Culture is the KEY

Last week, I attend a lecture by an american professor talking about the american laws and as well talking aboutterminology and how can a teacher and a student understand it.


When she was talking about her book, she mentioned something pretty interesting, to me at least, she was talking about culture and how it might affect the work of the firm u r working at... I asked her to explain to me further this point, and so she did..


She explained stating that although all cultures r unique, yet they r different when it comes to dealing with them...


there is a high context culture and a low context culture... a high context culture like Japan for example, everyone shares the same history, the same values and the same traditions... while USA on the other hand, it is a low context country, where there r thousands of different backgrounds as well as values and traditions..


so when dealing with a Japanese country for instance, they r not just signing a contract and that's it, they look more to build communications with that person, going out on dinners and drink Saki and discuss intellectual issues..


while in USA for example, they tend to be more straight to the point, they don't need to bond with the person in front... for them time is money... they just sign the contract and need no further communication with that person...


those small points might affect everything.... a marketing manager who was working with ford, went to Abu Dahbi in the 90's... he was so enthusiastic to start new company campaign... that he started calling different potential clients from 9 am.... this might seem ok for any normal day, but, one thing he didn't notice, he was right in the middle of Ramdan, which is a holy month for Muslims where they fast all day from dawn till sunset, where the companies opens late through this month... so u can imagine how the campaign failed...


Not only in business stuff like this happens, but in many other fields, simply coz we don't know the others and understand their traditions..


For Muslims, it's not such a good idea to go and visit someoneand as a gift u r carrying a bottle of wine.. which is something prohibited by religion...


In religion feasts (Eid el Adha for Muslims), the first day the whole family gather in one big house, so if someone is planning to visit this family, u probably won't find them...


So as u can see, Culture is a key point to everything around us... and by understanding it, a lot of misunderstanding might be eliminated.. just by talking and discussing and reading more about it..

BP Spills Coffee

Christmas in the Holy Land - 2009

When celebrating Christmas, it would be a good idea to think about the birthplace of Jesus. What is like in the Holy Land under occupation, injustice and racism? How does Christmas feel when the Holy Land is under siege?

Mosquito Tactics - the movie

Mosquito tactics - the movie from Mosquito Tactics on Vimeo.

What is peace? Is there such a thing? And if there isn't – how can we create it together?

copied from: http://mosquitotactics.blogspot.com/2009/12/introducing-mosquito-tactics-movie.html

Ramadan Karim

Iran to WHERE???

wounded girl dying in front of camera

My INTERNET DILEMMA

did anyone watch the movie : " he is not that into you" ???
no?
ok read this :

Mary: I had this guy leave me a voice mail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my Black Berry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies.
Mary: It’s exhausting.


this small dialogue really express what we r facing now... we r so tired to run around and get accounts on different websites that every one of them gives u a new advantage. for example:

Facebook: i love it, u stay connected to ur friends, see photos, check events in ur town, post videos, write notes... mainly ALIVE and ADDICTIVE.


My Space: i mainly joined My space community for nothing but to stay connected to my favorite hip hop bad "flying steps" in Germany, after that i found a lot of my friends and i meet new friends also i found out that Arabic singers have a my space account, personal one, which is nice...


Twitter: simple and easy.. u can be connected to a lot of networks and stars as well: Queen Rania, the white house, the UN, Oprah, mariah carey, kevin spicey... by one click u can get all the feedback about their updates... :)


Linked In: it's a professional network, where u can get recommendations and get job opportunities as well. i was introduced to Linkedin by my sis Naya ;) , i won't say that i was lost from the beginning and i'm still lost :P , but i found friends i meet from different conferences on it, and it was great to find them.


Flicker: it's mainly for professional photographers, u post ur pics and then u get comments and advices about ur pic, if u r not a pro, it's ok, u can post family and friends and stay connected, frankly, i found amazing pics, that i wanted to download to find them having a very high security program, very smart if u don't want to distribute, and very irritating if u liked this pic to download..


Bambuser: in order to follow YLVP course, and to keep Ahmed Esmat focused :P , i made an account on this website, which in the beginning really irritated me, since u mainly broadcast from ur mobile ( service is not THAT cheap), but i used my web cam, and i broadcast funny stuff... (a view from my street :P )


those communities r not the only thing that through it u can stay connected to ur friends and be updated, there r a lot others, but those r the main thing.


Technology is fun, technology is great, technology is the one thing that keeps me updated with my crazy brother, whether to remind him to buy me a cycle helmet :P , or to see his BOLD after he shaved like a prisoner :D

if u have other websites that u see essential as well , and u can't start ur day without viewing it, just add it on comments... :)