There was this incident that I faced personally, a small conflict that I encountered when I travelled to Chinatown at San Francisco. I was with a group of my friends, doing shopping. One of my friends had spoilt her luggage at the airport and so she decided to get a new one. We entered this store selling luggage opened by a Hong Kong immigrant. As we did not wish to lug the luggage around, we wanted to get it after we were done with our shopping. Therefore, we asked the lady boss what time does the store closes. To our surprise, the lady boss started shouting and saying things in Cantonese with nasty tone which we don’t understand. We all stood there puzzled.
We immediately asked our friend who is also from Hong Kong what the lady boss was talking about and told her what had happened. Seeing that we were so shocked and afraid, she laughed and explained that in Hong Kong, it is superstitious to ask what time the store closes. To them it means that when the store is going to wind up. We were so embarrassed. We let the Hong Kong friend helped in purchasing the luggage to prevent any more misunderstanding. Due to our ignorance, we actually said the wrong things and offended the lady boss without even knowing.
We immediately asked our friend who is also from Hong Kong what the lady boss was talking about and told her what had happened. Seeing that we were so shocked and afraid, she laughed and explained that in Hong Kong, it is superstitious to ask what time the store closes. To them it means that when the store is going to wind up. We were so embarrassed. We let the Hong Kong friend helped in purchasing the luggage to prevent any more misunderstanding. Due to our ignorance, we actually said the wrong things and offended the lady boss without even knowing.
We all understand that different countries, race or religions have different practices. Negligence and insensitivity towards other’s culture can result in embarrassment or even conflict. We should respect other’s customs and cultures but we may not know about some of the practices they have. Especially when we travel to another country, the culture may be very much different from ours that we had never heard about or experienced before. Hence, learning and knowing more about the country’s culture are essential. Through understanding, we can then avoid saying or doing the wrong things and end up offending the other party. On the other hand, the other party should also understand that it may all be unintentional. It helps when one explains about their culture and practices instead of just yelling. It not only prevents any conflict from occurring but also allows others to have a better understanding of the culture. And of course, the same situation could also be avoided in the future. Therefore I feel that understanding and accommodating are very important in intercultural communication to prevent any misunderstanding from taking place.
3 comments:
Ahh.. I didn't realize that a simple, question that seemed trivial to me could have a different meaning to others! It seems that everyone seemed to face some sort of intercultural situation when it comes to visiting other countries.
Like you mentioned, we do need to take the time to understand other cultures. I usually check out my travel guide book before I go to certain places on etiquettes or chat with the guy next to me on the plane to find out their social customs. However, i won't blame your mistake on ignorance. I mean one can't possibly remember all the customs that a culture has, right?
And I find it really interesting how you faced with Hong Kong customs when you are actually in America. I guess we have to be culturally sensitive everywhere we go as we might meet people from all cultures.
Hey Daijing! I thought it was just a very innocent question! Perhaps people in Hong kong are more particular about Feng Shui, therefore leading to their superstition?
I think it wasn't really your fault. Who would know a simple question might lead to such a reaction from the shop owner. I am pretty sure travel guide books do not have this information! =) I guess we will have to gain this kind of knowledge through experience. Once bitten, twice shy. Next time when we go Hongkong, we will be more careful. Another thing I heard about Hongkong is that we should always try to speak in cantonese. They don't really like people talking in Mandarin.
As pointed out by Illya, it would be great to have a travel guide with you when travelling. It is useful to read up abit on the country before heading there to learn about their cultural norms!
hi, Dai Jing. Oh gosh, that must have been embarassing. I suppose certain cultures are more superstitious than others, but in this case, you wouldn't have to blame yourself since it was such a trivial matter.
Yet, it was interesting to note that once the hongkonger realised that you girls were shocked and scared, she changed her attitude to be more friendly. I supposed she realised that you were just ignorant and do not mean bad intentions. In this case, she learned to empathise with you and you all learned the customs of her culture.
Coincidentally, I was in San Fran during my last holidays and I too visited the Chinatown there. I observed that the shopowners there were generally older Chinese who might have more traditional or sometimes superstitious beliefs. Hence, even when we travel to other countries, we have to be mindful of their culture!
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