Different cultures have their own unique beliefs, values and behaviours instilled. As our world expands and become increasingly more interconnected, the need for effective interpersonal communication among differing cultures has become apparent. Through globalization, it is no longer difficult to observe ethics of diverse cultures living together in a same society. For example, Singapore is an immediate example where our country has a mixture of diverse culture, in a multi-racial society. When people from different cultures interact, there is an intercultural communication. Growing up in a different culture entails us to look at things with a different perception, speak in a different language and create different interpretation of others actions and words. Thus, it is important for us to understand and adapt to the various cultural behaviours in order to foster effective communication.
Greeting is one way for us human to communicate with one another at the first instance and it is also the first impression we give to people. There are 101 ways that we can to greet each other. For example, in the U.S, the people are more hip hop and go “yoyo what’s up dude” when meet their male friends and go “yoyo what’s up babe” when they meet their female friends with a high-five even for the first time. French people usually kiss on both cheeks to show respect and affection between two people in general. In most western countries, a peck on the cheek is a very natural thing to do and simply a basic form of greeting.
Some other examples such as in Belize, when the people meet, they would press fists together whereas in Tibet they would stick their tongue out at someone to show that they have no evil intentions. However, these would be highly uncommon to be observed in the more conservative part of the globe, such as the Asian countries. In the Asian countries, a handshake would be a more common way of greetings. In Japan, the Japanese would bow from their waist when they greet someone as a form of respect for the person.
Thus different cultures have their own unique way of expressing themselves, however all these different ways of expressions seek to bring one objective across, which is to show that an acknowledgement or appreciation to have come across the other person on the receiving end. Sometimes, not knowing the etiquette in one culture may be bad manners and lead to an unpleasant experience. For example, a person who is ignorant of the French way of greeting through a friendly peck may miscomprehend that a French is taking an advantage of her. On the other hand, someone who do not know that Tibet stick out their tongue when they greet someone can misinterpret the Tibetan way of greeting as a form of disrespect and one may get the wrong impression for Belize’s way of greeting as an intention to pick a fight.
Therefore, I believe it is important that we should understand, learn and respect one and other’s culture. One of my dreams is to travel around the world to have a touch of the different cultures across the globe! :)
