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1) I characterize myself as a high context communicator. I communicate in ways that rely on the context of the situation, and do not solely depend on verbal means to communicate. For example I use hand gestures, body language, and facial expressions in conversations to get my meaning across.

I am also mostly polichronic with my time, as in I execute multiple tasks rather than doing one thing at a time. For example I could be cooking food, while listening to music, and reading something from my book.

I am also very close when it comes to personal space. For example when speaking to someone or greeting a friend I get into their personal space because that’s how I am used to.

I prefer being in harmony with nature. Not dominating it, but also not being subjected to it, it is important to live in harmony with nature and have a correct balance. For example I love living around nature, but having a balance where nature doesn’t become overwhelming.

I characterize myself as someone who is both task oriented and relationship oriented.  Combining the skills of managing the task and time correctly as well as cooperating correctly in a group. For example I am good at managing my time when it comes to deadlines for assignment, as well as working well in groups for group projects and presentations.

2) I have many similarities and some differences between my Cypriot cultures characteristics. For example my culture uses high context communication, which is similar to the way I communicate. My culture is also very polychronic when it comes to time and task management. I am also polychronic when it comes to time but at a lesser extent than my culture. I am also similar to Cypriot culture characteristics when it comes to personal space. In my culture and I personally, when communicating come in close personal contact. When it comes to nature I differ compared to my cultures characteristics. I am a person who likes to live in harmony with nature, on the other hand my countries culture show a more dominating character when it comes to nature. I also differ in orientation compared to my countries characteristics of orientation.  My culture is predominantly relationship oriented, I on the other-hand would like to be both relationship oriented and task oriented because it is important to have a balance of both.

3)  By creating a group profile we can conclude many different things. For example I have many similarities with Imani when it come to communication, dominating/in harmony with nature, and task relationship. The biggest gap to bridge is the dimension of personal space. I have no similarities with anyone because I am a high contact person, compared to my group members that are more lower contact people. Another dimension that I differ slightly compared to my group members is that I am closer to poly-chronic regarding time. The majority of my group members are in the middle, a combination of both mono-chronic and poly-chronic time. We deal with these differences by understanding that everyone is different when it comes to these 5 dimensions. The more we get to know each other the easier we deal with our differences and become a more effective group.

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My culture profile

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I found this exercise to be vey interesting, and taught me that people react, and feel differently based on the roles they were given. In this exercise I was a Randomian worker in the balloon factory. The role I had to play made me behave in an inferior manner, compared to the instructors/trainers. I had to not maintain eye contact, as well as always showing a positive attitude. Acting this way made me feel uncomfortable because I am very use to talking at people and making eye contact. Maintaining a positive attitude and acting like nothing ever went wrong also made me feel that I was always trying to prevent problems, or confrontations from occurring. The trainers had a different behavior, they tried to interact with us and find out ways we could improve our work. They were very direct, tried to make eye contact, and straight to the point. They behaved like they were superior and maybe felt that we were not working at are full potential. What I learned is that people react differently based on their background and upbringing. They might behave, act, think, and feel differently and you should take this into consideration.

A personal experience I had in a real life cross-cultural situation was this past weekend when I was ordering Chinese food, at a fast food restaurant. I was not clear about the menu and was uncertain about what to order, I also asked a few questions about the food in order to help me decide what I wanted to order. The cashier which was of an Asian background, quickly lost his patience and started to become agitated. I could tell by his body language that he just wanted me to pick something and leave. This frustrated me because your clients should always feel welcomed and comfortable in your restaurant, rather than them feeling rushed and unwanted. This situation then made me wonder about our different cultural backgrounds, I know from my culture restaurant owners, or fast food owners, will always make you feel welcomed and comfortable. Maybe in Asian countries they emphasize the fact that fast food needs to be fast, and knowing what you want to order beforehand is appreciated. This is the reasoning I gave his behavior and how I ended up interpreting his attitude. An alternative behavior from me would be deciding quickly on what to eat and not asking more questions than needed. This would then in turn make the cashier have a different response.

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I learned that what you observe could have multiple interpretations by different people. Someone else may not interpret the same thing you interpret, based on someone’s behavior. For example I interpreted that Leon was tired or aggravated by observing his behavior. This was not true and on my part, a wrong interpretation, because Leon justified his behavior by saying it was a mere habit.

I learned about some habits and common behavior characteristics frequently used by each individual group member. For example, Maxy uses hand gestures when speaking, and Julian frequently Jokes around in meetings. I learned that their behaviors are part of their character, and specific to themselves.  I have also learned that I should not fully interpret someone’s behavior because my interpretation may be incorrect. After reviewing my observations with my group members, they believe my interpretations where in line with their intentions.

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Deep under water (values, basic assumptions, beliefs)

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Deep under water (values, basic assumptions, beliefs)

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1. Beliefs about hospitality: What I can say with confidence about my fellow Cypriot people are that they are amongst the most hospitable in the world. The people are always very welcoming of tourists and always willing to lend a hand. I can relate with personal experience, when ever I enter someones house I am always offered food, or something to drink. I always feel welcomed and comfortable.

