:
American View: The American emphasis on concrete achievements and "doing" means that age is not highly valued, for the older you are the less you can accomplish. Age is also suspect because new is usually better in American culture, and the elderly are generally out of touch with what's new.
It is really similar here in Costa Rica, young people work while old people stay a home, because it is supposed they are less useful. In Costa Rica people work until the age of 57 probably, I am not sure about it.
2. Concept of fate and destiny:
American View: The concept of self-determination negates much of the influence of fate and destiny. Parents tell their children they can be whatever they want to be when they grow up. There are few givens in life, and people have little sense of external limits. Lack of success is their own fault.
Here in Costa Rica every single person is free to do whatever they want to be. Parents do not tell their children that they have to study a specific thing, they just decide by their own way. I think it is important to remember the freedom of speech.
3. View of human nature:
American View: People are considered basically and inherently good. If someone does an evil deed, we look for the explanation, for the reason why the person turned bad. People can and should be trusted; and we are fairly open to strangers, and willing to accept them.
Here in Costa Rica everybody is innocent until the contrary is provided. Also, when someone is accused by doing something, the person has the right to defend herself or himself.
4. Attitude towards change:
American View: Change is considered positive, probably because Americans believe in the march of progress and the pursuit of perfection. Improvements will always move us closer and closer to perfection. Traditions can be a guide, but they are not inherently superior.
Of course the new things are always better. In Costa Rica most people hope new things, but I consider our country is too long of getting things like that, however our country has improved in other important things as well.
5. Attitude towards taking risks:
American View: There will always be enough opportunity to go around, so taking risks, involves no real danger. For the truly ambitious, failure is only temporary. Experimentation, trial and error are important ways to learn or to improve your product or service.
I think this is a positive thing of each person in particular. New opportunities are always given to us, so you are the only one who decides if you want to start over new or not.
6. Concept of suffering and misfortune:
American View: Because we are ultimately in control of our lives and destiny, we have no excuse for unhappiness or misfortune. If you are suffering or unhappy, then just do whatever it takes to be happy again. If you're depressed, it's because you have chosen to be.
I think this is really personal; no all the people have the capacity to overcome the problems they have had easily, but others do. In my personal way I think that when you have failed or something you have to give the best of you and try to do it again, that’s the only way you can get what you want, and also it is the only way you can notice that you are able to do it.
7. Concept of face:
American View: In individualist cultures, no premium is put on saving face because people can take care of themselves. What other people think is not so crucial to survival or success. We can say what we think without worrying about hurting people's feelings, and we likewise appreciate directness.
This is something really important, but I do not think Costa Rican people have this particular way of acting. Here people don’t tell the things like they are, people always try to find another way of telling things. Finally they never tell the right thing.
8. Source of self-esteem or self-worth:
American View: In an individualist culture, you are what you've achieved; that is, you create your own worth rather than receiving it by virtue of birth, position, seniority, or longevity. Your self-esteem comes from what you have done to earn self-esteem.
Well here I think it is really different, I don’t think so that someone is going to ask you in a party what you do in order to know if you are poor or rich. Here people are interested in other things like, things you practice maybe.
9. Concept of equality:
American View: In a strong reaction to the repressive class structure in Europe, Americans created a culture virtually built around egalitarianism: the notion that no one is superior to anyone else because of birth, power, fame, or wealth. We are not all the same, but we are all of equal value.
I think this is really personal, in Costa Rica usually people are very friendly but if you don’t like someone you are not going to treat that person in the same way you probably treat someone you like.
10. Attitude towards formality:
American View: Because of the strong egalitarian ethos, Americans tend to be casual and informal in social and professional interactions. Informality is also more necessary in a mobile society where people are always meeting new people. We don't stand on ceremony, nor use titles or rank in addressing each other.
Here probably is really similar, when you meet someone you probably the next five minutes you are going to talk to that person as if you had 2 years of knowing her or him. When people work, it is normal to see people dressing formal clothes as the main thing in a company.
11. Degree of realism:
American View: Largely because of the notion that the individual is in control, Americans are generally optimistic. We don't see things the way they are, but as better than they are, particularly if they're not so good. We feel it's important to be positive and that there is no reason to be.
I think here in Costa Rica when something wrong happens people try to find the reason of that, so that would be really different if North American people think that things happens for a specific reason.
