Week 5 2/1/2021 Culture Differences Concerning Time
Watch this fun little video I created for this post.
It was May of 2002. Levy had proposed to Katie and wedding plans were under way. As the big day arrived, guests were also arriving. The invitation had requested that "guest's be in their seat by 3pm, ceremony to start at 3:30 pm. By 4 pm, the guests were starting to get worried. Where were they? Was there an accident? Did Levy get cold feet?
This was the wedding of my sister and her future husband, Levy. You see, Levy is from Brazil. He is everything you can imagine about Brazil all rolled into my brother in law. I happened to know Levy from high school. He was always very loud, the center of the party, knew everyone, friends with everyone in our high school of 2500 people. Along with Levy's friendly personality came the polychronic culture paradigm that being on time wasn't nearly as important as the person standing right in front of you. That day as we all waited in our seats for the wedding ceremony to start, Levy was visiting with old friends, strangers, and temple workers in the hallways of the temple. He was so excited to tell everyone that he was getting married. He wanted to stop and visit with each person he passed along his way, sharing his good news. He figured the rest of the guests would be waiting in their seats when he arrived, whenever that would be.
He was right, we were all waiting in our seats, not wanting to miss the ceremony, however some of us were quite worried. In walks the bride and groom with smiles on their faces and on went the ceremony. We had worried for no reason, and Levy had got to share his good news with everyone he saw!
The monochronic guests, bride, and family of the bride were relieved to find that everything was ok, but at the same time, a little frustrated that Levy had been so late, leaving us all sitting there worried.
Almost 20 years has gone by and Katie and Levy are happily married. Most of the guests have probably forgotten the worry we felt that day. I am sure there are many more paradigms that Katie has learned about Levy and Levy about Katie as they have created a life together.
Like Katie and Levy, we all need to get to know each other and the things that make us unique. This can be anything from culture differences to personality differences. When we take the time to get to know people, we understand them better. In general, people have good intentions. It is important to remember this with those we meet, especially our students.
Thank you for sharing your personal experience about polychronic and monochronic cultures meeting up. It may have made me laugh and cry a little! Last summer, before he left for his mission, my son spent time working for a small family owned business doing cement work. The owner was Tongan, and many of the other employees were also Tongan. When my son was told to meet at 9 am at the work site, often he would call me and let me know that nobody was there. Eventually they would come trickling in. We came to realize that the start time was very fluid, because they truly valued people and relationships over work schedules.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your family's story Leisel. Like Levy, I also married into a Monochronic culture paradigm. I was raised in a Polychronic culture, and am grateful for the growth that this brought to my life. I have learned, and allowed myself to change and adapt. I have to say that I still miss the ease of making friends in a Polychronic culture versus a Monochronic one. But, it really all comes down to just learning from each other, and embracing our differences!
ReplyDeleteHi, Leisel
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice experience! It illustrates perfectly the concepts we learned about cultural differences concerning time.
I agree with you: it is important to know people -and especially our students- to avoid misunderstandings.
Nice post!