Culture Shock in Earnest
Supposedly, in Egypt (and presumably other cultures), foreign workers go through several phases. The first two or three months, you feel euphoric: shisha! Street soccer! Scuba diving! Awesome people!
Then, roughly 3 months in, culture shock starts to hit. Hard. I mention to everyone I talk to that Cairo is a great city until you try to do something. There are no systems, no sanity, no predictability, and just nothing works as it's supposed to. Communication here isn’t so much a problem of language as of concepts: very few people understand things like ‘responsibility’ and ‘punctuality’ even if the translations are readily available. Language mostly provides a handy excuse.
That’s me now. It started, interestingly enough, when I started writing this blog, just a few days ago. I’m a notoriously on-or-off person: I can sit back and do nothing for months at a time, but when I slightly start to do something, I’m anxious and nervous until it's actually done right. Not the best trait for adapting to Egyptian culture, since Egyptian business life is much closer to doing nothing than to actual productivity. Which is easier? My brain only started functioning again because I started Arabic classes, LSAT studying, and writing this blog.
I’m fairly certain that everyone around me is happier with me trying to do nothing, than with me trying to fix the place and make it functional and professional. Most everyone in the office agrees that management needs serious reworking, and this is evident by the high turnover rate. But nobody really cares that much about it.
Are Americans work-obsessed simply because they have better jobs? Every job I've ever had before, I've gone pretty damn overboard on, even if I didn't feel like I fit in or that my efforts would be rewarded. What makes this different?
Even stanger is that, to the outside world, to members and supporters and beneficiaries, the office seems to be doing a pretty good job. I think this is perhaps due to low standards, but it’s clear that in the past few years, membership has skyrocketed, activities and events have increased, clout with Ministers and CEOs has increased. Maybe the office’s work is such that high turnover doesn’t really matter?
Regardless, I’m fixing this place. I have a lot of things to take care of and if I’m spending 8 hours a day here, I’m setting it up so it’s a place worth spending 8 hours a day.
And if I have to bash some heads to get things done, so be it. It’d be a good habit.
Then, roughly 3 months in, culture shock starts to hit. Hard. I mention to everyone I talk to that Cairo is a great city until you try to do something. There are no systems, no sanity, no predictability, and just nothing works as it's supposed to. Communication here isn’t so much a problem of language as of concepts: very few people understand things like ‘responsibility’ and ‘punctuality’ even if the translations are readily available. Language mostly provides a handy excuse.
That’s me now. It started, interestingly enough, when I started writing this blog, just a few days ago. I’m a notoriously on-or-off person: I can sit back and do nothing for months at a time, but when I slightly start to do something, I’m anxious and nervous until it's actually done right. Not the best trait for adapting to Egyptian culture, since Egyptian business life is much closer to doing nothing than to actual productivity. Which is easier? My brain only started functioning again because I started Arabic classes, LSAT studying, and writing this blog.
I’m fairly certain that everyone around me is happier with me trying to do nothing, than with me trying to fix the place and make it functional and professional. Most everyone in the office agrees that management needs serious reworking, and this is evident by the high turnover rate. But nobody really cares that much about it.
Are Americans work-obsessed simply because they have better jobs? Every job I've ever had before, I've gone pretty damn overboard on, even if I didn't feel like I fit in or that my efforts would be rewarded. What makes this different?
Even stanger is that, to the outside world, to members and supporters and beneficiaries, the office seems to be doing a pretty good job. I think this is perhaps due to low standards, but it’s clear that in the past few years, membership has skyrocketed, activities and events have increased, clout with Ministers and CEOs has increased. Maybe the office’s work is such that high turnover doesn’t really matter?
Regardless, I’m fixing this place. I have a lot of things to take care of and if I’m spending 8 hours a day here, I’m setting it up so it’s a place worth spending 8 hours a day.
And if I have to bash some heads to get things done, so be it. It’d be a good habit.
3 Comments:
nice blog, i enjoy reading it. i do wonder to what degree there is accountablity in egpyt and if there was a great accountablity, if it would help improve the productivity or organizations and ministries? and does egypt have a sort of checks and balance system at any degree?
good luck in your pursuits to improve your office, i look forward to reading about it..
batha fodder... shear bantha fodder! Dude, you can't sit twenty feet away from me and tell me that you ain't stainken. Cause I can smell me a fart when i ain't hear'in it.
You don't scare me(hiccup!)... you don't know me (...!...) you don't ...d on't push the sail that way you (*#@$(&) I don't have to take this shiat (hiccup)
what cha guys doing tonight?
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