In my previous post, I wrote about stepping out of the comfort zone and learning to adapt to new environment. In this post, I am going to share with you two contrasting true stories about how two different people adapting themselves to a new culture in a new country.
True story No. 1
I have a friend by the name of Julian who was sent by his company to work in Germany for three years. Julian is a person who is rather conservative and refuses to move out from his comfort zone. He would prefer to stick with people he knows rather than mixing with new ones. Therefore, it was no surprise that he brought a huge load of things from Malaysia when he moved to Germany to start his life there for the next three years. He wanted to have familiar things around him and he was not prepared to experience and try out something different.
Julian returned to Malaysia for three weeks (annual home leave) at the end of every year. In one of his trips back to Malaysia, I asked him whether he is enjoying himself in Germany? He replied rather negatively. He replied that he didn’t like the weather, the food tasted strange, people don’t speak English and they are rather cold and unfriendly. When I heard all of his whining, I began to have pity on him. I gave him some words of comfort by saying that before he knows it, he will be back in Malaysia for good in no time. Even though, I felt pity for Julian but I can’t help but to think this negativity was self inflicted and nothing to do with the country that he was living in.
True story No. 2
Some of you may have heard about one of Malaysian football legends by the name of Lim Teong Kim. Lim Teong Kim was the first Malaysian footballer to play in Europe for a German club called Hertha BSC Berlin. Lim Teong Kim later on returned to Malaysia and then went to back to Germany for good and eventually became the Assistant Coach with the Bayern Munich Under-19 Team. Lim Teong Kim learned the German language, ate German food and adapted himself very well to the German culture. In other words, he settled into the new environment very comfortably. Lim Teong Kim even married a German lady and has three children with her. In one of the interviews with the Malaysian newspaper, the reporter asked Lim Teong Kim whether he will return to Malaysia one day. In his answer, Lim Teong Kim seem to infer that he is rather comfortable in Germany and moving back to Malaysia may not be in the cards in the near future.
We can see from the two stories, there is a great contrast between how Julian and Lim Teong Kim adapted themselves in Germany. Let’s look at how Julian handled himself in Germany. He complained that he didn’t like the weather. Well, I guess, coming from a country like a Malaysia where the weather is warm and humid all year round, you can’t expect the same in Europe. Julian’s second complaint about how he didn’t like German food. Well, again, you do not expect to find “nasi lemak” or “char kway teow” readily available in a foreign country. Thirdly, people don’t speak English and are cold and unfriendly. Again, like the saying goes, “when you are in Rome, do what Romans do”. When a person is in Germany and the person wants to communicate then the person needs to learn German rather than having the Germans learn your language. If they can't communicate with you, the perception you get will be that they are cold and unfriendly. If you look at Lim Teong Kim, he didn’t have any complaint because he knew that in order for him to settle down, he needed to move out from his comfort zone and to adapt himself to the new environment rather than having the new environment adapting to him.
One of the ways to adapt yourself to a new environment is to have an open mind and not to have any expectation. The only boundary that one should take note is that as long as the new environment does not go against your belief or principle, then you should adapt yourself into the new environment and let nature takes its course.
No comments:
Post a Comment