Describe your history of cross-cultural experiences, and your general ability to adapt and adjust to new situations. Please include at least one specific example of when you had to overcome a challenge in this context.
Study abroad forces one to quickly adjust to new customs and ways of life; as my first experience outside of the united states, my study abroad experience in France gave me the chance to test my ability to adapt and adjust to new situations, .The challenge of adapting to a new culture is in learning the nuances that cannot be found in a book. Learning to adjust to a new culture can often be difficult, as what is polite and acceptable in one society is rude in another and the embarrassment of having caused offense, even accidentally, is not pleasant. People within a culture have a tacit understanding of the norms and rules of polite behavior; for outsiders though learning these rules and norms is a process filled with pitfalls. In the United States for example, it is acceptable to ask for something in a store without having first greeted the store clerk, and please and thank you are polite, but not essential. In France, to do so is not only extremely rude but also comes across as insulting. As an American, I often had to remind myself of these norms; to slow down and to greet people. More personally, a particular example that stands out to me was an incident in which, in a rush while in a shop, I caused accidentally offense. Needing to get through the store quickly in order to get back to class, I failed to greet the store clerk, and used the familiar Tu rather than the polite and more formal Vous. I could tell that I had insulted the store clerk, albeit accidentally. Sometimes these uncomfortable experiences are the best way to learn a culture;by making mistakes and learning from them, it is possible to learn the nuances of another culture that members of that culture implicitly accept and understand.
Study abroad forces one to quickly adjust to new customs and ways of life; as my first experience outside of the united states, my study abroad experience in France gave me the chance to test my ability to adapt and adjust to new situations, .The challenge of adapting to a new culture is in learning the nuances that cannot be found in a book. Learning to adjust to a new culture can often be difficult, as what is polite and acceptable in one society is rude in another and the embarrassment of having caused offense, even accidentally, is not pleasant. People within a culture have a tacit understanding of the norms and rules of polite behavior; for outsiders though learning these rules and norms is a process filled with pitfalls. In the United States for example, it is acceptable to ask for something in a store without having first greeted the store clerk, and please and thank you are polite, but not essential. In France, to do so is not only extremely rude but also comes across as insulting. As an American, I often had to remind myself of these norms; to slow down and to greet people. More personally, a particular example that stands out to me was an incident in which, in a rush while in a shop, I caused accidentally offense. Needing to get through the store quickly in order to get back to class, I failed to greet the store clerk, and used the familiar Tu rather than the polite and more formal Vous. I could tell that I had insulted the store clerk, albeit accidentally. Sometimes these uncomfortable experiences are the best way to learn a culture;by making mistakes and learning from them, it is possible to learn the nuances of another culture that members of that culture implicitly accept and understand.