The Art of Crossing Cultures

Rating:
Summary: Penetrating analysis of cross-cultural adaptation
Review: "The Art of Crossing Cultures" is a compelling analysis of the personal challenges inherent in the cross-cultural experience.

Storti bases his examination of cross-cultural adaptation not only on psychological and communication theory, but on the perceptions of some of the world's greatest writers and the literature they have produced.

Weaving their comments and insights into his discussion, Storti writes that to deal with the differences one encounters in living in another culture--differences which for almost everyone cause some form of counterproductive psychological reaction--one must be ready to go through a clearly identifiable mental process, learning how to anticipate differences and develop alternative reactions rather than withdrawing. Mastering this process is at the heart of the cross-cultural adaptation experience.

Craig Storti, former Peace Corps volunteer and trainer, is president of Craig Storti and Associates, an intercultural communication training and consulting firm. He is the author of the best selling "Cross-Cultural Dialogues: 74 Brief Encounters with Cultural Difference" and the new title, "The Art of Coming Home," both also available through Amazon.com. Over 20,000 copies in print.

From the Academic Library Book Review: "This is a useful addition to the literature of cross-cultural training. I recommend it to those who are preparing for extended sojourns abroad and to professionals in cross-cultural training."

Rating:
Summary: I usually hate this stuff...
Review: I am a totally way-too-confident, know-it-all travel partner, but I admit to having lost it while living in Eastern Europe last year with my husband (not his fault). Simply put: this book kept me from going home early SEVERAL times because Storti lets you moan and groan a little and then points out how you might have had a part in creating the cultural "misunderstanding" that plagues you. Trust me...if this book could help someone as stubborn as I am...it might be responsible for world peace someday.

Rating:
Summary: I usually hate this stuff...
Review: I am a totally way-too-confident, know-it-all travel partner, but I admit to having lost it while living in Eastern Europe last year with my husband (not his fault). Simply put: this book kept me from going home early SEVERAL times because Storti lets you moan and groan a little and then points out how you might have had a part in creating the cultural "misunderstanding" that plagues you. Trust me...if this book could help someone as stubborn as I am...it might be responsible for world peace someday.

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinarily comforting and enlightening
Review: This book remains a great source of wisdom and comfort, still needed after 15 years living abroad. The cultural differences aren't obvious any longer -- they can be deceptively subtle -- now that language and the daily facts of life are no longer an issue. However, I still trip over matters which I later realize to be cultural differences, and I assume others in similar situations do as well. And then I pull down Mr. Storti's book from the shelf and put it all into some sort of workable perspective.

Highly recommended to others, even those who have no intention of going abroad but would just like to have a better understanding of the cultural differences in this world -- something sorely needed these days.

By the way, Western women so quick to judge the 'sad' reality of women in Arab societies might do well to read this quotation from Harriet Martineau:

"[The women of the harem] pitied us European women heartily, that we had to go about travelling, and appearing in the streets without being properly taken care of -- that is, watched. They think us strangely neglected in being left so free, and boast of [how closely they are watched] as a token of the value in which they are held."

It should be a sobering reminder that it's a fools' game to judge, and certainly to pity, the reality of a person from a culture foreign to ours.

Thank you for your efforts and insights, Mr. Storti.

Rating:
Summary: DON'T BOTHER
Review: THIS BOOK WAS SO AWFUL, I GAVE IT TO THE GOODWILL WITHOUT EVEN FINISHING IT.IT KEPT SAYING THAT IT IS REALLY HARD TO STAY ABROAD FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME WITHOUT KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT THEIR CULTURE. (NO KIDDING) SOMETHING THAT WE DO THAT OTHER CULTURES DON'T ,COULD MAKE US SEEM RUDE OR IN EXTREME CASES EVEN GET US KILLED. IT GOES ON TO TELL TALES OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD TROUBLE BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T UNDERSTAND IT. AND THAT'S IT. THEY NEVER GO INTO ANY OF THE OTHER CULTURES TO TELL US WHAT IS AND IS NOT PROPER EDIQUETTE. I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT THE BOOK WAS GOING TO GO OVER ALOT OF OTHER CULTURES AND TALK ABOUT THEIR WAYS.THIS BOOK DIDN'T TELL ME ANYTHING THAT ANY HALF WAY INTELLIGENT PERSON DIDN'T ALREADY KNOW. NOT WORTH BUYING.

Rating:
Summary: The first thing you should buy when planning to move abroad
Review: This is an excellent book on culture shock ~ it has helped me a great deal in my own experience as an expat. They cover each stage of culture shock and offer strategies to combat them.

The only reason I didn't give this book "5 stars" is that they get a little obscure and too philosophical at times.

Rating:
Summary: Framework for Cross-Cultural Living
Review: Using humorous anecdotes, this book gives the reader a framework for adapting to other cultures, not a step-by-step guide to "here's what to take the hostess in Bulgaria." The stories of British colonists in India may seem irrelevant if a reader is looking for that level of detail, but they do present basic guidelines that are applicable to any culture in the world. I would recommend this as one book among many that a person should read prior to moving to an overseas assignment.