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Subject:Re: Across Cultures From:Paul David Marvel <marvel -at- BRAHMS -dot- UDEL -dot- EDU> Date:Sat, 15 Jan 1994 14:56:18 -0500
I cooked dinner for a Japanese woman one evening. During the meal, she
asked if there was any bread. I brought out a loaf, sliced off a piece, and
gave it to her. She proceeded to eat the rest of the baguette. She also
proceeded to avoid me for a long time.
It turned out that, in her region, when a guest requests something they
are obligated to receive whatever the host serves. By bringing out the
entire loaf, I was either saying that she should not have asked for the
bread or I was calling her a glutton. We laughed about it later and
learned a little about the other's culture.
Paul D. Marvel
marvel -at- brahms -dot- udel -dot- edu
On Fri, 14 Jan 1994, LaVonna Funkhouser wrote:
> Here's a tangent for a Friday:
> Do you have any stories or examples from personal
> experience of communication being hindered or
> confused because the persons involved were from
> different cultures?
> The examples can be verbal, written, or nonverbal.
> Different cultures can be either domestic (persons
> of different races in the same country trying to
> communicate) or international.
> You may reply to me or to the list. My address is
> lffunkhouser -at- halnet -dot- com
> BTW, I'm preparing for a class in Cross-Cultural
> Communication.
