New Cultural Norms as I Head to Kenya

Note: I wrote this piece while in route to Kenya. Even though I have now landed safely and am at a Nunnery overnight on my way to the school where I will be working, it seemed worth sharing. It did not save on Medium in the air but I took photos of each page …. So it is a choppy read but hopefully a powerful one.

Here goes.

I left the snow and ice (treacherous) behind and am en route to Kenya. I did not even have to land to notice that the ground was shifting under my feet. Cultural and social norms were different … right from the get-go.

Let me share two examples.

Start with the man who was speaking loudly in English (accented) at the Frankfort, Germany airport on a Zoom call. Not only was he loud but you could hear many other voices in the background. You could listen in to the entire Zoom meeting.

As I have done many times before with others at airport lounges, I signaled for him to be quieter. Usually, folks aren’t exactly pleased to be called out. Here we go again I thought to myself: another rude person, oblivious to setting and so self-focused that there was inattention to the other. Common problem sadly I thought.

I was and remain stunned. A heartfelt and true apology that was unsolicited and unexpected. I accepted it gracefully and told him I appreciated his reaching back to me when his call ended. Wow! My my my. Different approach from in the US.

But that was not the only shifting sand.

And there it is. I hadn’t even landed in Kenya and there were two startling situations that revealed very different cultural norms. The lens through which folks view themselves and others is different than in the US.

Sure, perhaps it was just that I was in the right place and space. Pure coincidences. Or perhaps I was seeing how non-Americans act and respond and the ways in which far too many Americans demonstrate rudeness, superiority and insularity.

These thoughts dovetail with other parts of my current thinking.

The trip is off to quite a start: access to seeing and hearing contrasting behaviors and norms, remarkable self awareness and an absence of hypocrisy.

We in the US have lots to learn from others outside our borders. If only we would listen……