Three years ago I moved to Eastern Europe to teach English to high school students. Before I left, my mission organization hosted a two-week training for sojourners. During this training we played Bafa Bafa, a simulation that allows players to experience some of the feelings associated with cross-cultural interactions.
The simulation was developed by the United States Navy, and has been used for decades to prepare service members for overseas assignments. It has since been adopted by overseas mission and volunteer organizations to prepare sojourners for their acculturation experiences. While it is not exhaustive to the issues of acculturation, it is helpful in understanding the process.
Bafa Bafa begins by the group being divided into two cultures. Each culture meets in separate rooms where they are given the rules of the game. Once they are oriented to the cultures, each one sends representatives to the other. The representatives return to their “home” cultures and report back what they have experienced. This continues until everyone is given the chance to “visit” the other culture. At the end of the simulation, the two groups come back and discuss what they experienced and the implications of the game.
After the simulation we discussed several of the takeaway lessons of the game. Again, the simulation isn’t exhaustive, but it gave insight to four major issues that face individuals when they travel to new cultures.
1. Unmet Expectations
During the simulation, each culture is given the rules of the game and time to practice. As representatives from each culture visit the other room, they share their own culture while trying to learn more about the other. Even though it was only a simulation, our class learned that expectations play a role in how cross-cultural experiences unfold. By sharing our experiences and perspectives, we learned that it’s easy to expect differences in important cultural rules and mores, but it’s the little things that throw you for a loop.
This is best illustrated by a move overseas to a country where people speak another language. For example, an American moving to Russia can expect that the language, living conditions, currency, and other larger aspects of life will be different. However, smaller differences will also be seen, such as gender roles or nonverbal cues, and these are often the most taxing issues for sojourners to adjust to.
2. Adherence to Comfort Zone
When moving overseas through a sponsoring organization, you may be placed in an area with other Americans. While this may ease transition and allow an easier work environment, it can also cause some sojourners to become introverted to their group.
When faced with the challenge of acculturation, some individuals only choose what’s familiar and only interact with their home culture group. Adjusting to an unfamiliar language and a country with a different culture is scary, and sometimes it’s easier to only speak English, always hang out with expats, and only eat at McDonald’s. This, however, inhibits the foreign experience because the individual will not meet the local population or adjust to the language in this manner. In extreme cases, this disengagement can end with the sojourner preemptively leaving the field.
3. Same experience, different reactions
One thing we learned during Bafa Bafa is that, though we may be having the same experience, each person in class may have a different reaction. Individual characteristics play a big role in how sojourners adapt to being overseas. Many academic studies have been done, using a variety of indexes to determine personality characteristics inherent to transition success. One, the Cross Cultural Adaptability Inventory (CCAI), is the most cited, and explains how individuals who possess cultural empathy, are emotionally stable, have a tolerance for ambiguity, and are flexible will be better able to deal with the uncertainty of being in a new culture.
4. “It’s them” syndrome
The biggest takeaway we discussed after our Bafa Bafa experience is that it’s not about “them,” the other culture, it’s about us. As we travel overseas and learn about new cultures, we are also learning about ourselves (see number 3). And before we can learn about another culture, about “them,” we must first learn about ourselves in order to have the best experience possible.
If you can’t let go of yourself, if you’re not open to change in your paradigms, culture, and perspectives, it’s much easier to disengage (see number 2).
When traveling to a foreign culture it is best to submit to the process and allow ourselves to grow.
