It is the adventure of being far away and still feeling at home....

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martes, 23 de febrero de 2010

Vivir, trabajar y amar en otro idioma: la experiencia de ser un extranjero

A veces nos mandan, a veces elegimos “mandarnos”. Por una buena oportunidad laboral, por un semestre de estudio, por amor… o incluso en busca de una nueva experiencia de vida. Y de pronto una mañana la vida nos sorprende a miles de km de casa, a veces por algunos meses, y en otras ocasiones por tiempo indefinido.
En cualquier caso, la experiencia de ser un extranjero en un país desconocido nos toca en lo más íntimo y constitutivo de quienes somos. Lejos de nuestras expectativas iniciales, vivir, trabajar y amar en otro idioma no siempre es tan glamoroso. Se habla de pérdidas, de fascinación, de cambio y los más osados nos animamos a admitir que se trata de un cimbronazo en nuestra identidad. Algunos le llaman shock cultural.

Imaginemos esta situación. Aferrados a nuestro pasaje de ida y a algunas cartas de despedida de los viejos amigos y familiares en Buenos Aires, despegamos hacia el infinito. El vuelo que nos aleja de Argentina nos acerca en simultáneo a otro lugar. Se trata de una transición oceánica, en todo sentido. Navegando en océanos de interrogantes y apuestas, y con ese sabor agridulce de quien se va pero llega, estamos en camino.

Las horas transcurren al ritmo de lo desconocido. Nuestro reloj empieza a sincronizarse en dos horarios a la vez. Acá o allá, allá pero todavía acá.

Bien… qué pasa cuando una voz femenina finalmente nos anuncia por el parlante la temperatura local y nos da pista para desabrochar los cinturones?

Para hablar de allá, tenemos que empezar por acá.

En nuestro país de origen, allí donde nacimos y crecimos, hay una red invisible que nos apuntala desde pequeños. Ese trama, invisible y a la vez poderosa, es propia y también nos une a los otros con quienes crecimos.
La base cultural compartida es lo que garantiza el cálido y cómodo sentimiento de “lo familiar”.

Cuando nos trasladamos a otra cultura, la ausencia cobra una presencia insospechada.
Solo cuando nos alejamos de este marco cultural, se nos vuelven visibles aquellos elementos que compartíamos con otras personas de nuestro medio.
Viviendo lejos de casa, el contexto grupal deja de cumplir esta importante función de continencia y de confirmación del sentimiento de pertenencia.
Sin embargo, como recién llegados, no es fácil predecir la ausencia de este marco cultural que nos sostenía en casa.
Qué velo nos maquilla la verdad, como dice el poeta Joaquin Sabina? Algunos autores le llaman "la luna de miel del recién llegado".

Uno de estados iniciales más comunes es el enamoramiento súbito hacia el nuevo mundo (o viejo mundo, si el destino elegido fue Europa!) que nos recibe. Nos dejamos inundar por la magia de los paisajes exóticos, los sofisticados edificios, las sabrosas comidas y el idioma extranjero que resuena en todos los rincones de la ciudad, pero sin subtítulos en castellano. El sabor nostálgico que nos acompañó hasta allí parece congelarse, y nos sentimos como Alicia recorriendo de punta a punta su país de maravillas.

Esta es la etapa que mayormente recordamos como turistas. Una o dos semanas de deslumbramiento, fotos, tours y gente amable que nos venden sus paquetes turísticos, y antes de que la cosa se ponga demasiado real, nos volvemos a casa.
A diferencia del turista, el expatriado o inmigrante conoce la otra cara de la historia. El que se queda debe construir un nido allí donde sus compatriotas fueron solo pasajeros fugaces de hotel.

De igual modo que en un vínculo amoroso, la fascinación inicial de las primeras semanas dará paso, tarde o temprano, a una experiencia de inmersión total y compromiso con el nuevo lugar. Aclimatarse al clima y adaptarse a lo que nos parece inadaptable.

