WHAT DO WE REALLY KNOW ABOUT CULTURE?
CULTURE IS OFTEN COMPARED TO AN ICEBERG What we observe about a culture – its language, food, dress, religions, architecture, greetings, etc., is but the “tip of the iceberg” of what really makes up a culture. Underneath the water are cultural features that are not readily apparent. These features are deeply rooted ideas that need to be uncovered for us to have successful intercultural relationships. For example, let’s take a French woman who comes to work in the US for a two-year assignment. After getting a performance review from her manager, she is thrilled that she is doing so well. In fact, she is now thinking about extending her stay. Actually, the manager who gave her the review is not happy with her performance at all. While [...]