What my year abroad taught me about cultural differences

‘Coffee breaks grew to become a lot more than a break from operate, it was a possibility to produce new suggestions with colleagues in a far more informal setting the office.’ Photograph: Alamy

Imagine going to research abroad, you happen to be younger, you are free and you happen to be adventurous. You stroll into the nearby store and bam!, Golliwogs all over the place. I am speaking store assistants dressed as Golliwogs, a daily life-sized cardboard minimize-out of a minstrel. It does not cease there. Dumbfounded, you go to the junk food part as that’s the only thing that will give your entire body the sugar rush it wants to shock your physique out of the state of bemusement it at present is in. And there they had been: Golliwog cookies.

I’m employing the word “Golliwogs” since to a British particular person abroad which is what they are to you. But in the Netherlands and Belgium the picture is recognized as Zwarte Piet (Black Peter). There has been a lot discussion about whether or not or not it really is racist. This was my 1st lesson in understanding different cultures. Zwarte Piet has a difficult history but is understood by most in the Netherlands to be Santa’s helper who got black through delivering presents via the chimney.

Working as a trainee with the European Commission I met men and women from all above the globe, not just Europe. Working alongside my German, Spanish and Italian colleagues, I discovered some useful lessons. As British folks we require to be have a larger voice in what we do. Not wait to say “excuse me”, or wait for a gap in the conversation to contribute to the meeting simply because you are going to stroll out at the finish of the meeting hunting at the notes you’d spend so long getting ready wondering how three hours has passed and you did not deal with to contribute something. I realized how to stop my colleagues and interject my ideas.

One more lesson was the worth of the coffee break. Coffee breaks in Brussels were not just time to get coffee. Or sneaky cigarette breaks. Like in the Uk this was typically taken with colleagues, but for longer than a fast five minutes. Coffee breaks became far more than a break from operate, it was a possibility to produce new concepts with colleagues in a more informal setting the workplace. At initial I declined the invitation to attend, I am devoted to my tea and always had a cup by my side, but following a whilst I began to notice that almost everyone went on these trips so determined to accompany them. You’d be shocked by the amount of work and tips that can be produced through coffee breaks. The accountability you are given and the options opened up to you. All it takes is saying yes.

Graduates and college students who have worked abroad achieve an knowing of what it indicates to be actually European and how this can benefit you at perform. We truly do have an Island mentality over here. It’s the United kingdom and Europe. Brits and Europeans. Studying in the Netherlands, and functioning in Belgium, I became a European and started seeing enterprise, connections and relationships as greater than the Uk. By just building a European mind-set, but you turn out to be a citizen of the world. Not only do you look for to carry experiences, capabilities and practices from other nations house, but you also look for to consider your function additional afield.

Graduates who have studied abroad have worldwide cultural and commercial awareness. We’re ready to feel big, and move comfortably in different surroundings. We’re not frightened to get risks and attempt new factors. We’re always understanding lessons.

So how did I use these expertise? Remember the Golliwog cookies? All I really needed have been some Mr Kipling’s French Fancies but they’re close to impossible to find abroad. So when I completed my traineeship with the Commission I came home and commenced a enterprise known as Packed Munches, a subscription service sending boxes of British treats and snacks to expats all above the globe. And to believe, it all started out with Zwarte Piet.

• ThirdYearAbroad.com, a network to assistance college students who examine and perform abroad, will be holding a panel discussion on Friday 22 November at the British Academy about the relevance of the 12 months abroad as portion of the Guardian and British Academy’s Language Festival.

What my year abroad taught me about cultural differences