culture shock

For my birthday I was given a copy of CultureShock!Portugal, partly as a joke since I enjoy challenging some cultural norms here. However I got a surprisingly strong reaction on reading it for two reasons. Firstly it angered me because it seemed to say that business/living in Portugal was all too hard and I don't think my friends here deserve to miss out on business opportunities for that reason. Secondly it frustrated me because Portugal is changing (it's only 30 years since the dictatorship was overthrown) and becoming more "modern" and I believe that it will need to change more to claim a greater influence in Europe. Therefore I see a book which preaches accepting the old way as a little recalcitrant.

Part of that is that I believe one of my successes here is that we've managed to work to Australian-style deadlines without massively changing the way that people are used to working here, plus we know that we can change some things slightly to achieve even more. I think thats the object of my role here - to respect culture but also challenge it at those times where it impacts on work, to show a different way to approach a task or even to approach work itself as a part of life so that people see a different way. No one way of working is ideal and being able to adapt your way of work can result in achieving more than simply following "best practise".

It struck me last week when I was showing a friend of ours around that I have become an ex-pat of sorts - grumbling about waiters, things "you can't get here", "the way things work here", being a little pushy at times. Honestly I don't like it because I see it as a bad thing for me to not be able to relax and accept things as they come, even if it's more a result of tiredness than a change in attitude. But I also think it's a third step - a place is new, then familiar, and now I probably need a break or to visit somewhere different so I can come back and relax better. Certainly after a trip north last week I feel more comfortable this week (photos on this blog soon!).