Common Tips From Different Cultures Bangladesh 1. Describe a typical business introduction We do handshake with a good grip and indeed the hands shake, literally. It's a courtesy to offer some drinks - tea, coffee etc. 2. Describe a typical personal greeting? Usually we exchange Salaam or Adaab or Nomoskar depending on religious identity. Whenever a Muslim meets another Muslim he greets with Salaam (it means please be on you). It is good to hug and handshake. Whenever a Hindu meets another Hindu he greets with Namaskar (means- Bowing to the divine in you). Namaskar is spoken with a gentle bow and touching two hands like High-Five style. When two persons from different religion meets they greets with Adab (means respect). Adab is usually spoken with a little hand gesture. 3. What food is taboo in your country/culture? Pork. Usually nobody eats. Alcohol is also taboo for Muslims. Beef is a taboo for Hindus. 4. What are other taboos in your country/culture? We don't eat with left hand. One should stand up while talking to teacher. Whatever you give and take use the right hand or both hand every time. 5. Other information you wish to share about your country/culture with other students? If you visit someone's home you should eat something. If someone comes to visit you, offer some food/drinks. And we are always late. So, if you invite one Bangladeshi at 10 AM, please don't be upset if he comes at 10:30 AM. :) Brazil 1. Describe a typical business introduction In Brazil we shake hands even if it is opposite sex (kiss on the cheek is not good in these situations). 2. Describe a typical personal greeting? A kiss on the cheek is perfectly normal in informal situations. If you don`t really know the person that well a hug is fine and a kiss on each cheek if you really know the person well. 3. What food is taboo in your country/culture? You don't eat pizza with your hands. We do not have specific restrictions. It varies from people to people. 4. What are other taboos in your country/culture? You don't eat pizza with your hands. We do not have any other specific restrictions. It varies from people to people. 5. Other information you wish to share about your country/culture with other students? Avoid discussing anything about Argentina (unless it is to say that Brazilians are better playing soccer) Avoid trying to speak Spanish with Brazilians. Their language is Portuguese and they don't speak any Spanish unless they took Spanish classes growing up. Avoid discussions of politics, religion, sexual orientation and other controversial subjects. China 1. Describe a typical business introduction In a typical business introduction, we would do handshakes, and exchange business card. 2. Describe a typical personal greeting? A typical personal greeting between two Chinese would be saying hello to each other. We don't normally hug each other, unless you are very close to each other, such as close friend who have not seen each other for a long time (people who are madly in love may hug each other when they meet, even they might be seeing each other every day.) 3. What food is taboo in your country/culture? There are not really any taboos in China when it comes to food. I have heard my American friends teasing me that Chinese eat many weird stuff like dog meat or cat meat or rat. I would say, in general we do not have a food taboo, but it is always good to ask. 4. What are other taboos in your country/culture? I do not recall anything as a taboo in my culture. It is not ok to stick your chopsticks in your rice bowl and make them stand straight up, that is a bad dinner manner. It is a good dinner manner to wash hands before having dinner. We sometimes share one dish instead of having dishes served in individual plates, so it is good not to pick all over the plate, but to start from the corner that is closest to you. 5. Other information you wish to share about your country/culture with other students? We usually eat dumplings in big festivals. Families get together to celebrate and enjoy the time. The stereotype that all Chinese are good at math is not true. I am a Chinese, born and raised in China, but I do not know how to play Ping-pang, I don't know Kungfu or Karate. I am not good at cooking. I don't know how to play Mahjong. Most Chinese are less direct and more modest compared to a typical American and it might be interpreted as us being shy. China is a very big country and people from different parts can be really different. Personality-wise, people from the north are more direct (or rude), and people from the south are more indirect (or shy). We may speak different dialects, we may each different kind of food (more salty, or spicy, or sweet or sour). We may even celebrate the same holiday in different ways. In general, people from the big cities (such as Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai) are more westernized, and people from small towns are more traditional (or conservative). El Salvador 1. Describe a typical business introduction Handshake is the norm for business greetings Maintain eye contact when greeting people. Professional or academic titles with the surname are used in business 2. Describe a typical personal greeting? For friends and family, a hug or a kiss on the cheek is common depending on the gender of the other person. (hug for males, kiss for females). Otherwise a handshake is the norm. 3. What food is taboo in your country/culture? There is no widely known food taboo 4. What are other taboos in your country/culture? Do not give lilies or marigolds as gifts. They are used only at funerals. Do not give scissors or knives as gifts, they indicate you want to sever the relationship. 5. Other information you wish to share about your country/culture with other students? Never arrive on time when invited to a home. Although it may sound strange you should arrive a little later than invited, i.e. 30 -45 minutes late. It is rude to leave immediately after eating; you are expected to stay for at least an hour after dinner to converse with your hosts and the other guests. In general, steer toward conservative attire, especially when visiting churches, where you should avoid wearing tank tops, shorts, or hats. No Salvadoran wears shorts outside of the beach and coastal towns. India 1. Describe a typical business introduction In India we shake hands with people of our own age or with our friends but we greet elders by joining our hands and saying namaste. 2. Describe a typical personal greeting? For elders you say namaste and sometimes even touch their feet to get their blessings. 3. What food is taboo in your country/culture? Hindu people usually don't eat beef. 4. What are other taboos in your country/culture? We don't eat any non-vegetarian food during our festivals like Diwali and Navaratri. 5. Other information you wish to share about your country/culture with other students? Indians are really friendly and warm people They are really communal and would go out of their comfort zone just to help someone Indonesia 1. Describe a typical business introduction In Indonesia, a business introduction is very similar to US culture's business introduction: firm handshake, eye contact, smile -with one exception: you touch your chest after the handshake, and slight bowing is very common during the greeting. However, in many sub-cultures within Indonesia, the aforementioned description will be too imposing and will not be considered as humble. Humility is a big thing in Indonesia 2. Describe a typical personal greeting? When we are meeting older relatives, a common greet is the "cipika-cipiki", adopted from the Dutch, is to kiss a person's left cheek, then right cheek If you are Muslim, you would handshake your elders and bring the back of your hand to your forehead. 3. What food is taboo in your country/culture? 87-89% of our population is Muslim, so pork is taboo in most households. 4. What are other taboos in your country/culture? Left hand taboo: Left hand handshake, receiving things with your left hand, eating with your left hand 5. Other information you wish to share about your country/culture with other students? We have a lot pure Chinese people in Indonesia. If you go to Papua, there are many African looking people. We can spot our kinsmen very easily. Kazakhstan 1. Describe a typical business introduction We do handshakes with two hands. One of our hands is used to shake another's hand. The other hand is used to support the other person’s hand-shaking hand. 2. Describe a typical personal greeting? With girls kiss each other on each cheek, with guys we usually use formal introductions 3. What food is taboo in your country/culture? Actually we don't have taboo for food. It depends from religion of person. For example: I grew up Muslim so i don't eat pork. 4. What are other taboos in your country/culture? There are many taboos which depend from person again. We are a "melting pot". For example: Kazakhs (main ethic) can't cut their nails at the evening, or another example don't kick pillow and etc.