The importance that we give to time in Latin America is definitely not the same as they do in USA, Canada or Europe. This is linked to why Latinos tend to be late and why things run a little smoother in warm countries generally speaking.
People have different perspectives of time depending on their cultural background, and the importance they give to it could vary enormously. I think everybody knows the Mexican reputation for being late. Well it’s not just a rumor. Really, it’s amazing! Now I get to notice it from an outside perspective. Before, I just thought it was completely normal to be late and I didn’t even notice it. Here are some classic examples in Spanish with it respective translation about the different perspectives on time between Latinos and the rest of the world:
1) Dame 2 segunditos – Give me 5 minutes
2) Dame 1 minuto – Give me 15 minutes.
3) Nomas me voy a tardar 15 minutitos – It only will take me about an hour.
4) Nos vemos en la entrada del restaurant a las 2:00 en punto. – Let’s meet in inside the restaurant at about 2:40
5) La fiesta empieza a las 8:00pm – The party starts at 11:30.
6) Te llamo mas tarde – I’ll call you in a few days.
7) Vamos mañana – We’ll never go.
Seems funny, but it’s true! When I used to make appointments with my friends back in Quebec they would always ask me: “Mexican time or Quebec time? Just to be sure…”. They never ever got to trust me completely with time measures, even when I did my best to be on time, maybe by the end, after 5 years, I got to learn to be in time. Now when I go back to Mexico I get so frustrated. Now I really think it’s important to be in time, it shows respect for the other person’s time. In the other hand, the way it works in Mexico is that when you have an appointment you know in advance that the other person is going to be late, so just need to be late too and you both will be alright. It depends on the formality of the appointment though. This is something you get to master in a lifetime.
So be patient with Latinos… it’s not our fault!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
To share or not to share?
That is the question!
It's very normal and natural to be selfish. At the same time, the most "human" thing is to behave yourself and try not to. Well this can change a lot from one country's culture to another. In one hand we can notice that in most of the industrialized countries (USA, Canada, Australia and most of the countries in Europe) the society is highly individualistic. Everyone has it's own things, his own space, his own everything. In the other hand, most of the less developed countries have a tendency to be more group oriented and to share a lot more. In Mexico, people is quite unified and it's very normal to share a lot. In the USA, which it's neighbor just up north, thing are almost extremely different in this aspect compared to Mexico. In the USA, the family is generally not as important as it could be a little bit southern. For example, how many kids get kicked out of their houses exactly when they become 18 in the USA? A lot! In contrast, how many young professionals still live in their parents' house in Mexico? A lot!
I guess is not only a question of rich or poor countries what determines whether there is an individual or group oriented society, even this is a very influent factor. In Japan for example, society is very group oriented, even when they have a very good economic situation. Japanese give a lot of importance to hierarchy and family. So countries with more unified families trend to be more collective, we could say this two go often together
Let me give you another example, when people go to a restaurant in Mexico, let's say it's a small group no more than 10 people, there is a big chance that there is going to be only one person paying, while in Canada, when they bring you the bill, they actually bring one different for each person depending on what each one ordered. The thing is that in Mexico the way it works is that maybe somebody paid the whole bill this one time but the next time is going to be somebody else who does the same thing. In Canada when you go out to a restaurant you do it most of the times with friends, while in Mexico we often go out to eat with the family.
In some African countries this sense of collectivity is even stronger. I had a roommate from Congo once. His computer was broken for a while and he didn't have a TV in his room. It was very normal for him to come to my room when I wasn't there, dressing nothing but boxers. He had always a kind of smell not very pleasant (I don't have anything against Africans, but it is true that on a westerner perspective, they have a very strong body odor) and he would take my laptop, sit on my bed over my sheets, with my pillow over his laps to put MY laptop on it(I hate when people use my laptop! I hate to write my usernames and pw's all over again after somebody else checked his email, signed in to msn messanger, etc. I just hate it, but when people ask: "Can I just check something in your computer very fast?" I can't just say no, it would look so mean, anyways...) and watch TV. Absolutly normal for him! All mine is yours and all yours is mine (I don't know if we can say this in English, but in Spanish we say: "Lo mio es tuyo y lo tuyo es mio"). A lot of you might know the Spanish expression "mi casa es su casa", well he took it pretty seriously. And let's not talk about the food, all I can say, is that he would take whatever he felt like from the fridge. Even that nice cheese that you normally save for a special occasion.
