I told farmers I met on the road, young men fixing motorcycles, my friends at a barber shop. I was a sort of host and group leader for a pack of them. The shoes were off because they cleaned their feet in the “piss wall” fountain before going to prayer. The Afghan Ministry of Defense released a pamphlet designed to do for the Afghan troops what we’ve been trying to do with our own: explain how one is supposed to behave among allies of a different culture. You mean “fitness”, not “fisting””, “I really don’t think that means what you think it means…”, “I can’t explain it. I spent time in Kenya, where people freely picked their nose. As her British boyfriend used the word ‘love’ for everything (from football to chicken) it lost its meaning for her. To add to my excitement, they gave … Great first impression. Didn’t get fired either, though, so that’s nice. Part of the airport was damaged, and they shoved everyone in the airport into a single terminal as the examined the entire airport for structural damage. He went on to say it’s because in the village where she grew up, they looked at dogs differently than we do here. One hot summer day when I was six years old, my Swedish parents surprised my younger sister and me with an excursion to the public pool. Whenever we went over their house they never made it because they weren’t sure of my reaction. I guess that story still counts. I was going to a birthday part for my friends brother (who I of course had a crush on)… I fell in the street walking down the hill towards their house and banged up my knee pretty bad. One response to cultural misunderstanding would be hostility ,an easier way to avoid the discrepancy that such misunderstanding creates as a German saying goes " Es ist leicht zu verachten , schwieriger zu verstehen " " It is easier to scorn , difficult to understand "! The person you like often becomes your lowest priority in the beginning or you could come across as too keen. I had no clue where to buy them from as I hadn’t seen a grocery store around our hotel. He said he wanted a dog but his wife refused to let him get one. Aussies are really into sports, so I thought I could earn some points by talking about my favorite teams back home. However for me, in my culture, the dating phase gradually becomes a relationship. He told me it was in his car in the parking garage, and I started sweating a little cause he kept winking at me and licking his lips and shit. Most of the tables that had patrons also now were quiet. When we travel (or have people over), it’s as if we’re asking to make a fool of ourselves. Initially I was offended, but I quickly learned to love the freedom of it, and did it without regard. He pretty much shouted “aaaaah, quieras dos BORRACHOS!” This time he couldn’t keep a straight face and started guffawing, and the whole place erupted. He was raising his voice over the din of the whole shop. I put a hand on my chest and say “for me.” I need something “just for me.” He gave me a nod, reached under the counter and wrapped something up. Learn about us. And so I said, “Um, I’m pretty sure that’s bullshit. She told him, she doesn’t believe him. “It’s fine” (Dutch vs. British Culture) In this example, we have a Dutch national who has recently moved to the UK. She asked what they were called, and decided to tell everyone about the “Kwan Chi noodles.” It was a good while before she realized the waitress was just saying “Crunchy Noodles” with an accent. Submit your writing to be published on Thought Catalog. I repeat myself with again no response from the waitress. I tried asking one of the staff for feminine products, but none of them spoke any English. It was only then I understood that since the feet are considered filthy in Thai culture I had committed a terrible faux pas by putting an image of the sacred Thai King under my feet. Here you will find more than fifty different case studies, developed by our former participants from the Master of Advanced Studies in Intercultural Communication. A “cultural misunderstanding” I met a French girl and when she approached me to salut she kissed me in the cheek, I quickly retreated to talk normally but she moved forward approaching my other cheek which she kissed as well. ?”, “Needless to say he doesn’t call it a fisting club anymore…”. To pick a wife. Sometimes it helps considering the other two types. I walk up to the guy at the register and asked if he spoke English. So I lean more on my outstretched arm that is against the wall, with the other hand I pinch my penis to not pee (oh god that hurts..) and stop the whole process (ouch ouch ouch) and slip my dick back in my pants. When it came time to pay, I didn’t have any money in my pockets. To address such differences, it will be necessary to engage in open and honest communication. I told my friend, and he said “okay, go for it.” I got my bowl, ate, and returned to the festivities after putting the bowl in the sink like a civilized person. This is usually due to their cultural background and experiences. One day, Pam's cousin came to meet her at school... Show More! He told me to speak up. The priest looked rather shocked but then said “OK, do whatever you need to do but I need you back here in a half hour.”