Buscar trabajo, encontrar techo, entender cómo se le pide al carnicero tal o cual corte de carne. No encontrar y conformarse con un sustituto. Querer decir y no saber cómo. Tolerar que nuestros chistes en castellano no tengan traducción. Generar nuevos vínculos con amigos, colegas, vecinos. Hasta enamorarse en otro idioma.

No es raro que esta etapa de la experiencia nos evoque los días de nuestra más tierna infancia, cuando nos esforzábamos por encontrar la palabra justa para comunicarnos en un mundo de adultos.  
Nos sentimos pequeños. Y nuestros pequeños logros cotidianos en la nueva cultura cobran una dimensión inusitada.

Y la lista sigue.

Cuáles son tus experiencias de shock cultural? Cón que dificultades te encontraste a la hora de adaptarte a una nueva cultura? Qué es lo que perdiste? Qué te sobró? Qué ganaste?

Espero tus comentarios!

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Para debatir sobre este y otros aspectos de la experiencia del extranjero, te invitamos a sumarte a nuestros
Intercultural Coffee Meetings for Expats & Argentinos in BA

- En inglés-

Próximo encuentro: "Culture Shock"
Friday 26th February, 6.30pm - Cafe Lopez, Palermo
Last seats available.
Book your place: nomadasglobales@gmail.com




lunes, 22 de febrero de 2010

Ready for our next Coffee Meeting? CULTURE SHOCK - Join us! Friday 26th February, 6.30pm - Palermo



Limited seats available.

To confirm attendance, please send your email to nomadasglobales@gmail.com

See you there!

Argentinos meet Expats: Our last Intercultural Coffee Meeting in Palermo



From left to right: DJ (USA), Kirsty (Scotland), Kris (Argentina), Jim (USA), Ale (Argentina), Norman & Rita (USA) and myself!



Every week, a bunch of curious, open-minded Argentinos and Expats living in BA get together in a café to discuss on Porteños way and the challenges of being a foreigner in BA. Last week, the topic was Identity of Porteños.

We were supposed to meet on Friday evening. No matter how hard we tried, the heavy storm in BA and hundreds of liters of rain made it almost IMPOSSIBLE for us to leave our homes and workplaces! So we decided to meet up the following morning, Saturday February 20th. Drier.
The place? Just lovely! Café Lopez, a trendy bar in Scalabrini Ortiz and Güemes, in the heart of Palermo. Excellent coffee, and tall glass windows gave us a great view of the city.
The characters? Well, just amazing…  We were a group of people from different ages, backgrounds and walks of life, locals and expats. Being d-i-v-e-r-s-e is  exactly what makes the difference!
So you´re now wondering... what did we do?  To begin with, participants were asked to introduce themselves in a very “different” way, that led them to reveal funny sides of their personality.
Then, we did a fun learning activity to raise awareness on our (not always conscious) stereotypes and prejudices towards ourselves,  Porteños and other cultural groups. Understanding where our stereotypes come from and how they work was a key step of the Meeting!



Finally, I presented on the essential aspects of the Identity of Porteños from an intercultural perspective. This led participants to better understand what makes Porteños so passionate about tango, Psychoanalysis and soccer, among other cultural cues.
Having worked previously on the concept of stereotypes, the group was able to adopt an innovative perspective to respect and tolerate cultural differences in their approach to Porteños culture.


The result? 3 hours and several cappuchinos and "medialunas de manteca" later, we were still sharing our living abroad experiences, chatting and laughing.



Thanks everyone for coming! Hope to see you next Friday evening!

miércoles, 17 de febrero de 2010

TE INVITAMOS! Intercultural Coffee Meetings for Foreigners & Argentinos in BA - Friday 19th February, 6.30pm

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TE INVITAMOS!

Intercultural Coffee Meetings for Foreigners & Argentinos en Buenos Aires

Next Meeting: "How much do you know about Porteños? Your first impressions"

Friday 19th February, 6.30pm
Café Lopez. Scalabrini Ortiz 2401 (corner of Güemes). 1 block away from Scalabrini Ortiz – subway D. Palermo. Bs As.


