A friend of mine once said he wished he had known more about Brazil's cultural dos and don'ts before accepting an assignment to work there. While presenting to a group of his Brazilian peers, he repeatedly used a hand gesture that in the United States would emphasize everything was "OK." Unfortunately, in Brazil, this "OK" gesture has roughly the same vulgar meaning as the middle-finger gesture we all recognize in the United States.
Fortunately, most of the audience was forgiving, but my friend was still embarrassed and wished he had avoided the incident entirely.
My friend may take some small comfort in knowing he is certainly not the only one to have committed a cultural gaffe like this. Blunders bred from cultural and language differences happen again and again. In fact, even former president Richard Nixon once made news by flashing the same "OK" sign while disembarking a plane in Brazil....
As international workers and expatriates leave the United States, they may wish to gain some education on country-specific customs and business etiquette....
Read the rest at "Avoid cultural blunders when working abroad" by Adam Wooten in his International Business column on DeseretNews.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment