USA – absolutely intercultural!

101 Culture Hacks +++ Americans +++ Lisa La Valle +++ Absolutely Intercultural 302 +++

Picture the scene: You and your companion have stopped at a cafe, chosen a table and drawn up your chairs. Why did you do this? In this show Lisa La Valle will explain cafe culture as part of her culture hacks for Americans.
Welcome to 2025 and show 302 of Absolutely Intercultural which takes a closer look at the new book by Lisa La Valle, 101 Culture Hacks for Americans living abroad (and other digital nomads): One unwritten rule at a time.
My name’s Anne Fox and this show is coming to you from Denmark. Back in 2018 we spoke to Lisa La Valle in her role as an intercultural trainer and in this show we are going to learn more about the book Lisa is writing billed as a primer for Americans venturing outside their borders. Why did she write it?

We’ll explore one or two of the hacks in the taster version of the book that is already available on Amazon. For example, did you ever think about what happens in cafes and restaurants?

And finally we’ll find out more about how much Lisa relies on the cultural frameworks which we hear so much about, such as Hofstede and the Culture Connector, compared to Lisa’s own observations on, for example, the effect of space on how loudly you speak.

absolutely hacked

So let’s go absolutely hacked and find out why Lisa, an American now living in Italy, started writing 101 Culture Hacks for Americans living abroad

absolutely café culture

Next I wanted to explore one or two of the examples from the taster version that is available right now on Amazon so let’s go absolutely cafe culture.

absolutely frameworked

Lisa La Valle has used the Culture Connector framework in her work as an intercultural facilitator so I wondered whether she’d used that or any of the other popular frameworks, many of which we have talked about on this podcast in the past, as part of her 101 Culture hacks book so let’s go absolutely frameworked.

It was very interesting to hear how Lisa makes use of the various cultural frameworks in such a pragmatic way. It sometimes seems as though these frameworks are presented as THE way to look at cultural differences, Hofstede’s dimensions, tight and loose cultures, the Four Cs and so on whereas Lisa draws on several of these frameworks as appropriate. The taster version of Lisa’s book is available on Amazon now and the full version will be coming out later this spring. What about you? Have you made some useful observations about cultural hacks relating to your own culture? We’d love to hear them.

Thanks for listening and if you have a story to tell then don’t hesitate to get in touch or leave a comment. We are also on Apple podcasts and Spotify where you can give us a rating.

Our next show will be coming to you from Laurent Borgmann in Germany on 7th February.

Until then, stay tuned!

The host of this show is: Anne Fox

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Gender Roles +++ Gender Equality +++ Men & Women in the 21st Century +++ Absolutely Intercultural 283

Hello and welcome to show 283 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today, we are going to talk about the different cultures men and women live in – we are looking at different Gender Roles. No matter how progressive our parents think they are, all of us are confronted with gender roles from a very young age. As kids, in our still binary world we learn the concepts of “girls” and “boys” from our parents, grandparents, kindergarden and school teachers, etc. Later, these assumptions develop into a set of gender roles of “men” and “women” that we bring to our adulthood, our relationships, our workplace, and again pass on to our own kids. Our international guests, today, grew up in the United States, the Czech Republic and in Germany and share their own personal experiences and views regarding gender roles. What worries young men and women nowadays? What kind of new challenges do they face? How do they deal with it?

absolutely manly

In our first category, “absolutely manly”, we will listen to Jacob from the United States. Jacob tells us that the attitude “A real man does not cry” is still very present in everyday American male culture and even school boys will do anything not to be seen crying in front of other school children.

absolutely divided

In our second category “absolutely divided”, we will hear from Teresa. She believes that everyone, man or a woman, should be free to make their life choices independently of cultural gender expectations. However, Teresa also shares her worries, that more and more difficult choices between mother and career can put women under even more pressure.

absolutely unfair

Finally, in our last category “absolutely unfair”, we listen to Sebastian from Germany. Even though we have managed to achieve more gender equality in the 21 century, Sebastian noticed that some women still look for traditional men as a partner and some men, prefer to to be in a relationship with a traditional woman. And why shouldn’t they? However, Sebastian observes that, quite unfairly, it still seems acceptable for a woman to expect a man to pay for her dinner but it will be considered sexist of a man to expect a woman to cook for him.