In Mexico, people will always offer to some one who suddenly comes a piece or a little bit of whatever they are eating. Just because it's polite to do it, even when you don't really feel like offering. At the same time, the other person will always answer that he/she doesn't want, what ever fake reason is good to justify, just because that's the way to act if you are a "well raised" person, even if you are really hungry. If they insist a couple more times, then you can accept. It's just the normal and polite way to proceed. Conversely, in Canada nobody offers anything unless they really want to offer you something and people wont retain themselves if they are offered something and they feel like having some. That left me in very bad situations many times.
A funny story; Me and one of my Mexican friends went to a Quebequer's room in the university's residence, where he was with a couple of friends. We went to visit him just to hang out and chill a little bit. They had ordered a pizza just before we got there, so when the pizza got there something really chocking happened. I was OK if they didn't offer us pizza, I mean there wasn't enough for everyone and if they would have offered me I wouldn't have accepted. Well, what happened is that they kicked us out! They said: "We are sorry guy but we just ordered one pizza and it is just enough for us, so is not that we are kicking you out but... you know..." Really, we couldn't believe it! It was way to incredible for us. We left and we never came back! Damn bastards!!! hahaha! What I try to say to myself in this kind of situations is the following: "No no no, I know it's a different culture and I shouldn't judge. It's not a worst way to act, it's just different." And just to clarify, not everyone in Quebec is like this. There is some very nice and welcoming people too.
Anyways, if any of you, between my thousands of readers would like to share a funny story on this subject, please don't hesitate, I'd be very glad to read about it.
It's very normal and natural to be selfish. At the same time, the most "human" thing is to behave yourself and try not to. Well this can change a lot from one country's culture to another. In one hand we can notice that in most of the industrialized countries (USA, Canada, Australia and most of the countries in Europe) the society is highly individualistic. Everyone has it's own things, his own space, his own everything. In the other hand, most of the less developed countries have a tendency to be more group oriented and to share a lot more. In Mexico, people is quite unified and it's very normal to share a lot. In the USA, which it's neighbor just up north, thing are almost extremely different in this aspect compared to Mexico. In the USA, the family is generally not as important as it could be a little bit southern. For example, how many kids get kicked out of their houses exactly when they become 18 in the USA? A lot! In contrast, how many young professionals still live in their parents' house in Mexico? A lot!
I guess is not only a question of rich or poor countries what determines whether there is an individual or group oriented society, even this is a very influent factor. In Japan for example, society is very group oriented, even when they have a very good economic situation. Japanese give a lot of importance to hierarchy and family. So countries with more unified families trend to be more collective, we could say this two go often together
Let me give you another example, when people go to a restaurant in Mexico, let's say it's a small group no more than 10 people, there is a big chance that there is going to be only one person paying, while in Canada, when they bring you the bill, they actually bring one different for each person depending on what each one ordered. The thing is that in Mexico the way it works is that maybe somebody paid the whole bill this one time but the next time is going to be somebody else who does the same thing. In Canada when you go out to a restaurant you do it most of the times with friends, while in Mexico we often go out to eat with the family.
In some African countries this sense of collectivity is even stronger. I had a roommate from Congo once. His computer was broken for a while and he didn't have a TV in his room. It was very normal for him to come to my room when I wasn't there, dressing nothing but boxers. He had always a kind of smell not very pleasant (I don't have anything against Africans, but it is true that on a westerner perspective, they have a very strong body odor) and he would take my laptop, sit on my bed over my sheets, with my pillow over his laps to put MY laptop on it(I hate when people use my laptop! I hate to write my usernames and pw's all over again after somebody else checked his email, signed in to msn messanger, etc. I just hate it, but when people ask: "Can I just check something in your computer very fast?" I can't just say no, it would look so mean, anyways...) and watch TV. Absolutly normal for him! All mine is yours and all yours is mine (I don't know if we can say this in English, but in Spanish we say: "Lo mio es tuyo y lo tuyo es mio"). A lot of you might know the Spanish expression "mi casa es su casa", well he took it pretty seriously. And let's not talk about the food, all I can say, is that he would take whatever he felt like from the fridge. Even that nice cheese that you normally save for a special occasion.
