U.S. Foreign Service Officer headed to Wuhan, China

The mission of a U.S. diplomat in the Foreign Service is to promote peace, support prosperity, and protect American citizens while advancing the interests of the U.S. abroad. The work that diplomats do has an impact on the world as they serve at one of any of the more than 270 embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions in The Americas, Africa, Europe and Eurasia, East Asia and Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, and South Asia.

The duties of a Consular Officer include to provide emergency and non-emergency services to American citizens and protect our borders through the proper adjudication of visas to foreign nationals and passports to American citizens. We adjudicate immigrant and non-immigrant visas, facilitate adoptions, help evacuate Americans, combat fraud, and fight human trafficking. Consular Officers touch people’s lives in important ways, often reassuring families in crisis. They face many situations which require quick thinking under stress and develop and use a wide range of skills, from managing resources and conducting public outreach to assisting Americans in distress.

Cultural Differences

I found some interesting comparisons in some books that I used in my culture class. They are charts that compare different cultural values between Western culture and China. Of course it’s an oversimplified and over generalized view of some basic differences that probably doesn’t apply to everyone in those countries, but it provided a cool way to start some conversations about cultural differences. We talked about whether we agreed/disagreed with the charts and where we have seen some of these differences play out. See what you think:

Logic US - Linear (direct association) CHINA - Spiral (roundabout and subtle)

Identity US - Individualistic, independent, values freedom CHINA - Group orientated, values harmony

Agreement/Disagreement US - Argumentative, verbal CHINA - Difficult to say no, non-verbal

Thinking US - Rule or law orientated, detailed, analytical, logical CHINA - Context or situation specific, holistic, intuitive, big picture

Punctuality US - Start and end on time CHINA - Appointment times flexible

Respect US - Success, achievement, wealth CHINA - Seniority, wisdom, ability

Business relationships US - Superficial, contractual, economics come first CHINA - Personal, long-lasting, relationship comes first

Decision making US - Distributed authority, fast, proactive, considered CHINA - Manager has final say, slow, planned, impulsive

Openness US - Open to alternate ideas CHINA - Receptive but superficial

Conflict resolution US - Legalistic, confrontational CHINA - Mediation through 3^rd parties

Time Horizon US - Short term (think per quarter) CHINA - Long term (think years ahead)

Risk/Spending US - Risk-takers, spend for today CHINA - Risk-avoiders, safe for future

Communication US - Explicit or direct, verbal, likely to "speak their mind" CHINA - Implied or inferred, non-verbal, subtle

Read More 2 comments | Posted by Sarah Sanderson

2 comments

mynamesnotbarbara on December 8, 2010 at 9:42 AM

This comment has been removed by the author.
mynamesnotbarbara on December 8, 2010 at 9:42 AM

I think it is interesting that they define Chinese decision making as "planned" and "impulsive." Either there is feigned impulsiveness or brashness that is played to the public as being "planned." Interesting.

Wanderlust

In Mandarin: 旅遊癮 (lǚyóu yǐn)

According to my Mandarin teacher, the term 'wanderlust' can best be translated as 'a travel addiction or craving'. In the above translation, 'yǐn' has several meanings such as 'a strong impulse', 'a longing', or 'a desire'.

U.S. Foreign Service Officer headed to Wuhan, China

Cultural Differences

2 comments