We explore cultural practices, traditions and taboos in our new article “Cultural Understanding Is Key for a Successful Life Abroad” to help you avoid cultural gaffes and missteps.
Our expert cultural navigator is Mark McCrum, the London-based author of the best-selling book “Going Dutch in Beijing: How to Behave Properly When Far Away from Home.” McCrum has traveled to every continent in the world except Antarctica.
“People have to make an effort to adapt to each other and understand their cultural differences,” McCrum says. “I think adjusting to local customs is still as important as it always was. If you want to get on the inside with people, they will trust you more if they feel like you have understood their customs. After all, if someone comes in and really understands how it is to be American we trust them more.”
Most cultural practices, traditions and taboos are very specific to a country, but McCrum says some regions of the world have similar traditions, such as the Middle East and Africa. “If you move to Africa and do not know that you must eat only with your right hand because your left hand is used for a hygiene function, you would create shock around the table. People would be appalled, and the same goes for the Middle East. Although they would understand if a westerner did that, it is still considered rude. You have to remember that people are brought up with these traditions and they are ingrained.”
McCrum says even colors can carry cultural connotations. “In India, white is worn at funerals and is associated with mourning. But in most Western countries, black is worn for mourning. The Chinese believe the color red is very lucky.”
Superstition also plays a big role in Asian culture, according to McCrum. “Numbers, for example, can be culturally important. In Japan, they do not like the number four because, when it is pronounced, it sounds like the word for death. They also do not like the number nine because it sounds like agony. Some hotels in Japan do not have rooms numbered four, nine or 13, and some airlines do not have seats for those numbers. On the other hand, lucky numbers in Japan would be three, seven and eight. Japan is probably the hardest for expats to navigate culturally.”
