Howdy ,
Book Excerpts…Winning Beyond Borders: Achieving Success at Work in a New Country…
During my first few months in Barcelona, Spain, I met up with a Kenyan lady doing her doctorate. She had been in the country before I came. During our conversation, she blurted out, "Last Christmas was the loneliest I ever had."
For most Africans, Christmas is an event we celebrate with friends and family. And we also celebrate with not-so-close neighbours. You invite people over even if you have a passing relationship with them.
The previous Christmas, nobody invited her over to share in the festivities. For most Spaniards, Christmas is like American Thanksgiving. They celebrate it mostly with family.
Beyond that, I discovered another part of the story later. Some Catalans (the region where Barcelona is located) don't usually like to bring foreigners to their homes.
Why?
You'll get it once you hear the pass-down story. During the dark days of Dictator Franco, he cracked down hard on every expression of Catalonia's identity. He targeted the language most of all.
Catalan was banned in public places and schools. Punishments followed disobedience. The only place of refuge for Catalans to speak their language was in their homes, amongst themselves.
But there are tales of foreigners who visit Catalan homes and report them to the authorities for speaking Catalan at home. It is why some Catalans are not open to foreigners in their homes.
With this context in mind, you might not get offended if a Catalan acquaintance or workplace colleague does not invite you to visit their homes.
…continued in the book “Winning Beyond Borders: Achieving Success at Work in a New Country”
Get your copy
Available Now
Internationally - https://www.workplacemultipliers.com/WBB
Also available on Amazon.
In Nigeria:
Ebook - https://selar.co/WBB-pdf
Paperback - https://selar.co/WBB-paperback
Tata,
Tola
0 comments