The Diaries

« City Tour, SlingShot and lots of “Měiguórén!” | Main | Chinese Student Presentations »

June 14, 2009

Direct vs. Indirect

Posted by Christine Schrage

One of the cultural complexities between the Chinese and U.S. citizens is the way communication is carried out. U.S. people are very forthright and "cut to the chase" but telling things as these are. That is not the case with Chinese people. For example: on weekends we had cultural events planned by our hosts that involved bus transport. One evening the student host Hubert called me late in the evening. He made the statement that we must all be very tired and might like to sleep a little longer the next morning. My answer was that we would all be ready at 8 to meet the bus as usual. He again reiterated the tiredness of some of the students to which I replied we were all fine. Finally after several attempts for me to accept his gracious offer to "let us sleep" and my assurance all was fine, Hubert indicated the bus driver could not come until 9.

This is just another example of how people from opposite cultural communication styles can have problems. What if we had been discussing something more critical and neither had been patient with the situation? Well, anyone can guess that relationships and potential opportunities could be missed.

I smile when I think of Hubert being a wonderful host while I was assuring him all was just fine, when in fact a totally different issue was at hand.