The Failure of Judging the Culture to Quickly

I was having problems the other day with the iron shutting off the electricity and I was failing in locating the electrical box. I finally decided to ask our neigbor, who I believe manages some of this housing complex, to help me locate it. Him, his wife and daughter have been the friendliest, neighborly people to us since coming here in June. I told Jenny that I would walk over, knock on the door and ask if he couldn't come and help me. Jenny said ok but then said that maybe I ought to call first because they always called to ask permission before coming over. I had noticed that and thought it a little odd as I usually feel comfortable just going up to the door and knocking. Maybe that is the way it is in Jo-burg and so I thought it best to do so.

Hugo was glad to come over and helped me find the box. His wife came by just to say hi since we had not seen her for a better part of the week. Somehow in our conversation they told me that when our directors first moved in the wife would always call them before coming over.

"In fact," she said, "Our custom is just to knock and walk right in. I did that once but the look on Lois's face told me that Canadians may not do that. So we started to call first."

I laughed. What first perceptions we pick up from the places we visit can be so skewed. I told her that I would have no problem walking over an knocking, though for Americans and Canadians, if someone just walked right into the house, it may seem a little strange."

So we now find it no problem to walk up and knock on the door.

Our Friends with Nadia