My host country uses a range of communication styles depending on context. For ambiguous tasks or projects, my boss tends to give a lot less context and wants me to figure it out on my own to create the best possible solution. When it comes to more specific tasks, work that is mechanical and needs to be done a certain way, it’s normal for there to be a lot more context laid out. In the U.S., I think the same can be said for certain situations. In some classes, like Organizational Behavior, there was an end-of-semester group project with lots of specific steps that needed to be completed to get a certain grade. In a lot of my philosophy classes, on the other hand, the papers tend to be looser, focused more on explaining the concepts or ideas of specific schools of thought than on how to get there.
Since the work I’ve been doing has been very unfamiliar to me, I tend to ask a lot of questions before even starting a task. I ask myself a series of questions like “Where is this pointed to?”, “What’s the overarching goal of this?”, “How does this relate to what I’ve already been doing?” These are questions I typically run through with AI, since it already knows the work I’m doing and can answer them. But when it comes to task-specific questions, that’s when I go to my manager with those task-specific questions. This avoids a misstep in communication and allows me to complete a task from beginning to end without needing to wait on a Slack reply.
Overall, I’d say there have been a limited number of times I’ve encountered real differences in communication. However, there have been many times where I’d be working on a project and hit a wall. At that point, I knew I had to reach out to my manager and ask what he’d like or what to do next, and I’d get these terse replies that would leave half my question unanswered. I found that really frustrating, because it almost left the decision in my own hands, and that scared me. It scared me out of fear of making a mistake. But I’ve realized that’s what managers are for, and that I’m meant to make mistakes, because that’s the only way I can truly grow.
Outside of the office, my travels have been another way to see how other cultures communicate, or how they make assumptions based on something as simple as me being American. This weekend I took a trip to Helsinki. I wanted to go somewhere I normally wouldn’t have a reason to go back to, and it fit one of my goals of visiting all the Nordic countries. So far I’ve been to Denmark, Sweden, and now Finland. I just have Norway and Iceland left to complete the region. One thing I noticed about the local Finns is that they’re not only a tough group of people, which I imagine comes from the short summers and long winters, but also their history, having fought off both the Russians and the Nazis. Even today, their relationship with their neighbor Russia is strained.
When I checked into my hostel in Helsinki, I asked the receptionist, as I always do, if she had any restaurant recommendations so I could get a taste of the local food scene. She looked at me for a second and just said, “The only thing that comes to mind is Burger King.” I stood there shocked, almost offended, that she’d assume my diet consisted of American fast food. It sent me right back to the start of the program, when I’d had similar interactions with Czech people about food. At first it’s jarring and a little offensive, but then I relax, smile, maybe laugh, and move along.
Overall, Helsinki is a beautiful, more relaxed version of Stockholm. Yes, there’s less to do, but that’s part of the enjoyment. I didn’t feel the need to see landmarks or check things off a list. I got to just wander the city, stop into a cafe, have a coffee or some salmon soup, and move to the next place. After my surf trip to Ericeira, this was the perfect follow-up: something relaxed and slow-paced, where I could wander, eat the local food, drink the local drink, and go at my own pace. That’s what made it worth it.