12. Attitude towards doing:
American View Individuals survive because they get things done, generally on their own. Words and talk are suspect and cheap; they don't put food on the table or a roof over your head. Pursuits not directly related to the creation of concrete results, e.g., academia, the arts, are less highly valued. What is practical and pragmatic is favored over what is beautiful and inspiring.
I don’t know here but I think people talk too much and they don’t do anything, the perfect example can be the presidents they just promise something to get votes and then they forget poor people.
13. View of natural world:
American View: The natural world is a kind of mechanism or machine that can be studied and known and whose workings can be predicted, manipulated, and ultimately controlled. It is not to be feared.
I think that Costa Rica in that area has kept our country as it is. They conserve the natural resources better than other countries.
Thinking about my job
In the previous exercise, you discovered a number of differences in the way American and host country people view certain key topics. These differences are bound to show up now and again as you go about working at your Peace Corps assignment. Below are five of the categories from the previous exercise, with examples of typical work-related problems.
Read each incident and note what you would do.
1. Attitude towards age: Suppose you're a technical expert in crop rotation assigned to a co-op of village farmers. You discover they do not consult you or even pay much attention to you because they think you're too young to know what you're doing.
I would try probably to demonstrate that I am good on what I am doing and the age does not matter when you have the enough knowledge to be the person you have to be.
2. Attitude towards change: You want to introduce a new teaching technique to your colleagues. It is a faster and more efficient way of presenting certain concepts. When you approach them, they respond: "This is the way we have always been taught." You say, "But this is faster and more efficient." They say, "No doubt."
Well the only thing I think would be the best is to demonstrate that my technique works and they are wrong.
3. Concept of equality: It has turned cold the last few days and you feel sorry for the tea-boy who is stationed just outside the entrance to your building. He doesn't seem to have any warm clothes and huddles over his charcoal fire to keep warm. You approach your boss and ask if you can tell the boy to move into the hallway out of the cold. "Certainly not," he replies. "This building is for faculty, not tea boys."
Well I would try to help the boy in other way, and probably depends on my kind of job I would do a kind of project in which ignorant people like my boss realize that every single person has the right to have a better life.
4. Attitude towards taking risks: You want to try a new way of filtering drinking water for the village. The environmental engineer asks you if this technique has been tried anywhere else in the country, to which you answer, "No. "And what if we fail?" he asks you. "Then we go back to the old way," you respond. "And what happens to my job?" he replies.
I would try to convince him that my project is good.
5. View of the natural world: Books need to be ordered now to arrive in time for the start of classes in the fall. You go to the head librarian to put in your request, and she asks you how you know how many students you're going to have. You don't of course, but you're projecting, based on previous class size. "It's better to wait," she says, "so we don't waste money buying extra books." You know that if you don't order now, you'll have to teach for several weeks without the books while you wait for them to arrive.
I would tell her that I choose a minimum of books to avoid waiting until the classes start, and then if I need more books that would not be a problem because money would not be wasted.
Sources of American culture
In this exercise, you look behind some of the American values you have identified thus far, trying to understand where they come from. While it is useful to know what it is Americans value and believe in, it is also helpful to know why they believe what they do-to understand that our values and beliefs are a result of our national experience. Once you understand this fact about your own country's culture, you can begin to appreciate that it must be true of your host country as well.
Below are four defining features of the people who came to the United States, followed by a numbered list of American traits, many of which you have come across earlier in this chapter.
Place the number of the trait in the space beneath the defining feature/s you feel is the likely source of or reason behind the trait. An example from the list of traits is given for each of them.
Defining features
a. Protestantism: emphasis on achievement.
b. American geography: Limited sense of fatalism.
c. Escape from repression: a president, not a king.
d. The nature of an American immigrant: virtue of change, of newness
How Non Americans see Americans
Part 1
1. What do you think were the fourth qualities most associated with Americans?
a. Self-indulgent
b. Rude
c. Energetic
d. Industrious
2. What do you think were the fourth qualities less associated with Americans?
a. Friendly
b. Lazy
c. Sexy
d. Honest
Part 2
1. What qualities do you most associate with Americans?
a. Nationalist
b. Rude
c. Energetic
d. Industrious
2. What qualities do you associate least with Americans?
a. Lazy
b. Sexy
c. Honest
d. Sophisticated
Learning about America
Living in another culture can make you more aware of your own culture.