2. Values important in Cyprus: Some important values that I have been brought up by are hard work, integrity, and respect to others. These values are present through out my culture and are considered very important. My mother always stressed how important hard work is in order to be successful. My father always  told me have my integrity, as well as respecting others. I believe that these values helped shape me into the person I am today, and for that I thank my parents.

3. Role of family: Family plays a very significant role not only in my life, but in the life of many Cypriot families.  My family is always very supportive of me and always wants the best for me. I have a very big family which is also very close, from grandparents, to aunts and uncles, to cousins, and godparents. Everyone looks out for each other and helps out when anyone is in need. For this I am very grateful and want to give back to my family as gratitude.

4. Beliefs about child raising: Typically in my culture the women have the responsibility of raising the child while the father works to support the family. Similarly to how I was raised the grandmother plays a very important role in raising the children as well. She helps out with anything the mother needs, babysits, as well as prepares food if needed to. I remember having a wonderful childhood and for that I have to thank my parents. I lived in a rural area which was very safe and not very densely populated. My brother and I were given a lot of freedom as children and did not always have restriction and tight parental control. Looking at the way I was raised I have formulated the same beliefs about child raising for the future.

5. Work ethic: Cypriot people are very hardworking people, typically working their whole lives for below average salaries. Government jobs although have a reputation for working less hours and people being described as lazy. From my personal experience I see my fathers work ethic and how hard he works. He has his own steel construction company and usually works 6  times a week. In the future, I hope I also stay determined and hardworking just like my father.

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A norm in my house during Easter

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1. Attitude about personal space/privacy: Generally speaking from my experiences and what I have encountered with personal space and privacy is that not a lot of people demand it, or always expect to have their own personal space. As a culture Cypriot people are very affectionate and touchy people. I am like this myself with people I am close with. The people are very warm-hearted and caring, even if sometimes they intrude on your privacy, or personal space, it is not out of spite that they do it, they do it because they have been raised with different norms and morals. For example with my brother and friends back in Cyprus our relationship doesn't demand  that we need our own privacy or personal space. On the contrary we always like eachothers company and feel that personal space would never become an issue.

2. Rules of polite behaviour: Their are certain rules I grew up with about polite behaviour that my cultures plays an important role in forming. It is always polite if I have a guest in my house to offer some food and something to drink, regardless if the person declines the offer, it is important to always insist as well. If I attend a birthday party it is always polite to bring a small present, for example a bottle of wine. Another example would be to alHways greet everyone in the room and ask how they are doing. For me the most important rule of polite behaviour is to always finish the food in my dish. Not finishing my food at my grandmothers house was and will always be an issue. This indicates that I did not like my grandmothers food, and is generally nor very polite.

3. Gesture to show you understand: The typical gestures to show that I have understood something is a slow nod of the head, as well as a thumbs up. This two gestures are very common and used in a lot of different places in the world including Cyprus.

4. Holiday Customs: A very important holiday celebrated in Cyprus is Easter. Some norms and customs you have at every typical household are the baking of "flaounes" which is a sort of cheesecake, and the dying of eggs, traditionaly red or yellow. My family follows this tradition, as well as having a big feast with lamb and pork on that Sunday. This is by far my favourite time of year because my whole family gets together and celebrates.

5. Concept of beauty: My concept of beauty is partially formulated by my upbringing and culture. A norm and rule in my society would be to never merely judge someone by their physical appearance, but judge someone by their personality and character.  For example what I and others in my country find beautiful are intelligence, politeness, confidence, and a good personality.

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Worn by women

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Worn by men

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Above water (visible symbols and behaviour):

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Above water (visible symbols and behaviour):

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1. Traditional style of dress and fashion style: consists of a "Vraka" for men, and a "Sayia" for women. Mostly made from local cotton and silk, the colours varied from dark red, green, blue, yellow, and orange. These are traditional and now not worn often. My style of dress would be casual and comfy, depending on the occasion. These traditional fashion styles are still followed in the villages, but not followed by the new generation, like myself.

2. Way of greeting: Traditional way of greeting someone I have never met before would be with a handshake, if I know someone very well, or if they are a close relative, I would kiss them once on each cheek. For example I would great my grandmother with a kiss on the cheek, and would shake the hand of the person I just met at a bar.

3. Attitude toward age: The general attitude and behaviour I have towards all ages is respect. I have respect for the elderly because they have much experience in life, as well as being wiser. For example  my grandfathers advice is always important to me because he has a lot of experience. The younger ages are also treated with respect. I am always kind with children and try to positively interact with them as much as i can.

4. Importance of Time: For me time is very important, it is also import to be punctual with time, this shows organisation and respect to anyone waiting for you. Unfortunately Cypriot people are not very well known for being on time.  For example "I will be there in 5 minutes" usually means "I will be there in 30 minutes". This problem needs to change in my country and people need to become more punctual with time in order to properly progress in life.

5. Favourite Food: Medditeranean cuisine, spacificly Cypriot cuisine is considered one of the healthiest diets in the world. This diet usually consists of a variety of fish, meat, beans, vegtables, and fruit. What makes this diet so healthy is that olive oil is almost always present in dishes. My personal favourite dishs if I had to pick would be "souvla", which is slow cooked skewered meat over charcoal, as well as a simple greek salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onion, feta cheese, olives, and olive oil.