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Attendance fee is of 40 Ar$/person.
If you come with a friend, 70 Ar$ for both.
If you book 3 meetings in advance, 100 Ar$/ person!

To confirm attendance, please send your email to nomadasglobales@gmail.com


___________________________________________________________________________

Hola a todos!

 
Nómadas Globales Argentina organizes Weekly Intercultural Coffee Meetings for the community of travelers, expatriates and international students living in Buenos Aires.


If you are a foreigner or ciudadano argentino and you are interested in exploring and understanding cultural differences, this is your place!


Let´s go global!
Through fun & innovative group activities (role playing, simulation, exercises and lively discussion), we enjoy an evening together. We learn and discuss about Porteños mentality, challenges of living as a foreigner in BsAs and cultural differences between Argentina and other cultures represented in Buenos Aires.

We offer you a space to learn, share your experiences, have fun and meet other locals and foreigners, in a relaxed and informal atmosphere – el Café Porteño!

We enjoy working in small groups. Topics change every week.
Only requirement: possess an intermediate level of English – as the Meeting is held entirely in English language.

For this Friday 19th February´s Meeting in Palermo: Limited seats available. Pre-booking is required by sending an email to nomadasglobales@gmail.com

 

Warm regards!



Natalia Sarro


Intercultural Trainer & Psychologist
Nómadas Globales Argentina
"Building a home for a Global Nomad"
Email: nomadasglobales@gmail.com

domingo, 7 de febrero de 2010

How to communicate effectively with porteños? Join us! Friday February 12th, 6.00pm - Palermo

Does "Sí" mean "Yes" in Argentina?

When I deliver intercultural trainings, my audience (travelers, expats and international students living in Buenos Aires) usually show a special interest in sharing their experiences on first interactions with Argentinos. A few of them are funny tales and stories of success, but many are chronicles of frustrating encounters, where communicating effectively with Porteños feels like trying to complete a 1000-piece puzzle and always missing the last piece. Expats claim that there is a kind of magic force preventing them from connecting with their Porteños collegues, flatmates or partners.

So why is that?

Sometimes it is the lack of motivation to mix with Porteños that leads to failed interactions. In other cases, Spanish still sounds like Mandarin Chinese to many NewComers who struggle with the local accent and the fast-speaking style of Porteños.

But when the motivation is there, and they have learnt to say more than “Si, gracias” in Spanish and “Qué Buena onda” in Lunfardo´s Buenos Aires slang, there is one more box to consider in BA expats´ checklist: communication style.

A frequent complaint is that locals "just don’t know how to answer a question straight to the point". Is it because all Porteños have suddenly lost their train of thought? Well, some of them possibly, but ... everyone?

Others moan that Porteños usually don´t say what they really mean. Does "Sí" mean "Yes" in Argentina? Or Spanish rules changed and “Sí” now means “Maybe not, but I won´t tell you that”?



The challenge is a bit more profound, and way more interesting to explore!



Cultures differ significantly on many dimensions, being one of the most important ones the level of directness and indirectness. Differences between these two poles account for a large number of cross-cultural misunderstandings.

According to Edward Hall, one of the most respected US Anthropologists and Cross-Cultural Researchers, cultures can have high-context and low context communication patterns.

In a low context culture (such as USA or Germany), communication tends to be direct. Most of the information is in the words and there is no need to read between lines. People say what they mean and they mean what they say.

On the other hand, in high-context cultures (such as Japan, Southeast Asia or China) most information is transmitted indirectly. It is usually implicit in the physical context (such as body language), while very little is contained in the verbal, explicit message. If telling the truth threatens harmony, then the truth should be adjusted or disguised. Preserving relationships and avoiding loss of face are main concerns. So if you forget to read between lines, you will be missing the largest portion of the message of your indirect counterpart.


Having said this – are you now ready to go one step farther in your appreciation of Argentinos´ communication style? Where do you think that Argentina stands between the low-context/ high context cultural orientation?

And last but not least - what kind of communication patterns do YOU have?

I look forward to your thoughts!

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