How do you view the world? There are many lenses that we look through when we observe and interact with our world. At the core is our lens of Faith. This answers the question of “What is real?” Moving outward we find our lens of Beliefs which answers “What is true?” From that lens we view our values which tells us “What is good or best?” All these lenses combine to dictate our Behaviors which demonstrate our worldview by “What is done?”
Every culture and sub-culture has different lenses. The challenge for me living cross-culturally is to try to see the world through other lenses. This can be difficult to do and takes a great deal of intentionality. It will be important for me to wrestle with this in order to function, communicate, and thrive in India.
I took an inventory of my values and identified which values are probably going to my greatest hurdles when I arrive in a few months. The first is my need to be independent and in control. Both of these will go out the window the moment I get on the plane. When a person enters a new culture they must be dependent on others and revert back to being more like a child. The everyday routines of life will no longer be familiar. I won’t know how to get around or go to the grocery store or even cook the food. Every aspect of life must be relearned. To top it all off I won’t speak the language or be able to communicate.
Another value that I will have to wrestle with is my knowledge and experience. I have very little knowledge and experience of Indian life and the Indian worldview. In fact I know just enough that I think it’s going to be more of a stumbling block because my knowledge/experience gives me a false sense of confidence.
Have you ever thought about how friendships are different in various cultures? As Americans we have certain expectations of our friends. In different cultures people have different expectations of how friends should interact and relate to each other. How friendships are formed and when one is considered a friend is also very different from one culture to another. Having intimate friendships are very important to me. I do not know what that will look like or how long it will take to form intimate relationships in India.
Also concerning relationships, I do not know what loyalty and respect look like in India. These are two characteristics I highly value in my relationships and interactions with others. Both of these qualities can be demonstrated very differently. It kind of is like the idea of love languages. When you know someone’s love language you can communicate love to them in a way that is meaningful to them. I will need to learn how Indians show loyalty and respect in order to know/understand how these values are communicated.
