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Working with Older Volunteers in Manual Intergenerational Projects
Example 7: Invitation to Wyoming - resolution
• Americans and Germans have a different concept of politeness.
• An American is usually quicker at being cordial than a German, this also goes for
invitations. However, not everything should be taken literally.
• What a German might consider exaggerated or interprets as a sign of friendship, may
merely be the American’s effort to be friendly and polite.
• The American in turn might get the impression that the German’s behaviour is cold
and impolite.
Opposing principles
• orchestration ↔ authenticity
Recommended course of action
• In cases like these it should be taken into account that certain statements are
made to express politeness, because this is the etiquette in certain cultures. By no means
should this be noted as a lie.
Example 8: Example German-Japanese couple - resolution
• In contrast to Germany, Japanese society has a different “concept of person”. A person
does not see himself/herself as an individual, but rather, for reasons of socialisation,
connects to members of his/her group (mostly family, but frequently also work colleagues).
Each one subordinates to the interests of the group. This refers to a form of
collective ego, as is the case with married couples. Therefore the husband should also
have expressed his gratitude.
• In contrast, Germans tend to see themselves as individualists and make a point of
deciding for themselves. Self-realisation is an important value factor.
• From a German perspective the Japanese might appear too subordinate, Japanese in
turn probably think that Germans are selfish and unsocial.
Opposing principles
• collective ↔ individual thinking
Recommended course of action
• The behaviour of others should not be hastily evaluated (for instance selfish on the
one hand and subordinate on the other), in this respect the opinions often differ
drastically.
• It is a lot easier to accept the behaviour of others, if the underlying prioritisation is
known. Since this concerns strongly internalised values, it also needs to be taken into
account that the according behaviour cannot be altered without further ado.
Set of Methods 163