Cultural Frames of Reference

This week we are studying how our worldview might cause conflict or misunderstanding between us (as travelers) and locals.  After experiencing life in Erfurt, Bruges, and Paris last week, I have seen many examples of how cultural frames of reference can differ based on culture.  For instance, it is very clear that Germany is a low-context area while France is very high-context.  According to Hall (1963), low context cultures place emphasis on the meaning of words, while high context cultures place meaning on how the words are used.  While trying to order a pastry at a local Erfurt bakery, we had trouble communicating to the employees because we don't understand German; instead we had to resort to hand gestures and pointing.  You could tell the employees were frustrated they couldn't just talk to us like they could to the locals.  They wanted us in and out as quickly as possible.  However, when we were in Paris for dinner, the waiter was incredibly patient and took time to ensure he understood what we wanted.  He communicated on our level by pointing to items on the menu and doing his best to answer our questions by putting them in terms we could understand.  While these instances might be different simply because of personality of the employees, I have noticed this difference in other contexts: while shopping, while asking for directions, and especially when we ask locals to take pictures of us.

Additionally, Hall's (1963) work on ingroup/outgroup dynamics applies well to our experiences thus far.  People who share similar backgrounds (ingroup) can communicate more easily than people who differ in culture (outgroup).  This dynamic was especially apparent when we traveled to Amsterdam a few weeks ago.  We were staying at ClinkNoord, the most popular hostel around.  Every person there was around our age, so it felt just like college, but in a cooler dorm setting.  One night we were hanging out at the bar and started mingling with other travelers.  It was easy to find other English speakers, and even easier to find other Americans.  We met a few college students traveling for study abroad also, and we ended up hanging out with them for the rest of the night (ingroup).  However, as we were mingling we definitely came across students who didn't speak a lick of English, nor did we speak their language (Korean).  Thus, they became outgrouped and had to find other students to hang out with.  I felt badly for excluding them, but it became too difficult to communicate on both ends, and as the night went on, I think we were all comfortable with the respective friend groups we made.
Clearly, cultural frames of reference and worldview are crucial when it comes to forming relationships with people that have different cultural backgrounds.  However, what I've learned through all this traveling is that if you are patient and kind when attempting to communicate, others will reciprocate and try their best to work with you.