Today I had a lecture again where we discussed about stereotypes. Tulips, cheese and drugs-friendly Dutch; family loyal, siesta enjoying and hard-working Mexicans; always on time, environmentally aware and reserved Swedes; and many more.
What I particularly liked was that it came clear that stereotypes are not always negative, in fact stereotypes are mostly positive when your talking about your own country, or, as I mentioned, about the country you’d like to be a part of..
And Jonas (the teacher) told about turn taking in conversations. When a French speaks with a Swede the French will be talking all the time as she waits for the Swede to interrupt, which they would never do. Ending up with a repeating French because she will think the Swede didn’t understood and a irritated Swede because he thinks the French won’t let him speak.
As the book I’m reading (Communicating with strangers) says:
In a familiar world, people life through the day by responding to daily routine without questioning or reflection. To strangers, however, every situation is new and is therefore experienced as a crisis.
Parrillo (1980) about Schuetz.
Tags: anatomy of intcult interact, communication, crisis, culture, environmentally, habit, interrupt, lagom, stereotypes, swedes, time, turn taking
Categories: a cultural journey, an academic journey
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