In Mexico, people will always offer to some one who suddenly comes a piece or a little bit of whatever they are eating. Just because it's polite to do it, even when you don't really feel like offering. At the same time, the other person will always answer that he/she doesn't want, what ever fake reason is good to justify, just because that's the way to act if you are a "well raised" person, even if you are really hungry. If they insist a couple more times, then you can accept. It's just the normal and polite way to proceed. Conversely, in Canada nobody offers anything unless they really want to offer you something and people wont retain themselves if they are offered something and they feel like having some. That left me in very bad situations many times.
A funny story; Me and one of my Mexican friends went to a Quebequer's room in the university's residence, where he was with a couple of friends. We went to visit him just to hang out and chill a little bit. They had ordered a pizza just before we got there, so when the pizza got there something really chocking happened. I was OK if they didn't offer us pizza, I mean there wasn't enough for everyone and if they would have offered me I wouldn't have accepted. Well, what happened is that they kicked us out! They said: "We are sorry guy but we just ordered one pizza and it is just enough for us, so is not that we are kicking you out but... you know..." Really, we couldn't believe it! It was way to incredible for us. We left and we never came back! Damn bastards!!! hahaha! What I try to say to myself in this kind of situations is the following: "No no no, I know it's a different culture and I shouldn't judge. It's not a worst way to act, it's just different." And just to clarify, not everyone in Quebec is like this. There is some very nice and welcoming people too.
Anyways, if any of you, between my thousands of readers would like to share a funny story on this subject, please don't hesitate, I'd be very glad to read about it.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Ojos de Chino / Chinese Eyes
Mail que he recibido hoy, es curioso:
Los chinos tienen poderes extraordinarios, o eso dicen...
Quizás el secreto está en que ven las cosas de modo diferente.
Por ejemplo, la imagen adjunta al final de este e-mail es del todo
incomprensible si la miras como occidental...
Pero no como chino ...
Si no lo crees, prueba:
Primero mírala sin más.
Luego tira de los extremos de tus ojos con las manos, pon ojos de chino,
y mira la imagen...sorprendete.
buenísimo!!!
An email I received, i
Chinese people have special powers, at least that's what they say...
Perhaps, the secret is that they see things in a different way.
For exemple, the following image doesn't mean anything to us (occidentals) if we normally see it...
But if you look at it with Chinese eyes is totally different.
If you don't believe it, try it!
Try to look at it normally and then try it again but pulling the skin at the out parts away with your fingers to look like a Chinese and look at the image again.
Amazing uh!
ESPAÑOL
ENGLISH
Los chinos tienen poderes extraordinarios, o eso dicen...
Quizás el secreto está en que ven las cosas de modo diferente.
Por ejemplo, la imagen adjunta al final de este e-mail es del todo
incomprensible si la miras como occidental...
Pero no como chino ...
Si no lo crees, prueba:
Primero mírala sin más.
Luego tira de los extremos de tus ojos con las manos, pon ojos de chino,
y mira la imagen...sorprendete.
buenísimo!!!
An email I received, i
Chinese people have special powers, at least that's what they say...
Perhaps, the secret is that they see things in a different way.
For exemple, the following image doesn't mean anything to us (occidentals) if we normally see it...
But if you look at it with Chinese eyes is totally different.
If you don't believe it, try it!
Try to look at it normally and then try it again but pulling the skin at the out parts away with your fingers to look like a Chinese and look at the image again.
Amazing uh!
ESPAÑOL
ENGLISH
Introduction
(Spanish Version)
Hola a todos!
