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