Katerina Blogs: Cultural stereotypes are an urban myth

This past couple of weeks has been sort of an observation on behavioral intercultural patterns. Or basically, the absence of them. And all this, in a surreal context. Now, I know all this may sound weird to you, but let me explain.

I think we all have in mind those cultural stereotypes that we often use to classify people and explain situations. For example, ‘French are good kissers’, ‘All Russians drink vodka for breakfast’, ‘Germans are organized’ ‘Greeks are bad at handling economics’. Well the last one might not be entirely false…

Anyway, the point is that everyone, including me, uses these stereotypes. But alas, there comes a day that life proves you wrong! For instance, and I think all international students will agree on this, Dutch are considered to lack spontaneity. I mean, even a simple coffee must be arranged two weeks in advance. If it’s not on the agenda, it simply cannot be done! But how would you react if all of a sudden you hear a Dutch saying ‘Hey, I heard your accent, I am wondering where you come from, so you want to join me for a drink later to sort this out?’ I know the first reaction would be ‘This is creepy. Jack the Ripper is still among us. I have to think of something witty to use as my last words in life’. But it happened. True story. And no one got hurt.

And then there is the ‘bro’ phenomenon. This is kind of hard to explain, but for those of you who are even slightly familiar with the American culture you probably know what I mean. So, someone would expect the ‘bro species’ to flourish only in America. But field investigation proved that they have actually spread in Europe as well, bringing with them all the magnificent activities of their species: rituals, songs, language based on one syllable vociferations etc. When an outsider is found in such an environment, my advice would be nod and smile politely and do not get involved at any cost even if revelations about ‘bro’s’ personal life come up in the form of an epic poem. It’s part of the ‘bro culture’ and kind of what makes you a ‘bro’.

Bottom line is, never stick to the cultural stereotypes. They’re just there to deceive us. Just open your minds and enjoy the cultural blend-in. After all, we are all different.

[Katerina Petropoulou (25) studies Business Communication and Digital Media at Tilburg University and blogs for Univers.]