Me llamo Jorge Leonardo Guerrero. Nací en México. Viví los primeros tres años de mi vida en España, despues regresé a México para vivir en Hermosillo (Noroeste de México). Pasé dos veranos en campamentos de verano en diferentes partes de Canadá a la de 13 y 15. Despues de la preparatoria decidí irme a vivir a Vancouver. Ahí estuve 6 meses estudiando inglés en la Universidad de British Columbia. Despues de eso, en enero del 2002, me mudé a la ciudad de Quebec donde pase cinco años y medio de mi vida y donde hice mi licenciatura en administración de empresas. Ahora vivo en Shangai China. Vine aqui a buscar oportunidades porque parece ser aqui es "el lugar" del momento. Pensé que seria conveniente aprender Chino y agarrar algo de experiencia laboral aqui en China. Asi es de que aqui estoy, he encontrado un muy buen trabajo en SpanishPod. Trabajo en marketing y servicio al cliente. Es una compañia extraordinaria y con mucho futuro. SpanishPod.com es de los mismos creadores que ChinisePod.com. SpanishPod es un nuevo proyecto que acabamos de empezar y que deberá tener mucho exito basado en un equipo que trabaja muy duro con este mismo fin.
Como puede ver, no soy precisamente una persona promedio. No es que trate de elogiarme, pero estoy conciente de que he tenido muchisima de poder tener la oportunidad de hacer todo esto y estoy orgulloso de mi mismo por haber tomado estas oportunidades y haberlas aprovochado lo mejor de estas.
Ahora dejemonos de formalidides y dejenme decirles que los proximos post que publique ser más interesantes. Hablare mucho sobre diferencias culturales y como esto puede meterte en situaciones ambiguas, chistosas, penosas, difíciles y/o raras. Creanme que el estar en China te presenta aventuras diferentes en todos y cada uno de los dias que pasas aqui.
A veces voy a escribir posts en español y en inglés (mi inglés no será perfecto, pero creo que entendaran bien lo que queiro decir), en otras ocasiones me dará y escribiré solo en español. Así tambien habra veces en las que simplemente habra cosas que no se pueden traducir. Tambien podrán encontrar ocasionalment meterial en francés y si llego a aprender chino pronto, pues tambien habra cosas en Chino.
Bienvenidos!
(English Version)
Hello everyone!
I'm Jorge Leonardo Guerrero. I was born in Mexico. I lived in Spain the first three years of my live, then moved back to Mexico to live in Hermosillo (Northwest Mexico). I spent two summers at summer camps in different parts of Canada at the age of 13 and 15 . After high school I decided to go to live to Vancouver. I stayed there for 6 moths studying English at University of British Columbia. After that, in January 2002, I moved to Quebec City where I spent five and a half years of my life and where I did my bachelor degree in business. Now I live in Shanghai China. I came here to look for opportunities because it seems to be "the place" to be. I thought it would be advantageous to learn Chinese and get some work experience here in China. So here I am, I found a really nice job at SpanishPod. Here I work on marketing and customer service. It's a great company with a lot of future. They are the creators of ChinesePod.com and now we just started with SpanishPod.com which should become a big success based on a great team working hard for that.
As you can see, I´m not be the average kind of guy. I'm not trying to praise my self, but I'm contious that I've been extremely lucky to have the opportunity to do all this and I'm proud of myself for taking them and try to make the best out of them. I´m very Mexican at deep of my heart, but at the same time I feel and I thinks a lot like a Canadian and more precisely Quebecois. The weird thing is that now I´m not a typical Mexican nor Canadian and now that I live here in China, I just feel that I´m a simple citizen of the world.
Now, let's cut the super formal stuff and I'll just tell you that the next posts are going to be a bit more interesting. I will talk a lot about cultural differences and how this can get you in ambiguous, funny, shaming, difficult and/or weird situations. Believe me, being in China means a different adventure on each and everyday you spend here.
Sometimes I'll write this posts in Spanish and English (My english might not be perfect, but I think you can get to understand what I mean), some other times I might be lazy and write only in Spanish. Also there will be sometimes or some material that it just can't be translated. You might find some material in French too and if I get to learn Chinese soon, well there will be some things in Chinese too.
Welcome!
Hola a todos!
