What Are Culture Bumps?

"We should acknowledge differences; we should greet differences, 
until difference makes no difference anymore." 
-Dr. Adela Allen 

A culture bump is a situation in intercultural communication that one or more people have experienced as confusing, strange, irritating, embarrassing, or amusing. Sound familiar? If you've spent some time in another culture, often wondering what on earth just happened or what you might have done or said wrong, you know exactly what we're talking about, and we'd love to hear from you!

By building a collection of culture bumps, we hope to help our readers not only gain a better understanding of where others are coming from, but also self-reflect and identify the rules governing their own culture. After all, we all tend to take our own values, beliefs, and behaviors for granted and only notice them when someone else deviates from them.

So, if you've experienced a culture bump, please do share your story here. It only takes a few minutes, can be completely anonymous, and will be a huge help to others traveling to your culture. Remember, we can only do this with your help and participation!

Of course, you can also explore culture bumps others have submitted here. Just keep in mind that none of the behavioral patterns described apply to all members of a particular culture. In every culture, an individual's behavior varies from one situation to another, and there will always be individuals who do not act in a way considered typical of that culture.

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Examples of Culture Bumps

Example 1

"I remember once I was in a post office once and there was a queue of people. The next person to be served in the queue was a young woman with blond hair. The young woman went up to the counter an in a loud voice said 'give me three stamps'. I can remember the situation so clearly. There was a gasp of horror from the people in the queue and suddenly you could almost feel the hostility in the atmosphere. As we say in England you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. People in the queue were so angry."
Archer, C A. (1986). Culture Bump and Beyond in culture Bound: Bridging the cultural gap in language teaching. J Merril Valdes (ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 170 -178.

Example 2

"Due to my working focus on the computer sector, I also hold computer training courses in China. I always ask the participants repeatedly during the courses whether they have understood everything, so that I can carry on with the material. They all answer ‘yes’. However, when I then ask a specific question, no one can answer it. I now assume that many participants have not understood the material, although they nod in reply to my question as to whether they have understood. This behavior on the part of the Chinese always surprises me. Why don’t the Chinese students admit that they haven’t understood something?"
Thomas 1996, translated and cited by Rost-Roth, M. (2007). Intercultural training. In: H. Kotthoff and H. Spencer-Oatey (eds.) Handbook of Intercultural Communication. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 491–517.