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Joseph (center)

Cross Cultural Miscommunication

This experience was between myself, my friend Rohan, and two teachers at my internship site, Challenging Heights School in Winneba, Ghana. One of the teachers, Patrick, was my supervisor and the other teacher, Joseph, taught class 6. Rohan and I were talking to Patrick one day about finding a good tailor to mend our fabrics. We both agreed that we would go to his tailor at some point. We then asked Joseph the same question the following week. Rohan and I ended up going to Joseph’s tailor since he helped us find our fabrics at the market. The day after we went to Joseph’s tailor, Patrick did not show up to class until 1:30 pm. When he finally came, all he did was walk in the middle of a lesson to tell me and Rohan that he was disappointed in us. As we stood there confused for a minute, he walked out the classroom. He returned once again at 2:45 pm to teach the last 15 minutes of class and refused to say a word to me. Patrick continued to be upset with both of us for the next few days. It wasn’t until I told him that I was confused as to why he was upset did he finally tell me his reasoning. He told me he saw me go to Joseph’s tailor. He then went on to say that it is bad to tell someone you will go to their tailor and then proceed to go to someone else’s tailor. Rohan and I apologized and acknowledged that we had no idea about this unwritten rule.

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