To be on Time -- a Cultural Difference & a Challenge we face together

Being on time in Germany is not only cliche, a characteristic of the german culture, but also a challenge here for our men at [p3] at the beginning of their time here. 

Depending on what culture you come from, being on time is one of the highest established values within the culture or simply…. not.

In countries where this value is highly regarded, we tend to interpret people from other cultures who don’t have this as one of their main values as disrespectful and/or plain rude. What I usually teach our men here at [p3] is to stop and reflect of what the reason behind this behavior could be. There is always a reason and explanation for a culture of why they do things the way they are used to doing. 

So let’s go through this exercise together:

When possible, I try to choose myself as vulnerable example since it is easier for my audience to relate. As a born peruvian, I didn’t learn as a little girl to be on time. What I did learn, however, was to take time for everyone we encountered on our way to our destination. 

Even at our local farmer’s market, I would always observe my mom interact with everyone we would buy from— she knew their family and story. They would even call each other nicely “caserita,” meaning sweet regular customer/vendor. All of the vendors were so nice, they would even give me a few free peruvian-olives when I just stood there waiting on my mom, which are still my favorite to this day! We were never on a rush— our family meetings were on the afternoon or evening, not a specific time. People came when they came, not all at the same time. I learned from my peruvian culture to be flexible, always have time for people along the way to my destination, to small talk, and to value spontaneity. 

Living in Germany, I literally had to learn HOW to be on time. Which is a great learning skill to have, by the way. The tactic that I learned, I now pass on to all our motivated men who enjoy learning from my stories and tips here at [p3]. 

I still struggle being on time, don’t get me wrong— but it is something that reminds me to take time to understand each culture and learn from them.

This is always a story and tip that when I tell it to our men here they laugh and suddenly don’t feel so alone anymore— they know is also my challenge, so we decide, together & #miteinander, to be on time. They understand that our goal here at [p3] of Ausbildung is also closely tight at how successful they are with this German characteristic of the culture. 

I am interested to hear your tips on how to be on time! Leave them in the comments :) if you guys want, I can also write the tip I give our men here on a future post!

Until next time!

Cynthia

PS: in order to leave a comment, just make sure you type your name, and then the “submitting” button will be enabled so that you can post!