Good Manners How not to behave badly abroad Travelling to all corners of the world gets easier and easier. We live in a global village, but how well do we know and understand each other? Here is a simple test. Imagine you have arranged a meeting at four...
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Good Manners How not to behave badly abroad Travelling to all corners of the world gets easier and easier. We live in a global village, but how well do we know and understand each other? Here is a simple test. Imagine you have arranged a meeting at four o’clock. What time should you expect your foreign business colleagues to arrive? If they’re German, they’ll be bang on time. If they’re American, they’ll probably be 15 minutes early. If they’re British, they’ll be 15 minutes late, and you should allow up to an hour for the Italians. When the European Community began to increase in size, several guidebooks appeared giving advice on international etiquette. At first, many people thought this was a joke, especially the British, who seemed to assume that the widespread understanding of their language meant a corresponding understanding of English customs. Very soon they had to change their ideas, as they realized that they had a lot to learn about how to behave with their foreign business
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