Many people pay a lot of money to attend “cultural sensitivity” workshops. For authenticity, such courses are usually facilitated by a two-cultured tandem of moderators, and include funny role-plays.
Anybody really interested to learn about cultural differences should invest his money smarter: Get a plane ticket to anywhere (the cheapest would do) and hang out at the airport lounges!
There they are: different nationalities, religions, skin colors, income brackets, and fashion statements. I'd say it's a representative cut through globalized socio-economic layers.
At an airport lounge in Nagoya/Japan it took me (German) 10 minutes to find out the following:
It takes two Americans, traveling individually, exactly two minutes before they are engaged in a lively conversation about football, their former colleges, and their most recent international travels and experiences.
Shallow chitchat? Of course! We are at an airport lounge! However, I'm impressed with the communicative nature of the Americans. In Germany this is rather unlikely to happen in an anonymous environment (bus, train, supermarket etc.).
To illustrate the stark contrast between chatty American's and Asians, let’s have a look at the male Japanese sitting opposite me. He is travelling in a suit (I assume he is on a business trip although it is a Saturday). His straight upright posture just sitting there strikes me. Very prim and proper! Cross-legged his eyes silently dart over his iPad carefully placed on his lap. I think I can read his mind: “Silence, I’m reading!”
The noise consciousness of the Japanese is remarkable. There are cell phone booths! You read correctly! People conduct their phone calls, even from a mobile phone, inside a booth that can be locked. Smart in two ways: keeps the noise away from others and your conversation private.
Remarkable, too, is the Japanese sense for cleanliness and hygiene. The whole airport is spotless. So is the restroom. I’m overwhelmed with the high tech toilet. Relieving yourself in Japan requires higher education to understand the various knobs and buttons next to the ceramic bowl that promise hygienic cleanliness. The heated seat is a given, things like bidee, water pressure, water temperature, and additional flushing sounds (flushing sounds?) are at my fingertips.
Less of a culture but more of a generation shock presented itself inside the plane. A 'Gen Y' asked the aging flight attendant (she is so 80's with her Peggy Bundy hairstyle!) if there is WiFi in the coach seats. Of course! It's a 12 hour flight! He can't be disconnected from his social network for a 12 hour eternity!
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