. We were well into our 2 hours long discussion when we realized our understanding of the word ‘dating’ is different! Check, The moment you realize it and feel really, really silly, Yeah, I read that in Sofia Vergara’s voice too, This is going to make you cringe really, really hard, I never even realized Ped Xing could be a name, Oh, so that’s why they were staring at me, Please, I didn’t mean it, I’m being honest, Reasons Why I Want To Have A Threesome (And Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Judge), 100 Things All Women Need To Know About Men (According to 100 Men), Why We Need To Stop Shaming People For Buying Their Dogs Instead Of Adopting, The Ugly Truth About Keeping The Good Guys In The Friend Zone, 20 Clever Responses For When People Ask When You’re Going To Have Kids, Never Say You’re Sorry – Unless You Mean It. So after a month-long hiatus, I am back with funny foreigner stories. Another type, that is even harder to detect is the language and behaviour based combination. They opened one general goods shop, and I wandered in, pretty desperate for something, anything. Intercultural Relationship. Helping to resolve cross-cultural differences can have immediate and long-term benefits. Unfortunately, cross-cultural differences may create tense moments and an inability to reach a compromise if people and groups are unable to understand one another. It was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. If you had a surprising cultural misunderstanding, we would love to hear it! Cultural Misunderstanding Examples – The 3 Types with Real Life Stories. Behavior-based cultural misunderstanding often happens when one person says something but their behavior doesn’t confirm it. It’s flee, die, or improvise time. My top 4 Cultural Misunderstandings living in Ecuador thus far: 1. Hall said that in high-context communication, in … Cultural misunderstanding happens when two or more people speak the same language, but they mean or understand different things. People in some cultures stand very … Cross Cultural Faux Pas Stories. Cagar, however, means to shit. Let us know in the comments below. with no stories to circle them... Show More! We had a cultural miscommunication that was too late to fix. They started asking me about basketball. I had to lean up close behind a couple patrons at the bar because the little place was packed with old timers sipping coffees and chatting. 4 Common Cultural Misunderstandings and How to Fix Them. 2) A 6’3″ werewolf complete with fangs and fake blood scares the shit out of most everyone taking public transportation in Vienna. I went home and asked my roommate, and found out that in Australia, “root” is a more crude version of the f word. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Boba & Pearls with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. I went in to a bar/bakery? As I enter the room I see what looks like a piss wall, with water flowing down it and such. Well you don’t have to tell me twice. "I'm just trying to look at my phone bill and Jessica thinks i’m gassing her up." His boss was a really nice, old, priest. Usually, any misunderstanding you might encounter will fall into one of these categories. When I was about 15 and visiting my grandparents for a week, I misunderstood my grandmother’s native language, thinking she asked if I was going to take a shower (to which I responded yes). Cultural Misunderstanding Free Essays. Why?!?!?! I felt like the ignorant white guy that day. I really started getting nervous then. Read All; Editor’s Choice; Story Archive; Discussion; You are here: Home / Funny and Hilarious / Sweet Misunderstanding … Sweet Misunderstanding… Published by Sweetu in category Funny and Hilarious with tag book | canteen | CWCI-2012 | friend. Cultural Misunderstandings and Empathy - Session 1 Lesson Plan/Related Activities 9 our style that we do, the tendency is for us to downplay the weakness while others may highlight it in evaluating us. This misalignment of cultural standards can lead to frustration for both parties. She ran behind the counter, made a phone call, the came back to me with a little pamphlet with a map of the airport on it. Everything was fine… until the morning when I heard a scream. You can read some interesting ones here. I told her about the pastries and the little sign. The Best 13 Intercultural Relationship Advice, Date in Asia – 9 differences that might surprise you. Cultural Misunderstanding Examples – The 3 Types with Real Life Stories . I ordered a phad kaprow (stir fried pork-with-basil on rice) from the old lady and ate it in silence. I paid and left with a mysterious newpaper wrapped bundle still not sure if I got what I needed. Medicine.” one of the girls working understood. When I got back to my hotel I unwrapped the package to find pads. This week on The Public Speaker, I talk about cross-cultural communication. This kind of confusions might cause you from embarrassment to good beating and most probably getting fired form a job. It was pretty crazy. I never imagined being stranded in the middle of a cloud forest 30 minutes before dark. Being made his lowest priority (and not being aware of the cultural differences) really put me off and ruined the whole experience to the point of irreversible. Her culture has a clear separation between the dating phase and the relationship phase. Not to me, but I took a Japanese class with a guy I dubbed King Weeaboo. I bit my thumb in 16th-century Verona. It happens when you do something that is totally fine to do in your culture but it is offensive to the others. Students may feel confined to their American home and school, while the host family may feel they are not being given appropriate notice as to when they may need to provide the student a ride. I tried to explain there was American money in there too, so I had insulted the USA as well, but she wasn’t having any of it. I move my ex-penis-holding-hand towards one of my feet (bending over on an exploding bladder is hell) and make to untie my shoes… and see if they’d buy the idea that I wanted to wash my feet as well. I’m married to a white woman so this happens all the time in our apt… One of the better ones was during a family visit. This article focuses on cultural misunderstanding in care relations, starting from the analysis of the effects misunderstanding causes in the relation between doctor and migrant patient. I told my students, a roomful of 4th-graders. Aaaand I didn’t get laid. Viral Events/Stories That Would Break the Internet; Bizarre Ways Pop Culture is Translated Overseas; Awesome Tricks You Can Do With Your Body/Brain; There are FOUR contests for you to choose from. They’d look you right in the eye while having a conversation, digging for nose gold. She then explained borrachos means “drunkards” and the sign probably said something to the effect that “drunkards were not welcome here” and that sign just happened to hang under their pastry shelf…. I explain a model of communication that was developed by an anthropologist named Edward Hall. At the base are at least a dozen pairs of shoes. I was getting a bit frustrated, and embarrassed. The guy next to me finally pipes up with “He wants the Mirage.”