What about you? What is your opinion about male and female cultures? Do you perhaps find this binary thinking hopelessly “old school” and 1980ies? Do you have examples where gender roles are determined by the culture of the family, the community or the country you grew up in? Have you personally ever been stereotyped because of your gender? How did you feel about that? Write a comment or mail us, we could do a follow-up interview with you in one of our next shows. On our web page, absolutely-intercultural.com, you can get more information about this show and previous episodes, and you can also leave comments. And if you enjoyed this show, please like us on Facebook too. 

Please write a comment or mail us, we could do a follow-up interview with you in one of our next shows. On our web page, www.absolutely-intercultural.com, you can get more information about this show and previous episodes and you can leave comments. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

By the way, did you know we are also on iTunes or Apple Podcasts? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment.

Our next show will be coming to you on 5th of May.

Until then – embrace gender equality by appreciating each other’s work – and Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann

Chief Editor: Natalia Obikhod

Assistant Editors: Sonam Tashi, Teona Tepnadze

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Colombian coffee +++ Fourth of July +++ Absolutely Intercultural 252 +++

Welcome to show 252 of Absolutely Intercultural, the show about all things intercultural. My name’s Anne Fox and I’m coming to you from a locked down Denmark. But the Covid 19 pandemic is overshadowed somewhat by the Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd. These protests have gone global and with American Independence Day coming up I wondered how Americans were feeling about the meaning of the fourth of July right now.

Do you remember Luis from Colombia who we met in Show 250? He was a wedding photographer in Colombia but could not continue in cold and rainy Denmark so he decided to start a coffee importing business and how easy was that?

In this show we are talking to Elisabeth Hansen from Arizona who is now living and working in Australia. Elisabeth answered our call for Americans wanting to talk about what the fourth of July means to them. So, if you have an intercultural story you want to share then just get in touch either here on our webpage or on our Facebook page.

AIESEC +++ AFS +++ The Foreigner Podcast +++ exchanges +++ Absolutely Intercultural 220 +++

On our Absolutely Intercultural Facebook page we recently reached the 700 Likes milestone so thank you for that! Our 700^th liker could have been Cécile Saint-Espès, Laurent Kazimotol or Selsela Arya. Thank you all.

In this show we’re going to look at different types of exchanges both study and work. So what effect does an exchange have on you?

And what’s the best way of preparing yourself to benefit from an exchange?

Continue reading “AIESEC +++ AFS +++ The Foreigner Podcast +++ exchanges +++ Absolutely Intercultural 220 +++”

Absolutely Intercultural 179 +++ Up With People +++ Social Intercultural Projects +++ Intercultural Behaviour +++ Intercultural Ambassador +++

If you like the podcast then please also LIKE US ON FACEBOOK!

People say that gaining intercultural experiences improves your transferable skills, your ability to adapt to new situations. However, getting in touch with other cultures may also change your personal preferences, conventions and habits. Sometimes this process can even take place unconsciously but it still changes your way of thinking dramatically. So, should we start printing warnings on travel brochures? “Warning: This trip to France could seriously change your view of the world?”

And should we be worried about “passive traveling” – because it’s not just the person who went abroad who undergoes intercultural behavioral changes but also the people in the culture they visit who are influenced by the foreigner’s cultural behaviour. Continue reading “Absolutely Intercultural 179 +++ Up With People +++ Social Intercultural Projects +++ Intercultural Behaviour +++ Intercultural Ambassador +++”

‘absolutely intercultural!’ 12 +++ Adult education in Israel +++ EFL Bridges +++ Online courses for deaf people +++

Show number 12 centres on Israel.

Absolutely Educational
‘Deaf people in general don’t feel they are handicapped. They just feel they have a different cultural view of the world but not handicapped and Elaine’s students are very often surprised by this.’
Harry Markowicz, Gallaudet University, Washington DC, USA

‘It’s one of those courses that students say they’ll never forget. The course changed their outlook on life. But the course wasn’t complete because they didn’t supply air tickets to meet up face to face after the end of the course!’
Elaine Hoter, Talpiot College, Tel Aviv, Israel about her collaboration with Harry Markowicz’z students.

‘[It’s] not trying to be like the other person but trying to understand what we have in common.’
Elaine Hoter talking about the current situation in Israel.

‘The gaps in Israel are tremendous. If they can teach their children without prejudice towards the other populations and can give a feeling of bonding, love and friendship, even in a small way I think that we’ve made a step in a big way towards changing attitudes between different people.’
Elaine Hoter about the collaboration between student teachers of different faiths in Israel.

Absolutely addictive
‘If you came to Israel for just one month and see what happens really in Israel and see the real news…’
Part of the conversation at EFL Bridges on August 2nd.
The Host of this show is: Anne Fox

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