When traveling overseas, especially to a place with a very different culture, it is important to remember patience, especially when it comes to language. No matter how difficult it may be for me to understand their English, I must remember it is far better than my Chinese. It can sometimes cause amusing problems. One of our local guides had a bag by Coach which she pronounced "Coochie". She enthusiastically invited us all to "look at my coochie!". Yeah, I felt it was my duty to correct that one.
Most everyone I am working with speaks English well, but most of them have a refreshing subtlety in the way they speak. As an American, I tend to be too direct. We talk too much when we should listen more. We assume silence as either a lack of understanding, or passive agreement, instead of polite reflection on what was said.
For the project I am working on, there is a delicate situation in China between our team and a local distributor. Problems could occur down the road, and we want to avoid it. There had been discussions through intermediaries, but it was not until the last say did the local team bring it up to me. From the way the sales manager spoke, it was obvious they wanted to, but politeness forbade him from doing so previously.
An answer at this time does not exist, but we understood the concerns. I let him speak and then then repeated his concerns in my own words. I explained to him and the group we were aware of the situation, and that the highest senior management was aware and acting on our behalf to insure there would be no problems. No resolution had been reached, nor could it at this time.
Afterwards, I spoke with the sales manager and I thanked him for raising this issue. He thanked me for my understanding. It was a good day.
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