Unfortunately not original material, but possibly of interest to some readers.

There are some characteristics shared by culturally fluent people, no matter their culture of origin. These characteristics are culturally transcendent, fundamental elements of any “third culture” (which is a culture created out of interaction between two cultures, within an individual):

- Open-mindedness towards ideas and experiences
- Empath towards people
- Accurate perceptions of difference and similarities between own and other cultures
- Ability to describe behaviours not understood, as opposed to evaluating them (as bad or meaningless, for example)
- Astute non-critical and non-ethnocentric observation of other’s behaviour
- Ability to establish meaningful relationships with those from other cultures
- Focus on understanding the behavour of others

I have been described by others as ambivalent, and i believe i can tolerate high levels of ambiguity. I think these are both personal qualities that have helped me be flexible and open-minded in cross-cultural contexts. Im currently exploring the relationship between my ability to tolerate ambiguity and my tendency (at times, in certain contexts) to take things ridiculously literally, because i believe there is a connection there.... not sure what it is yet, but seems like sides of the same die, a consequence or function of the same mechanism. I hope that makes sense.

The above characteristics come from W. Gundykunst and Y. Kim’s 1997 book, Communicating With Strangers: An Approach to Intercultural Communication. Its available here. My lovely lecturer wrote it out for me after quoting it on the first day.

• MissSin said on 06/10/12 at 04:18 PM.....

  interesting…

  
  have read some stuff on Third Culture Kids (TCK) and a lot of what is written is very similar. have also found that a lot applies to me too…but then again i am, perhaps, a TCK myself.

  
  i think i have some of the same feelings as you - i am ok with ambiguity most of the time, but there are other times when i want things in black & white.

  But why?  personally, i think growing up or living in another country does make you accept more & not need to have everything put in (cultural/national) boxes.

  
  However, for me, i sometimes feel rootless, so i need something more concrete just to ground me.  otherwise i’ll end up floating off into some weird cultureless stratosphere…

  
  I’ve also found myself to more proudly british (& sometimes quite stubborn about it) and have sworn to myself that i will be british till the day i die.  I will NOT surrender my passport & become the citizen of another country.  But i will quite happily stay here (Japan) forever and maybe never live in england again.

   

  It’s bloody weird - and i think it may have to do with being here since i was a teenager…

  
  don’t know if this is off topic…but damn, you got me thinking again!!

   

• aag said on 06/10/13 at 01:27 AM.....

  Fixed the tag…thanks for catching that.