Each one of us reading this website enjoys traveling or at least travels to enjoy their holiday. Anyhow, each country has different culture which reflects in all the domains. Therefore, any traveler is good to know as many things as possible about one country’s culture, in order to better adapt to the social environment.
Saudi Arabia is an extravagant and exquisite place for a holiday destination. It is good to know in advance that Islam is the one that coordinates the economic, political and personal life of the citizens here. Friday is believed to be a holy day and everything is closed during this day – the companies close their offices, making the tradition weekend from Saturday and Sunday to Thursday and Friday. During the period of the Ramadan, as a tourist you are not obliged to keep it. But you are not allowed to eat, drink or smoke in the public eye.
In the society men shake their hands, while women hug and kiss just the close friends, of the same gender. Saying “hi” to the opposite sex in the public, must be avoided. If you are invited into one’s home, taking a gift is much appreciated. The gifts are never opened in the moment that you receive them. A man ever offers flowers to a woman. When going out, you go mainly in international restaurants and hotels and in a room of the restaurant there are just people of the same gender. As a rule, one must eat just with the right hand, the left hand is considered to be dirty.
Unlike other cultures, the Arabs do not need much personal space; therefore they tend to stay very close to you when speaking. One should not take this personally and consider it an invasion of one’s own space. As a foreign one should be dressed in a quality suit, if it is a business meeting, as the first impression counts a lot. A woman should cover her knees and shoulders and the clothes she wears should not be fitted.
Unlike the Saudi Arabia, China is a country where each gesture is paid attention to. The non-verbal language is a main issue here and you can get in a lot of trouble without even knowing. The Chinese people base themselves on the face expression, the tone of your voice and the posture of your body in order to understand your feelings and as well they do the same, to express theirs.
More to come …
