Last year, I had a hall mate from Germany whom I always hang out with. Initially, we had difficulty communicating with each other due to culture differences. There was once when he offered me some snacks where he brought from Vivocity. As I was about to go for a run, I rejected his offer. Subsequently, he told me that it is rude to reject someone for the food that they offered in his home country. My first reaction was "Oops.Sorry man". In this case, it was apparent that he understood our culture in Singapore.
Also, he will always say "How you doing man?!" everytime he see me in my room. For the first few weeks, I really could not find a more suitable answer than "I'm fine!". However, only after a certain period of time that I realised that it is his way of saying "Hi" in our context.
Through these interactions with him, I have learnt about the culture in his country. At the same time, I have managed to impart some of the cultures about Singapore to him. In this process, we too had conflicts due to culture differences. However, we have learnt to be frank to one another and compromised in a conflict if there is a need to. That had allowed both of us to communicate effectively without the fear of being judged. At the same time, we had created an environment that is conducive for learning about one another.
Very soon
I will be going to Canada for an exchange programme. While the culture may
differ from that of Germany, I believe that my previous encounter with my
German hall mate will give me the self-efficacy to deal with similar situations
in Canada.
