Travel Tips: Context

Have you ever heard about "Context?" Context is one of the most important elements when we communicate with people. This also works on the business situations.

"Context" indicates the way of communication between people. People believe American people are openly talk to everyone. However, Japanese people tend not to talk everything, but keep their thought on their mind. People in Europe tend directly to talk and make their original network, but Asian people tend to make a group to stay, act, and follow the own rules in the group.

These are very significant differences when people walk around the world. For many people, they don't stay for a long time. They only face the honeymoon phase. They accept all the happening as the culture gap, enjoy with the new culture, and come back to their daily lives. However, on business, people go to other countries for a long time, this can be a fatal problem. In the worst case, they become a kind of mental illness.

Here is an interesting homepage about "context." You can test yours, and figure out what do you tend to behave.

Context of Cultures: High and Low

Here is one song related to strangers.

"Englishman in New York" (1987)

By Sting

Here is one more for Jamaican "Jamaican in New York" by Shinehead. Both songs indicate the culture gaps between countries very much. 

Personally, I don't believe this kind of knowledge is important before you travel because knowing this makes your impression of the world a little small. However, if you feel something a trouble on your way, possibly, this is one of the solution.