In the space below, name two or three characteristics of American life or of Americans that you did not realize before you came here. How did you come to these realizations?
a. Hard-working
b. Friendly
c. Sometimes so rude
Now what? Diversity critical incidents
Trainees and Volunteers who come from minority or distinctive populations in the United States are often faced with special issues in the Peace Corps. Some of these issues are illustrated in the incidents presented below.
After reading each incident, describe what you would do if you had this experience, or what you would advise if it happened to someone you knew who came to you for help.
A. Come with us? You are a strong Christian whose religious beliefs are an essential part of your identity. You have been posted in a country with an entirely different religious tradition. Recently, some of your closest friends at work have been pressuring you to attend one of their religious services and asking you if you would like to learn more about their religion. You have politely declined their invitations and would, in fact, feel uncomfortable attending one of these events. Now, one of these individuals, your counterpart at work, explains that they believe you are prejudiced against his religion. What do you say or do?
I would explain my position. It is not that I am against his religion, but I am belonging to another religion, and I think I will not feel comfortable by assisting in any of those activities
B. Aren’t you normal? You are a gay Volunteer serving in what you have heard is a somewhat homophobic country where unmarried young men regularly patronize prostitutes. For some time, your male colleagues at work have been pressuring you to "have fun" with them on their Friday night outings, but you have declined. Now one of them has asked you if you are "normal." What do you say or do?
I would say nothing. I think nobody has to know what you are. Every single person is free to be whatever they want without letting it know everybody.
C. Native speakers: You are a Volunteer of Hispanic background whose family is third-generation American. You do not speak Spanish and have a normal American accent. You teach English at a high school in your country. After you have been at your site one month, some of your students complain to the headmaster that they want a different teacher, someone who is a native speaker of English. What do you say or do?
I would explain that I am a native speaker, and I would try to do the best, because probably they do not understand the accent.
D. Help: You are a blind PCV. You are a self-sufficient individual and value your independence. You have adjusted well at your post, but you are concerned about all the "help" you are getting from host country friends and colleagues. It is apparent that many HCNs regard people with disabilities as being unable to function without considerable assistance from those around them. At work and out in public, you are being helped to do all manner of things you are quite capable of doing on your own. While you appreciate people's concern, you are frustrated by being the focus of so much attention and support. What can you do or say to change this dynamic?
I would try to do my best by providing that I am good on my job. Probably I would tell them that if I need help I would ask them for it.
E. Doubt: You are an African American serving in a country where prejudice against Black people is traditional. At work, a teacher training college, you notice that the students you are assigned to teach do not seem to respect you. One day, as you are explaining a concept, one of the students raises her hand and asks a question, "Are Black people allowed going to college in the United States?" What do you say?
Of course all the people have the same rights. I would say politely that the question is a little bit ignorant.
F. Manual labor: You are an older Volunteer in excellent physical condition. You work as project manager on a school construction site. You are not especially impressed with the work of some of the subcontractors, especially the carpenters, and have on several occasions tried to show them how to do their work better. But every time you try to climb on the building or do any manual work, your assistant steps in and says it's not appropriate for you, an older man and the project manager, to do strenuous physical labor. He says you will lose the respect of the real manual laborers if you continue to do this work. Now what?
I would try probably to show him that I can do my job.
G. Illness: You are working in a company in which you have to do some works which implies bad conditions. Since you are asthmatic, you cannot do some of those works which make you work in cold places, dust places. In the first time, your manager tells you to do one of those activities. What do you do?
I explained in the first moment my condition, so my manger knows what I have. The second time she needs someone to do that work, she looked for someone else, but not me.
On being different
Whatever your background, you're not like the host country nationals in the place where you serve. All of us have been in situations before where we were different, and we adjusted our behavior accordingly.
Think of how you behaved or spoke on such occasions and write your observations here.
Well, I am not probably the kind of person who says the things as they are. Sometimes I say the things when I think someone is wrong or something, but this only happens with my friends. I never say something that I am not sure, even if that person seems to be. I rather prefer to know very well before expressing something that probably makes someone feel bad about it.
