Posts tagged as:

cultural adaptation

The Entire World Is Going Cross-Cultural… Are You Too?

February 9, 2009

I remember an academic advising session during my graduate school years. I was discussing with my adviser which courses to take next, which programs and concentrations best fit my academic and career objectives, etc. At that time I was in a program emphasizing cross-cultural studies, and I was beginning to wonder whether I should focus [...]

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Shame-based Cultures Are Full of Pitfalls

December 1, 2008

Different cultures can be categorized in different ways (and categories don’t always work).  One of them, even with its over-generalization and limitations, is to categorize them into shame-based cultures and guilt-based cultures.  Now, it’s probably impossible to define a particular culture as either shame-based or guilt-based because it more than likely includes a mixture of [...]

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Be Culturally F. A. T.

June 30, 2008

If you are entering another culture on a job assignment or business trip or exchange program, what would be the best cross-cultural approach in order to fully realize the potential for you being in that culture? The answer does not lie in some intense training regimen or programmatic elements, but would actually depend the most [...]

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Life-Saving Tips for Newly Arrived Expats

June 25, 2008

Four and a half years ago, I was a newly arrived expat in Morocco.  And some 13 years ago, I was a newly arrived expat in Thailand.  (And some twenty two years ago, I was a newly arrived immigrant in the United States!) There are some things I would have done differently with the opportunities I [...]

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Help! I'm an Expat Worker's Spouse

June 23, 2008

Expatriates working and living outside their home country face many challenges. In many cases, one spouse (usually the husband) would work and the other (usually the wife) would stay home. The one who works will get many opportunities to get to know and interact with not only other expatriate workers but also local staff, clients, [...]

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Are You an Interculturalist?

June 4, 2008

Some time ago I looked up Wikipedia to find an entry for “interculturalist” to no avail. My Microsoft Word tells me that it is a misspelled word. It shows the currently limited recognition of the intercultural field by the general public. But the professional intercultural field is at least fifty years old, and it has [...]

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