Exercise # 8

Cultural Dimension	Character Todd, Puro, Aisha or other	Outsourced Scene or Circumstance
Low-context culture	Todd and his boss	Office
High-context culture	Aisha	Office in India
Individualism	Indian Taxi guy	Airport
Collectivism	Indian Taxis were fighting	Airport
Low power distance	Todd and his boss	Office
High power distance	Puro with Todd	Office
Uncertainty tolerance	Todd and his boss	Office
Uncertainty avoidance	Aisha with Todd	India
Task orientation	Puro	Administrator
Social orientation	Aisha	India​

1. As soon as Todd arrives, he experiences the discomfort of being disoriented in a
strange new place. What happens at the airport?

 He struggled trying to walk through the huge crowed at the airport, which was an abnormal scene for him. Then he got annoyed by all the taxi drivers around him, who were fighting over him.

2. When a friendly traveler helps him get on the train, what does he tell him to do?
How could this advice apply to what an exchange student has to do?

He advised him to jump into the train.

5. First encounters with a culture can be shocking – Todd sees crowded streets with
cows, noise, and a man urinating in the street. But how does his host describe the
city?
"Bombay is terrible, but here it's very clean"

9. During his first conversation with Aunti Ji he makes two big mistakes. What are
they?

He ate with his left hand which considered not clean in india and he placed the same hand he ate with back in the food.

11. How does Todd figure out why one does not eat food with the left hand?

The owner of the boardinghouse explained to him by sign language why Indians think left hand isn't clean to eat with.

20. What does I.N.D.I.A. stand for? How might this be an example of the "Inbound
Syndrome"?

 I'll Never Do It Again.

23. When he looks at the cow in the office the second time, why is his reaction so
different?

Because he started to adjust and fit in which was shown in his second look, it was friendlier and more receptive that his first look and reaction when he just arrived to india.

24. Explain the difference between American and Indian cultures when Todd and
Puro discuss how often he visits his family and why he doesn't live with them.

Indians are more attached and close to their families than Americans. They consider the family an important and number one priority in their lives and that explains why they live with their families even if they get older and what their parents mean to them. While in America people mostly move out in a very young age and get caught up in their busy lives away from their parents and they're family and only gather when there's an event such as weddings, Christmas and thanksgiving.

13. Why do they disagree on how a "native" speaks English?

Because of the way Americans pronounce some words with an American accent not proper English, they think it's a matter of different accents which doesn't mean their English is wrong in India at the end it is a matter of correct English
He was shocked and didn't understand why Aysha said that. High-context culture.

7. Todd wants to check in to a hotel. But Puro insists he come to a boarding house.
What is the reason he gives Todd?

That he will feel lonely if he stays by himself in the hotel.