Practicing advice
As you look back on what you've learned or been reminded of about the United States in this chapter, what stands out? Suppose you are at the airport one day and you meet a host country friend who's about to depart for a two-year stay in the United States. Your friend asks you to "tell me about America." You've got time to make three points about your culture. What would you tell your friend? (Feel free to draw your ideas instead.) When you have finished, show your list or drawings to at least one other member of your group and compare your answers.
Well, I think most American people are very nice to you, especially young people. On the other hand I would say that old people are sometimes disgusting or rude with you, especially if you are working with them. Some American are really racism and they try to make you feel bad all the time. When I was in the States, I had a manager that was all the time telling us disgusting things, of course we talked to the main manager, since we were part of a program , we had probably more benefits than American people, so this manager got fired and we feel better.
Interview with a PCV
| Friend: | Were there any real surprises? |
| Peace Corps Volunteer: | Not really. I mean, you're not prepared for every little thing, for all the particulars. But you know the people are going to be different, so you expect that. You may not know all the ways they're going to surprise you, but you do know you're going to be surprised when you go to a foreign culture. |
| Friend: | How did the host country people relate to you? |
| PCV: | It's funny you should ask that because it was surprising. |
| Friend: | What do you mean? |
| PCV: | Well, we thought we were prepared for that, but we weren't. After all, if you go in knowing these people aren't like you, then of course you also know that you aren't like them. But we had trouble believing that they found us strange sometimes. Doesn't make sense, does it? |
| Friend: | So it's easy to accept that other people might be strange but hard to believe you could be? |
| PCV: | That's what I experienced, anyway. |
| Friend: | I wonder why. |
| PCV: | I think it has to be that while you are actually having the experience of their strangeness, they are the ones having the experience of yours. You never really experience yourself as strange, of course, so it just doesn't seem real. You know it must be, but you have to take their word for it. |
| Friend: | So you think Volunteers go around never quite convinced that the local people don't always understand them? |
| PCV: | If you listen to some of the complaints PCVs make, I think that's at the bottom of a lot of them. |
Dear Todd: An Analysis
Now that you've completed this chapter, read Jan's letter to Todd again and note any examples of typical American attitudes or values; then continue reading below.
Paragraphs 1 & 2: Jan's opening is encouraging. She has perspective on herself and what she can accomplish in country. Even more hopeful, she has a good sense of humor and is able to laugh at herself.
Paragraph 3: Jan's talk about making improvements reflects a basic American assumption: those things can always be better. Some cultures may not be quite so optimistic. While she's right about needing to be trusted before you can expect anyone to listen to you, it may take more than "training and experience in the field" to impress people. What also establishes credibility in many cultures are age, gender, who you know, and what important people think of you or your ideas. Jan may also be off track when she says that people are well-intentioned and should be given the benefit of the doubt. Not all cultures believe that human nature is basically good or that people can automatically be trusted; some cultures think just the opposite.
Paragraphs 4 & 5: Jan's belief that she will be able to overcome obstacles reflects her basic optimism. There's nothing wrong with optimism, but it doesn't always reflect reality, nor would people in many cultures believe that all you have to do is put your mind to something, and then it will happen. Jan's story is likewise instructive. It does demonstrate that you don't always have to take no for an answer, but she may not be aware of all that was happening in this incident. It's entirely possible that the people who ran the training center knew quite well that merchants would sell to anyone-What merchant wouldn't?-and the real reason they discouraged Jan and company was because they themselves wanted to buy the merchandise, make a small profit, and be loyal to the people they knew. It was not necessarily wrong for Jan to persist, but by following Jan's example, going outside the system and doing what "has never been done before," you are normally taking a risk. Usually things are done the way they are for a reason, and you should probably learn that reason before you proceed. In this case, the reason was rather mundane and Jan has probably not done any damage. But imagine that she was at her workplace and did something similar, thereby alienating an important local figure.
Paragraph 6: "A positive attitude" is Jan's optimism showing through again. Some cultures would say it's more important to have a realistic attitude.
Journal Entry Two
In this chapter, you've had a chance to reflect on and analyze some of the differences between Americans and host country nationals. How has this process helped you to understand or explain what you've seen or what has happened to you thus far in country? Did anything you learned surprise you? Do you have questions you wish to explore further?
I got surprised for some things, especially some values that American people have, but it makes me remind many things that probably if I would have known before going to the States, I mean that would have helped me a lot. In other hand, now that I have friends there, I think it is a nice place to live.