. He talked about the idea of high- and low-context communication cultures. I was studying in Vienna, Austria during college. You can read the full story here: ‘I love you!’ – Why She Doesn’t Believe You? Studying so fast, I was bound to confuse some verbs. Thanks in advance! Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s owner is strictly prohibited. The uber troll barkeep again asked me what i wanted, and he was getting louder. Cultural analysis is a tool with which the author scrutinizes the meaning of these situations, which, of course, happened either in France or in the USA. Here are some cultural misunderstanding examples you can learn from. The proprietor, very seriously, said, que? I miss him. A Misunderstanding Narrative … I said, “Oh, I root for the Lakers!” long pause, stunned silence, then uproarious laughter I just smiled along, pretending to get the joke. Don’t point, don’t give the thumbs up, don’t try to kiss people on the lips after they kiss your cheeks — are we that socially awkward? Not exactly cultural, but… When I was teaching in Tanzania I studied Swahili pretty hardcore. Then when I was gone from his life, he started bombarding me with messages. But there’s a first time for everything. Once when we visited my grandparents in Japan, my … Posted on 13/03/2018 by Jeff Harvie Posted in Cultural Problems and Misunderstandings — 7 Comments ↓ Australian men and Filipina ladies can often form the most wonderful and happy marriages. In this situation you might have the same understanding of the word, but due to how one person uses it will modify your understanding. Maybe you are used to people acting a certain way in your culture, but this person acts contradictory to how you are used to it. the chicken was delicious. A lack of awareness of cultural differences, whether minute or glaringly obvious, can make or break a working relationship or potential business deal. I figured he was some famous Chinese guy widely revered in America, and decided to confirm the reason for his popularity. Also you make this person the highest priority in your life. Generous or Toned – What Do Women Find More Attractive? Why was it? I don’t even know entirely why I felt insulted…. One day my friend told the priest he was going to sneak out back for a quick fag. Before he said anything, we noticed a higher than normal attendance of black people at this buffet. It was his mother, and she was freaking out about the bowl. Relevance. I gave a thumbs-up sign to my friend’s Iranian dad – apparently it’s equivalent to giving him the finger. The phone call she had made was to get someone to open the pharmacy for me. I manage to untie one shoe and as I’m sliding it off I glance over at them again and smile. But everyone in Japan knows about that!” Because, as an American, he clearly knew more about what Japan likes than the Japanese woman…. A cultural misunderstanding occurs when something—a word, gesture, object, social context, almost anything you can think of—has different meanings in two cultures. I didn’t necessarily want those, but they were the only labeled ones, so naturally I waved the guy behind the counter and ordered “dos borrachos por favor”. I told her the story, and she started laughing and said why the hell were you trying to order 2 borrachos? 2. Making conversation with dozens of villagers in a day (in the villages you are expected to socialize with almost everyone), I repeatedly told several groups of people that I was tired from fucking all day in the intense heat. Usually she’d have no idea what he was talking about, since she was a teacher/housewife who wasn’t too into nerd culture. The men sitting near me at the packed counter all stopped talking simultaneously and looked at me. 3 Answers. But then he started talking about how he possessed the “power of gays” and how that it can make babies cry or animals run away. Learn more about working with Thought Catalog. Favorite Answer. A really good example for this is when my Vietnamese friend’s British boyfriend told her he loved her. No dairy can touch these bowls, lest their kosherness be compromised. (At this point, most of us hadn’t slept or showered for 2 days.) 3 Types of cultural misunderstanding (with examples): 2. The strength of cultural misunderstanding. The rest you can imagine. Luckily, for some reason I thought I was in a dodgy area, so I had hidden some money in my shoe, as a safety measure. Sign up for the Thought Catalog Weekly and get the best stories from the week to your inbox every Friday. This sometimes leads to interesting mistakes…, One day he came in happy that he joined a new club. My most concerning cultural misunderstanding had to do with my ignorance of the importance of Ramadan practices in Moslem countries. At that point I was a little bit unaware of what was going on and backed a little more to try to talk normally but she kept moving forward to kiss me again in the other cheek… I was kinda confused but smiling and then since I saw her smiling and looking me straight I kinda thought she wanted to make out right there, so this time it was me who went forward and tongue kissed her in front of everybody, her boyfriend included. So it was embarrassing for me, as another American. The shoes, the water fountain, the men in kurtas… I suddenly realized I was in the airport mosque. I went to workout while he cooked and when I came back he had made a bunch of fried chicken. When asked what kind, he said, “Fisting!”, “Ooohhh!!! We finally made it to his level and he walks me over to his car, unlocks the door, and pulls out a giant tray of homemade curry. My vegan friend would wear this this t-shirt that said “Murder King” (a stab at Burger King’s meat) all the time. So I happily ate it. 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