My Intercultural Shock!

This incident occurred during my trip to Marseille, France. My friend and I just arrived by train from Spain late at night. As we had not had our dinner, and most eateries were closed at that hour, we headed to the nearest golden arches (aka McD) for a sampling of French-American cuisine. We lined up and my friend’s turn came first so he placed his order in English. I noticed that as soon as she heard English being spoken, the server became irritated and started muttering words in French. She went to get the orders, still muttering away and started ‘throwing’ the food into paper bags before ‘throwing’ the bags onto the counter towards my friend. Then she grabbed the money from my friend’s hands and promptly gave him his change without a single word being spoken.

I was so shocked by rudeness being shown towards us. The server then turned to me and spoke something in a raised tone and sounding very irritated. I gave her a cold stare and walked away, having had enough of her discourteous attitude. I felt very angry as we were paying customers and deserved a polite service although we are not locals and do not speak French. I was also in disbelief as I had always thought that Europeans in general are very friendly people. Coming from an Asian culture where being polite is a must when meeting guest especially those from other countries, this incident came as a rude jolt.

Later I mentioned this incident to a French classmate. She explained that a small group of French people have a preconceived notion that the French is superior to other languages and those that do not speak it are of a lower class. However, this group of people constitutes only a very small minority and most French are very willing to accept foreigners speaking foreign languages. She hoped that I had not had a wrong impression of the country and the people. As it turns out, that incident was the last I had and my future travels in France was very pleasant.

Application Letter - Draft no. 1

JOB ADVERT

International Management Trainee

Interested in working in Singapore for Meltwater News?

About the Meltwater Group

The Meltwater Group is a privately held software company founded in Norway in 2001 committed to challenging existing business models by introducing disruptive technologies and building a powerful, global sales infrastructure. The Meltwater Group delivers B2B solutions based on search engine technology (Meltwater News), cloud computing (Meltwater Drive), talent management software (Meltwater Talent), social media tracking (Meltwater Buzz), press outreach (Meltwater Press) and biometrics (GenKey).

Meltwater News - Join a Winning Team

Meltwater News is the global leader in the field of electronic media monitoring, delivering a cutting edge Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution to more than 15,000 thousand corporate clients in more than 20 countries around the world. Despite a challenging global economic environment in 2009, Meltwater continues to grow aggressively as the need for companies to make sound business decisions based on tailored information from the internet is greater than ever before.
To accommodate our growth we are looking for exceptional candidates for our Singapore office who are eager to pursue an extremely challenging and rewarding career in one of Europe's fastest growing companies.

Your ideal qualifications

• University degree (any discipline)
• Strong academic results
• Passion for consultative sales and business development
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills
• Entrepreneurial spirit and hunger for success
• Track record for meeting goals and deadlines
• Natural leadership qualities
• International experience (academic or professional)
• Ambitious internships or first relevant professional experience

APPLICATION LETTER

Blk 789, #12-34-5,
99 Pasir Panjang Road,
Singapore 123456
U1234567@nus.edu.sg
+65 91122334

5th February 2010

Mr. Jackie Cham
Managing Director
Meltwater Singapore
#99-99/99, 0 Eu Tong Sen Street
Singapore 098765

Dear Mr Cham,

Application for the position of International Management Trainee

With reference to your job advertisement on the Meltwater Asia website, I would like to apply for the position of International Management Trainee.

I am currently a final year Bioengineering major at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and expecting to graduate in May 2010. An engineering background has prepared me to think critically and taught me vital problem solving skills which have been put to the test in my Final Year Project on B----------- ---------- --- ------- ------------. A brief stint in Germany during my Student Exchange Program has exposed me to different worldview thoughts, making me receptive to new ideas.

My past experiences include being a science teacher in a secondary school which allowed me to hone my interpersonal skills and motivational ability, attributes that are important in a management position. In addition, I have also acquired valuable IT skills, such as video and presentation slides production, while working as a Student Editor in the ------ --- ------------- ---------- in NUS. My internship as a Research Assistant in the --------- ----------- ---------- of NUS also serves to expand my skills in planning which will be suitable when managing a company.

As an elected representative to the ------ ------ ----- -------- of -------- ----, holding the portfolio of --------- -- ------ ---------, I have vast experiences in managing groups of people and planning the future direction of an organisation. I was also chairperson of the Archive committee and Vice-chairperson of the IT committee and Video Production committee, providing me with myriad leadership experiences. I joined the Young Entrepreneurs Program for 3 years and rose through the ranks to become the Managing Director. In that program I experienced managing a company at different levels.

The skills and experience gained previously will allow me to competently carry out my responsibilities in this position. I would welcome an opportunity to discuss my qualifications and how I could be of service to the company. I can be reached with confidence at the above contacts.

Yours sincerely,


Jon----- ----

Resolution to the hurtful truth

Thanks for the feedback from everybody.

The fault of the entire matter could rest on both parties. The committee as a whole could have been more diligent in ensuring that the points were given out fairly. We could have demanded frequent reports from him of the progress. We could also have checked the points ourselves periodically to ensure the protocols are being followed to the latter.

On the other hand, being an elected representative, William should also be responsible in ensuring that his conduct is of the highest level. He should not abuse the trust we placed in him.

To give a summary of the suggestions made, one way of resolving this conflict is to talk to William again after a ‘cooling off’ period. Probable getting a closer friend to him from the committee to approach him and talk to him is a good idea. Once we are able to break the ice, we could probable hold a gathering to catch up on things and improve our friendship.

However, I think the best way to resolve the conflict is to invite everyone out for a night of drinks and merry making and let bygones be bygones.