As a Lebanese student who was born and raised in Kuwait and currently studying in Dublin; I think that culture has a very important role in day to day human relationships and interactions. The relationships and interactions between individuals in day to day life is very similar to the supply chain of a company. For instance, as a student in UCD, I am part of a supply chain that includes the school, the staff, the instructors, and also my colleagues. Therefore the difference of culture between certain individuals in any day to day supply chain might cause some difficulties or disruptions in my interactions and communication. During my three months in Dublin I became aware of some differences in the life styles, communication, greetings, and even eating habits between my colleagues, friends, roommates and even sales staff from shopping centers. I realized that once I got to know those differences, I was able to communicate more easily and smoothly with people from different nationalities, my experience with the GARDA to get my visa papers completed was therefore simpler, and even I became able to run my errands faster and with less efforts. Therefore I choose to create a blog that I named “Around the World” in order to highlight those differences in cultures and differences in communication and behaviors that effect day to day interactions. To start with, this blog will include posts about Dublin, Kuwait and Lebanon. The reason why I choose those three countries is because I am a Lebanese student who lived my whole life in Kuwait and now currently study in Dublin; therefore I choose three countries that are very different in their cultures and backgrounds. This blog will include posts that will highlight the global etiquettes in those three countries that would be essentials for both business men and tourists to know before performing any business deal or deciding to visit any of those three countries. Moreover the blog will include posts on the activities that visitors would be interested to try when visiting Kuwait, Lebanon, and Dublin. International students, especially from Arabic countries, might fight difficulty finding “Halal” food or even restaurants and supermarkets that offer their cuisine so in this blog I will also provide some choices that they can find in Dublin.
To conclude, I feel that this blog is a very good solution for people who travel to countries with different cultures and backgrounds and also for business men and women planning to perform a business deal or attend a conference with companies from overseas. Moreover, after creating this blog I have learned more about Kuwait, Lebanon and Dublin that I never knew before. I hope that you will enjoy the posts in my blog and I am looking forward to read your comments and participations.
Regards,
Mustafa
Founder of Around the World blog
