Orientation

Always able to build solid relationships with local nationals, it is a small wonder that no organization I have worked for overseas has ever asked me to participate in orientation of newly arriving expatriots. Not a big wonder, just a small one. And I think the world is the poorer for the oversight. It is all about balance and “my” side is woefully under represented.

Most cultural adaptation experts would ask that the newcomer take a careful inventory of cultural taboos and their consequences. With that, I would not disagree. The next step would be to carefully avoid crossing any tabooed lines. That is where the heavy disagreement happens. I maintain that you need to break all the taboos – make sure you tick off everything on the list at least once. After all, if you break some rules and not others, nationals might be offended.

We need to enter the new culture as a child, like a five year old. Five year olds are not fastidious rules keepers, as most overseas organizations expect their employees to be. They have space to break taboos because they are…..five year olds.

As newcomers we have the opportunity to have all of our errors, and some of our on purposes, laughed at. This will not be the case later on, so….enjoy! Lighten up and enjoy being with people we don’t understand and who don’t understand us. Don’t waste energy trying to comprehend, just go and draw a laugh.

Afghans are very serious about their greetings. They can take up to half an hour and not say anything unscripted. One of the scripts is, “Life to you. Do not get tired” (it can be said straight and later repeated responsively). Change the negatives around, and with the same rhythm and intonation you get something like, “Drop dead. Exhaust yourself.” Great fun!

Tomorrow, new teacher orientation starts at ISK and I will again be on the sidelines. Great loss. I conducted an extended training seminar for Dari language instructors (all the instructors are local friends of mine who had a role in teaching me Dari) and formed an informal company. Got our first few clients. Let’s see what happens.