I had the bright idea of gathering some of the MBA students I work with together for a drink. I suggested that the group be composed of those from North America. They could share experiences from their common base, ask questions, support each other and hopefully have a laugh.
Make that a whine mixed in with some crying.
When you hear those grand words - Cross Cultural Experience and International Exposure - visions of creative discoveries made while exercising magnanimous patience come immediately to mind. At least they did for me. Most of these students too seemed to have had something like that in mind when they decided to do their MBA in France rather than in the Great Halls of Learning, USA.
The ugly truth is that Cross Cultural Experience is code for repeated "brick wall hitting" mixed with continued "you cannot be serious" revelations.
We poor Americans. We really do live in a bubble. Things are so easy where we come from.
Until you have to live with it everyday, quaint sounds charming.
But those quaint other ways quickly become maddening roadblocks that seem totally unnecessary when in possession of an American (or Canadian) mentality.
Why won't anybody answer my questions? Has anyone around here heard the word "organization"? How come searching for answers entails a long trip on a merry-go-round?
Is everything a secret around here?
After allowing for the therapeutic experience of a nice long bitch session, I posed the obvious question.
Just what did you all think is really meant when someone states that they have had international experience?
It's not only knowing the delights of a fine Bordeaux served with a run-of-the-mill lunch, or possessing the savoir-faire to navigate the cheese board.
Or even that the toilet paper is pink and scratchy and milk sits on unrefrigerated shelves.
No, international experience is exposure to ways of doing things and thinking things that is completely opaque - and may very well always just stay that way.
It means that there are certain things that one will never get.
And after it all or through it all, you add a layer to your being that you never would have sprouted without having gone down this particular road.
Unfortunately (or maybe luckily) I didn't sound quite so poignantly philosophical with the students. After-all - I do my fair share of kicking and screaming too so I am one of them in lots of ways.
They all sort of quieted down. I know that we didn't "solve" anything but they shrugged their collective shoulders and said that they felt a bit better.
Then they ordered more carafes of red wine...........they're learning.
bravo Mary
Posted by: Claudia | February 05, 2010 at 10:54 PM
merci mon amie......ce nest pas toujours facile
To: mcarey2758@hotmail.com
Posted by: mary c | February 05, 2010 at 11:53 PM