When I was in China, I ate duck marinated fried cobra language. Not care for the duck, but the cobra was O.K. was
I tried a few Korea blowfish. Most people know that if she is not prepared properly, it is fatal. But it was a client lunch, and everyone has to eat, so that my colleague and I assumed that we should try. A member of the group we were told that we should stay awake after lunch. I guess that we need to make sure that if we had side effects such as numbness, we would be less able to try to get help.
I didn't know this, but my colleague is one of those guys who can fall asleep in a crowded subway. After we left the customers, we took a taxi back at the hotel. Soon, he began to fall asleep in the cabin. I kept shaking him awake, thinking he was beset by the misery of some blowfish. He leave her alone kept saying. I did not listen. I was worried. But, fortunately, it was good, although a bit angry I ruined his nap rubbing.
Sometimes in an attempt to navigate cultural differences can strain relations with clients.
When I travelled in Malaysia in 1991, I thought I needed to learn more about cultural differences. I was on a lift with two Malaysian and we headed to the ground floor. I am a polite person and if a woman is located on an elevator with me I am going to leave his first release. This is what I decided to do this when we arrived at our floor.
The doors open, and the women do move. I have just standing there waiting for them. Then the doors closed and we headed back. When we headed back, I left. Then the women descended. I learned later that it was a cultural custom man walk in advance.
Now, I make a point of reading as much as possible about the local culture to acquire a better understanding of customs. One of the things that I learned was that in Asia you never point to someone with your finger as this gesture is a way of projecting evil. But I suppose I missed the chapter on why you did write Korea red.
Engineers always have a large number of markers of different colours. When you're in a meeting, an engineer can use blue, green, another to tag a plan of action. In this way we can see which suggests that. It's simple and it works.
I was at a meeting with some Korean clients, and I had a red marker in my hand to make some corrections to a plan of action. It was an incredible project, and the meeting went well until I used my red marker to write the name of one of the Korean guys I've met. The room is very quiet, and everyone looked at me completely stunned.
A customer had pity on me and whispered that in writing the name of a person living in red is a bad idea. Apparently, in Korean culture red is used to record the name of a deceased person. Given that my client was alive, I was wishing him dead.
It is very embarrassing, and I apologized as much as I possibly could. Fortunately, the gentleman was understanding. We did not lose the job, and I have gained a greater appreciation and understanding of their culture. I am sure that I've also later threw the red marker.
By Gary Pomerantz, as said Joan Raymond. Email: joan.raymond@nytimes.com
