Hope you’re fine there?
I’m trying to find an amazing, breath-taking and
fabulous teambuilding activity which will take place on Sunday before the
official part of the start-up week begins. It should consider the different
cultures of the students. While I was thinking about different activities a question
came up: what actually IS culture?
I was thinking about it for a long time (truly too
long, I was getting insane. Hmm, okay, for those of you who know me, I was kind
of crazy before... xD ) Sorry, back to topic. Culture. A huge part of my
bachelor thesis (yes, I graduated this year – you can extend your
congratulations to me later) was about culture and what it is all about. I was
talking to many people about what culture was for them and I got as many
different answers during these interviews. Some of them said it was the
behavior while others assumed it means values and someone else thought it is
the educational background of every single person. One of my interview partners
was convinced that we cannot define culture. And I’m with him ‘cause culture
has many different aspects and I’m certain that there are in fact thousands of
different cultures in the world.
Okay, this fact makes my task rather difficult. To
avoid dropping a brick I’ll refer to some theoretical culture theories from
Hofstede and Trompenaars & Hampden – Turner (clever minds – believe me).
When I was comparing the Swiss and Ethiopian culture I found out that we are
not as different as you may expect (in theory of course. Meeting and working
with people from other cultures is always a different kettle of fish). One of
the biggest differences you must consider when working with a stereotyped
Ethiopian is that family and friends have a very high significance (Swiss are
different – we hate our fellowmen. Just kidding ;) ). Within a work team the
success of a certain project is not as important as the developing relationship
between the team members. Have this in mind. Then the factor of time is not the
same as in Switzerland. Not at all. In Ethiopia time is more flexible. I was in
Ethiopia one year ago and it was rainy season – unfortunately for a
timetable-addicted Swiss. This not because it was wet and muddy, no, the reason
for it was that if it started raining all the Ethiopians were looking for
shelter so that they did not get wet. Actually quite comprehensible but this also
means that they’re waiting there until it stops raining even if they miss a
deadline, the bus or a meeting with the president.
I know, you all are desperately waiting on the
explanation of the post title. To feed or to be fed. Okay, this is meant
literally. To feed somebody with your right hand is the highest level of
showing respect in Ethiopia. So, if someone tries to feed you let it happen –
it’s a huge honour. It’s as simple as it sounds (okay, not that simple, ‘cause
you shouldn’t touch the feeding hand with your lips. No. Just don’t do it.).
To choose the right team building activity we also need to look at the Swiss culture. You have to be patient my friends ‘cause this will be the topic of my next post.
Over and out, Ari
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