My Experience Learning "General Cultural Savvy"

The Combined Arms Center blog has a recent article by Lt Col Celestino Perez Jr. titled Is there such a thing as a general cultural savvy? It's a good read, which got me thinking about the "general cultural savvy" I've learned so far in Jordan. I thought I would share some of the most important general lessons.

How to listen to other people's stories and perspectives. This is the main theme in Dr. Perez's article and probably the most vital "cultural savvy" skill. Being able to shut up and listen is, unfortunately, a surprisingly rare skill. If we want to make informed policy in cross-cultural contexts, we need to humanize and understand the "other"--which includes both our allies and our enemies. We do not have to agree with each other, but we need to listen long enough to genuinely understand each other's narratives.

How to operate in an environment of constant uncertainty. When you arrive in a foreign culture, everything is uncertain. You feel a constant tightness in your chest because you don't know the rules for even the most trivial day-to-day tasks. Even something as simple as buying hummus and falafel or riding in a taxicab involves new processes, rituals, and dialog--especially if you want to do it like the natives. You can't be a perfectionist, because you'd never get anything done otherwise. You also have to learn to control negative emotional responses like fear, anger, or frustration. Fortunately, you do acclimate to this uncertainty. You learn to be patient, cool, and observant.

How to communicate without a solid common language. The lingua franca of the world is not English; it is broken English. Us Americans are pretty accustomed to communicating fluently with others who speak our native language--even when we travel, we can usually count on hotel receptionists and airline employees to speak good English--but most of the world does not have this luxury. If you visit a country far off the beaten path--like Jordan--you hear tourists from France, China, Denmark, or Eastern Europe talking each other and to locals in the least common denominator: broken English of varying quality. In these multicultural contexts, participants often speak a little of several languages, so it's common to hear people shifting from one language to another as they try to communicate. Many of my conversations with Jordanians work this way; between my bad Arabic and my counterpart's bad English and a lot of hand gestures, we stumble back and forth between languages until we both understand each other (we hope). Learning to communicate in this fragmented, multilingual manner is an important skill in its own right.

Not to take myself too seriously. Like most people, I don't like being made a fool of. But when you live in a foreign culture, there's no getting around it: you are the fool. You will get ripped off. You will make mistakes. You will accidentally invite your teacher out on a date when you pronounce a qaaf like a ك kaaf). After using the toilet at a rural Palestinian family's house you will stand up, turn around, push the wrong button on the toilet, and totally spray the crotch of your jeans with the turbo-powered bidet attachment. You will have to figure out how to explain that in your broken Arabic when you return, dripping, to the living room where the entire extended family is gathered. These experiences teach you to relax and to laugh at yourself. They teach humility. Anyone charged with crafting American foreign policy should have a few of these experiences under his or her belt.

The limits of cross-cultural "expertise". Imagine that a student from a distant country--let's take Turkmenistan as an example--decides to become an expert on the United States. He learns to speak bad English and majors in American Studies at his local university. He reads some books about America written in Turkmen or Russian, and maybe he works through two or three books written in English by Americans. After he graduates from his American Studies program, he has the chance of a lifetime: to visit the US for a six month study abroad program, where he mostly takes English classes and travels. After this, he returns to Turkmenistan and gets a job in the foreign ministry as an expert on the United States. How would we, as Americans, evaluate this guy's expertise? At best, he feel a little sorry for him. At worst, we lump him into the same category as Borat. Yet isn't this what we often do as Americans? I realized pretty early here in Jordan that I am that guy. I learn more about the culture, language, and political issues every day I'm here, but I've come to disdain the word "expert." There is such a thing as a cross-cultural expert, but few who claim the title really deserve it. It takes years--probably decades--of close work with another culture to really develop expertise. I still believe cross-cultural exchange is vital, even for short periods, but this should cultivate humility and thoughtfulness.

The importance of local relationships. This is the corollary of the above point. If expertise is so hard to come by, then I will never be able to successfully work among a foreign culture on my own strength. I will need to rely on trusted friends, guides, and partners. When Greg Mortensen started building schools in Pakistan, he didn't try to do everything himself. He brought the vision, but relied on the expertise of local guides and friends who understood their own needs, who knew where to get supplies, who knew how to negotiate and win support, and who knew how to get things done. He was a guest in their culture, and entirely at their mercy. Likewise, I've learned that I am largely at the mercy of my friends and associates here. I would never dream of trying to launch a major business or development initiative on my own in this country (or any country), yet this is how many Americans view our foreign policy work: we as Americans are the primary actors, and the cultures we work among (such as Iraqis or Afghans) play a supporting role. These roles must be reversed.

How to learn about a culture and language. When you live in a foreign culture, you learn how to learn. You learn what vocabulary is important, what language learning techniques work, how to make relationships, what skills are important, what details to pay attention to. This is my first experience living abroad, but I have no doubt that learning a second language and culture will be much easy because of these general skills.