Me llamo Jorge Leonardo Guerrero. Nací en México. Viví los primeros tres años de mi vida en España, despues regresé a México para vivir en Hermosillo (Noroeste de México). Pasé dos veranos en campamentos de verano en diferentes partes de Canadá a la de 13 y 15. Despues de la preparatoria decidí irme a vivir a Vancouver. Ahí estuve 6 meses estudiando inglés en la Universidad de British Columbia. Despues de eso, en enero del 2002, me mudé a la ciudad de Quebec donde pase cinco años y medio de mi vida y donde hice mi licenciatura en administración de empresas. Ahora vivo en Shangai China. Vine aqui a buscar oportunidades porque parece ser aqui es "el lugar" del momento. Pensé que seria conveniente aprender Chino y agarrar algo de experiencia laboral aqui en China. Asi es de que aqui estoy, he encontrado un muy buen trabajo en SpanishPod. Trabajo en marketing y servicio al cliente. Es una compañia extraordinaria y con mucho futuro. SpanishPod.com es de los mismos creadores que ChinisePod.com. SpanishPod es un nuevo proyecto que acabamos de empezar y que deberá tener mucho exito basado en un equipo que trabaja muy duro con este mismo fin.
Como puede ver, no soy precisamente una persona promedio. No es que trate de elogiarme, pero estoy conciente de que he tenido muchisima de poder tener la oportunidad de hacer todo esto y estoy orgulloso de mi mismo por haber tomado estas oportunidades y haberlas aprovochado lo mejor de estas.
Ahora dejemonos de formalidides y dejenme decirles que los proximos post que publique ser más interesantes. Hablare mucho sobre diferencias culturales y como esto puede meterte en situaciones ambiguas, chistosas, penosas, difíciles y/o raras. Creanme que el estar en China te presenta aventuras diferentes en todos y cada uno de los dias que pasas aqui.
A veces voy a escribir posts en español y en inglés (mi inglés no será perfecto, pero creo que entendaran bien lo que queiro decir), en otras ocasiones me dará y escribiré solo en español. Así tambien habra veces en las que simplemente habra cosas que no se pueden traducir. Tambien podrán encontrar ocasionalment meterial en francés y si llego a aprender chino pronto, pues tambien habra cosas en Chino.
Bienvenidos!
(English Version)
Hello everyone!
I'm Jorge Leonardo Guerrero. I was born in Mexico. I lived in Spain the first three years of my live, then moved back to Mexico to live in Hermosillo (Northwest Mexico). I spent two summers at summer camps in different parts of Canada at the age of 13 and 15 . After high school I decided to go to live to Vancouver. I stayed there for 6 moths studying English at University of British Columbia. After that, in January 2002, I moved to Quebec City where I spent five and a half years of my life and where I did my bachelor degree in business. Now I live in Shanghai China. I came here to look for opportunities because it seems to be "the place" to be. I thought it would be advantageous to learn Chinese and get some work experience here in China. So here I am, I found a really nice job at SpanishPod. Here I work on marketing and customer service. It's a great company with a lot of future. They are the creators of ChinesePod.com and now we just started with SpanishPod.com which should become a big success based on a great team working hard for that.
As you can see, I´m not be the average kind of guy. I'm not trying to praise my self, but I'm contious that I've been extremely lucky to have the opportunity to do all this and I'm proud of myself for taking them and try to make the best out of them. I´m very Mexican at deep of my heart, but at the same time I feel and I thinks a lot like a Canadian and more precisely Quebecois. The weird thing is that now I´m not a typical Mexican nor Canadian and now that I live here in China, I just feel that I´m a simple citizen of the world.
Now, let's cut the super formal stuff and I'll just tell you that the next posts are going to be a bit more interesting. I will talk a lot about cultural differences and how this can get you in ambiguous, funny, shaming, difficult and/or weird situations. Believe me, being in China means a different adventure on each and everyday you spend here.
Sometimes I'll write this posts in Spanish and English (My english might not be perfect, but I think you can get to understand what I mean), some other times I might be lazy and write only in Spanish. Also there will be sometimes or some material that it just can't be translated. You might find some material in French too and if I get to learn Chinese soon, well there will be some things in Chinese too.
Welcome!
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