Initial impressions of the global business program, city, and country, and what you hope to gain from this global experience. Describe the differences you see between the host country and U.S. culture.
Our Faculty-led program made its first stop in London, England. The first thing I noticed from leaving the airport was the greenery. The entire landscape was green. Rolling hills were aplenty. I also noticed how clean all of the highways were. Not only were the highways clean, but the roads and sidewalks were clean as well. Everything was so taken care of and intentionally beautiful. The apartment buildings were somehow all scenic. It was obvious that the city had a rich history because of the antiquity of all of the buildings. That was one of the largest differences between London, and the United States. The United States is a much younger country and all of the buildings are more modern. The United States is also a vastly larger country than England, making flatlands and non-populated areas more common. England’s size makes it common to see beautiful architecture because the country is much geographically smaller and highly populated. Historically, London has always been a city that has had a significant role and impact on the development of the world. The United States has also made an impact but in a more recent future than London. Subsequently, with the inventions of transportation, the United States uses motor vehicles to travel everywhere. Once again due to the size of the country, you need a car to be able to travel long distances. In London, the “Tube” is commonly used by all and people rarely travel by car. London is a large city, but I noticed that in smaller cities such as Oxford, it is not necessary to own a car. You could walk the span of the city within an hour or two. This is so different from Houston where it would take an Hour or Two (depending on traffic) to travel across the city. Both of these cities host some of the largest populations worldwide but are structured in completely different ways. For example, in London, people typically live slightly outside of the city and can get into the business part of town relatively easily due to the efficiency of the underground metro system. In Houston, if you live outside of the city, you have to take your car and can expect to waste an hour or so getting to your job due to morning rush hour.
Final reflections related to what you learned about conducting business and engaging with individuals in the host country. Articulate how your time abroad has changed your perspective and how your initial impressions were or were not accurate.
Over the course of the program, I learned a lot about the different countries that we visited along with how individuals in said countries conduct business. We visited a variety of different countries such as England, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. In England, the culture was very similar to the United States in the sense that there is a certain urgency and “rush” in the business world. Americans are typically considered to “live to work”. This may not be entirely true for England, however, in London, there is very much a high percentage of people who find working an extremely important part of their life. There are many career opportunities in London considering that it is the global financial hub. France and Italy definitely have a more leisurely approach to work. There is more of a work-life balance that is engrained into the culture. Here, the culture is to “work to live”. There is more of an importance of spending quality time with friends and family. People typically view meals as a social event and typically last many hours because of this reason. In the United States or even London, this is not the case because there is no time to spend hours having a meal (due to the high intensity and demand of a job). The average person in Italy and France will typically have a job at a restaurant or bakery as their full-time occupation. Whilst people in the United States would consider this a part-time job. This is due to the wage rate and the differences. I noticed that Germany, Austria, and Switzerland were very similar. They all were proper and had a deep foundation in following rules and the importance of doing a thorough job. They seemed to be more articulate about their professions compared to Italy and France who were more relaxed. These countries, however, did seem to value a work-life balance. Some of my impressions were accurate due to hearing about stereotypes such as France and Italy. Though I was not aware of the culture in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland I was intrigued by their balanced lifestyle.