Rachael

Diary Entry 1 Diary Entry 2 Diary Entry 3 Diary Entry 4 Diary Entry 5 Step 4 Cultural Experience


 * Travel to Work Industry**


 * Cultural Misunderstandings**

A Spanish man was visiting family in Sydney and was staying here in Darwin in our resort 'The Balomba' for one night. He got to the resort around 2:00pm. I was the hotel manager at the resort and was able to communicate to him in spanish being my second language. I asked him how his flight was, and he said nothing just that he was extremely tired and needed a siesta (a nap). Our restaurant at the resort usually closes around 8pm. After everything was cleaned and prepared for the next day it was about 9:30-10pm and I heard someone yelling abusive language in the hall near the restaurant. When I went to see what was the cause of this comotion I saw the spanish man that I had talked to previously that day. He was furious, screaming to me (in spanish) why was the restaurant closed so early. I didn't understand what he was going on about, why was he so angry that the restaurant closed at 8pm, I found that to be a good time for restaurants to be closed at..
 * Situation 1:** **//International Visitor/ Spanish Family//**

I sat the man down I called him Señyor (which is the proper way to address someone from Spain). I calmed him down and asked him to exlain slowly so I could understand what his explanation was. He told me that in Spain from 1:30pm to 4:30pm they have a siesta, all bussinesses are closed and people go home to sleep and be with there families. And after 9 o'clock that is when they eat. He said that this is why he was angry because the restaurants in Spain are open till after 11 o'clock and he couldn't believe that we closed so early. I apologised for our misunderstanding and that I should've been aware of this before you came. I sent him back to his room with a complementary 3 course meal that was going to be sent up through rooom service.
 * Decision to situation 1:**

We currently employed an Indian chef, Mandella Deo to our restaurant, he proffesionalised in cooking Indian foods which was going to bring more Indian travellers to our restaurant. He spoke quite good english and was a friendly type of person. We had a very multi-cultural kitchen team and everyone accepted anyone. The Mandella fitted in quite well. It was about 3 months later that things got out of hand. Food was getting prepared for the dinner session. Everyone was busy. As I was greeting some customer that's when I turned around to see my own kitchen staff having a brawl. Once it was broken up I sat the two culprits, being Mandella Deo and our Italian Chef Carlito Guirtris, and asked them what the cause of this embrassement was? Mandella explained that Carlito had touched his head and that was the cause of the fight. Carlito then explained that he was only mucking around and that he just patted his head. I was in complete shock I couldn't believe that we lost the majority of our customers for the night because Carlito touched Mandella's head..
 * Situation 2: //Staff Member from a different background//**

Firstly I sat the two men down and told them that they could lose their jobs for this embrassesment that they played tonight. I made each of the two tell their story's. Carlito explained that it was a misunderstanding and that he was just tapping him on the head just a muck around thing. Then it was Madella to explain, he said that in his country Hindu is the most common religion and that the head is considered the seat of the soul. And to never touch someone else’s head, not even to pat the hair of a child. Either of us were aware of this. We both apologised for not being aware of this. Carlito left the room and I apologised again, I told him that if anything was to go wrong again and to let me know of any religious issues that need to be said. I let him go and told the staff the next day about some of the religious awareness that we need to be aware of the different cultural awareness that we should understand.
 * Decision for situation 2:**


 * 5 ways to handle the complaints:**
 * Listen to what they have to say then the questions that you have saved, you ask.
 * Be aware of the different multi-cultural world we live in and the religions that different people believe in and comfort them
 * Be apologetic, be considerate
 * Offer them something for no price
 * handle the situation and fix the problem

While travelling around the world I had realised how different Australia (my home) and countries overseas were. I never imagened the world to be so culturally different.


 * Adressing:** What I discovered was the way people addressed eachother was very different in different countries. In Spain people are greeted as Senior if you are a male, Seniora if you are a married woman and Seniorita if you are a young lady who is yet not married. In Japan introductions use the person’s last name plus the word san which means Mr. or Ms. The Japanese prefer to use last names. They never call eachother by their first name.


 * Informal/informity:** Spaniards tend to get close when they are communicating and if they find you to be a close friend they will often exchange a hug. Women are the same they will usually meet in a small hug and a kiss on the cheek. The french are similar in this aspect. France is a highly stratified society, with strong definition and competition between classes. The French handshake is brief, and is accompanied by a short span of eye contact. Unlike the Spanish the Japanese greet with a bow, return with a bow as low as the one you received. How low you bow determines the status of the relationship between you and the other individual. When you bow keep your eyes low and your palms flat next to your thighs. When Muslims greet each other, instead of saying, “good morning” or “hello” they say “Assalamo Alaikum,” which means “May peace be upon you and may God's blessings be with you.” This greeting makes a Muslim aware that he has to spread love and peace wherever he goes.


 * Work ethics:** Another interesting fact that I found when I went to Spain was that many businesses are closed between 1:30 p.m and 4:30p.m for a siesta, allowing families to get together for a meal. Another cultural awareness that I became aware was that Spain is still behind on women’s rights when compared to many other European countries. Although they have had progress since the cruel ruler of Francisco Franco’s era, men still hold the majority of positions within companies. A woman lawyer is a very rare occurrence, and it is very unusual for a woman at any level in a company to be making a career for herself.


 * Personal Grooming:** With personal grooming the Spanish dress more formal than many other Europeans. In Spain, it is important to project good taste in apparel. Japanese people are similar the men should wear dark conservative attire. Business suits are most suitable. Women’s dress should be conservative. Casual dress is never appropriate for the Japanese. In Indonesia high heat and humidity require packing enough clothing to always appear clean & fresh. Women should wear long-sleeve blouses (to cover their upper arms) and skirts that cover the knee. Women meeting in a more formal office should wear a suit with hosiery. Men generally wear dark slacks, long sleeve and light colored shirt, and tie.


 * Family:** The family is the most important thing to people in Spain. Time is very relaxed. It is wise for foreigners to be punctual, but Spaniards do not put a great emphasis on time themselves. The Spaniards often consider deadlines an objective that will be met if possible, but do not become overly concerned if the deadline is not achieved.


 * Religion:** In Arabic countries there are many attributes of God, one being “AsSalam” meaning “the Bestower of peace and love.” Man has been created to fashion himself to the attributes of God and Muslims must try to adopt this attribute of God. Muslims pray five times a day, asking God for his love. In some countries there's the posibilty of different countries having religious holidays. This is when a culture for religious reasons are composed not to work and take time away to pray.

Bibliography: [|www.cyborlink.com/bestie/spain.htm] [|www.cyborlink.com/bestie/japan.htm] [|www.cyborlink.com/bestie/Indonesia.htm] [|www.cyborlink.com/bestie/arabic.htm] [|www.wikipedia.org] [|www.43places.com]
 * Special acquirements:** There are many special needs that different cultures aquire. In Japan they will not serve a drink for themselves the drink must be poured for them. they also see the number 14 as bad luck because it sounds like the word ‘shuh-shuh’, which sounds like the word for death. So if a Japanese person was to stay in a hotel in Australia and they were to stay in the room number 14 they would refuse to stay in it and management would have to move them to a different room. In spain dinner is usually expected after 9pm. If a Spanish person was to stay in a hotel and expected a meal after 9pm even though the restaurant closed earlier then this they would have accommodate for their services.
 * La tomatino
 * 'Running of the bulls'
 * La Mezquita cathedral
 * Festivals