The Lewis Model - Cultural experiences

"Up to the middle of the 20th century, the scrutiny, analysis and comparative studies of the world’s cultures were largely matters for academicians. Some knowledge of the subject was helpful in our travels abroad or when welcoming foreign guests to our shores." 

"The Lewis Model is the latest to gain worldwide recognition, being developed in the 1990s and articulated in Richard Lewis’s blockbuster, When Cultures Collide (1996), which won the US Book of the Month Award in 1997. Lewis, after visiting 135 countries and working in more than 20 of them, came to the conclusion that humans can be divided into 3 clear categories, based not on nationality or religion but on BEHAVIOUR. He named his typologies Linear-active, Multi-active and Reactive." 

a national level according to one’s country ( or countries for people who migrated during their lifetime) - this can apply to me moving to a totally different country for the first time ever. 

a social class level, associated with educational opportunities and with a person’s occupation or profession - this can apply to the whole Erasmus itself, I moved to Finland to experience university there, to learn about their education system and to understand how different it is to my own experiences. 

Trompenaars – the basis of cultural differences in relationship with people - whilst in Finland I was able to build relationships with different people, people from different countries, different religions and so on, this helps to build our cultural experiences and to learn new things from what we already know. - this is very important. 

Richard Lewis "After summarizing the previous theories, Lewis concludes with creating a new one, that classifies countries and their culture in three different dimensions." This to me is also very important. in our lives, we must learn new things such as new cultural experiences and any type of experience for that matter. to be able to leave the comfort zones we need to learn new things and gain new experiences to be able to move on from our own. 

Culture shock! - I wasn't so much shocked at the Finnish culture, but it is very different from my own. For example - the first thing I learned about the Finnish culture was that Finns keep to themselves, they don't so much like small talk or anything like that. Now, this is important - this is their culture, they do not intend to be rude or disrespectful! This is just how they are - just like how us Mancunians love small talk and to talk about anything! In order to fit in you must follow their rules, this is their home and their culture and you must respect it. 

References: 

https://beyondculturaldifferences.wordpress.com/research-theories/