Now. Okay. We are rolling. Great. Right now. And everybody looks, uh,
good to me, so thank you. I think I'm loud enough. Okay. Here we go.
Okay, great.
All right. Um, .
So, well, I'm grabbing my beer.
Oh, okay. I'm.
Realizing it's gonna be hard to keep my mouth near the microphone and grab it,
but here we, oh, you're handy. Oh, thank you.
Absolutely.
He handed it to me. How.
Gly Absolutely. Are you with us, Dean?
I'm here. I'm here, man. I'm.
Here. Do you, uh, do you have a glass of wine with you today? I.
Do. I have a little, uh, chii.
A chiante. Ooh, my goodness.
You have some fava beans with that also for those movie buffs. Oh, no.
Nice . I'm.
A little, I'm a little scared. I'm very scared. Oh, okay. . Um, .
Do, do you have a, a alcoholic beverage with you?
I, I do. I have, I also have a beer. Yes, I do. Now.
Are we doing this? Because in the last podcast we talked about the fact that we,
that I had said, when we sit down, we're gonna have some sangria.
And then I didn't actually prepare.
There was no.
Any.
Sangria. There was no freaking sangria. I.
Think it drove us to do this.
It, yeah. We brought our own. Because you clearly are not providing anything.
So.
And I was concerned at the time that providing alcoholic sustenance might not be
a good thing for the podcast, so. Right, right. I didn't want, I,
I said I would have sangria, but of course I really wasn't gonna do it. Mm-hmm.
. And then everybody said, no, no, no.
Do it. Yeah. We rebelled.
Well,
what that leads the listener to understand is don't trust anything Dean tells
you. is basically it every defined.
We've.
Done for the last five years. That's right. In terms of, that's correct.
In terms of cultural do's and don'ts. Right.
4,000, your podcast. That's right.
Ignore, forget Defy.
That's right. Completely ignore him.
That's the takeaway. That's.
It. Well, actually, you know, if,
if there is a listener who has heard something that is not correct,
I would always hope that they would let us know.
And make, make sure you address all of those to Dean Foster.
Or care of it's culture show@gmail.com. There.
You go.
And I've never heard anybody say.
That. No, no, no.
So that means.
But hold.
On. Perfection thus far.
Perfection. It gotta be perfection. 'cause without,
unless someone actually says that he's wrong, Uhhuh ,
he's always wrong. He's.
Always right.
Exactly. That makes perfect sense to me. Always. Right? That's right.
Perfect sense. And.
From this point on, now that we do have, um, you have a a,
what are you drinking? A little beer.
A little beer.
It's a nice craft beer from the state of Maine in the United States. It's.
Uh, we, we both have actually an ash white, we're not being sponsored by Ash.
No, you're not. But I'll name it.
We could be. We could be. If you wanna sponsor a sash, please feel free.
I live in Portland, Maine. So let, let's.
Do it right. He's right there. He is a local. Yeah.
I've been to the brewery many times. Fucking.
And as have I. Yeah. And it's a, it's a, a lovely place.
Go visit it when you get a.
Chance. We.
Get on board. Absolutely. We're plugging 'em. And it makes a wide,
they make a wide range of beers that are, are, I swear they're not.
Sponsored. We're.
Sponsoring. We're not sponsored at all. We could be at all.
We could be Allagash .
So from this point forward, however,
if I do get comments that the things that we've said is not correct, yes.
We'll attribute it to the alcohol. Right, right.
Okay. Well, and I should name that We're planning to do three epi.
We're going to record, what are we doing? Three episodes? I don't dunno.
We're gonna record three episodes back to back. That's the plan.
Uhhuh . So, you know,
we'll see how things go over the course of time as we consume alcohol.
There you go. You know.
There you go.
It might get, it might get a little, little interesting.
You'll hear these over the next several months. You know.
If I were a listener listening to this, I would say like,
why are you giving me this warning , I,
I'm getting less and less and less and less encouraged. We'll see.
Oh, what happens?
I would say this could be more and more entertaining as it goes along.
Uhhuh . Yeah. Uh, very possibly. That's right.
Especially from Dean's. Uh, end.
We'll see what, what comes out.
He's, he's usually a drag and he doesn't know anything. You know, come on.
We know what's happening with this. The cultural piece. Uh.
The culture is always a cultural, well, here's, he's.
Gonna blow it out, is the.
Cultural piece, piece piece to the beer.
Oh.
Really? Here's.
The cultural piece. Okay. We spoke a lot about, in,
in previous podcasts about different, different drinks, different toasting,
different Right. Different protocols around drinking. So, uh,
here's to a successful podcast. Cheers. Here on Cheers.
Cheers. Oops.
Your culture is going.
Did I just say that.
You need to do that again?
Maybe we wanna say it again. .
What did you say?
Well, here's.
I don't even think he's had much qui thus far.
Was that, was that ?
This is the sober Dean . Okay.
It's gonna get better for beer.
So there's gonna be a problem here as we go along. I got a feeling. Maybe not.
Maybe he'll get better.
Wouldn't it be funny if you spoke like really clearly after that?
Hmm. Could happen.
With full engagement. Full eng.
Well, no, full. Let's not push you a.
Lot.
Yeah. I don't know. Come.
On. Well, in this podcast, that's called.
Oops. Oops. Your showing.
Oh, there you go. That was much better. Yes, I think so. and.
Here. And here we are. Hello. Tom.
Peterson. Hello. Oh, thank you. Hello, Dean Foster and hello Torn. Welcome.
We're so glad you're with us again. Just Oh.
Thank you so much. I was just gonna note now we can't cut out the previous one.
'cause we're talking about No, no.
Short say it in we, we left it in and it's, it's a,
we have to because that's because.
I'm editing it. I'm not, I can't cut that out.
No, it's what it's all about . It's what it's all about. Right? The.
Editing machine is broken. So.
It's a, you're hearing everything. It's, this is a, um,
you gotta understand the podcast. This is the way podcasts work.
That's what makes 'em great. That's.
Right.
That's, I think there.
Are a lot of other things that make them great, but, oh, this one of them. Okay.
Well, name three.
Culture, culture and culture. Ding.
No idea what he's talking about.
. I understood it because this.
Is what we, this is, thank you. Thank you, Tony. You're.
Welcome. Let me drink a little more. Maybe I'll, I'll just keep drinking.
Understand more. See, normally when I come to these sessions, I'm already drunk,
so There you go. It's like.
That explains. So it really.
Does. It really does. Yeah.
Well, that's kind of fun. We just had a little game show right there.
It felt like.
We did bit and I heard Ding Bell.
And, and I got points, I believe, didn't I?
Uh, now what? Let's do a game show today. Oh.
Oh, alright.
Okay. You, what do you think?
Sure, sure. You, you got one in mind. You got some questions for us? Well.
You know, I think, uh, in one of the previous podcasts we were talking about,
we briefly touched on this,
and then we've moved on to other rabbit holes that we went down. Oh, us? No.
Never.
When has that happened? We, we briefly touched on a phenomenon of, um,
cultures of similarity. Mm. Right? And,
and the challenge that that presents because just when you encounter a culture
that you think is similar to yours,
most people's knee-jerk reaction is to then say, well, um,
there's really no cultural differences.
I'm looking at more similarities and differences. Therefore, I don't,
therefore I don't have to understand this culture to the same degree that I have
to understand a culture that is obviously so different from mine. Right. Right.
So let's.
So like, if they share a common language mm-hmm.
If you share a common language mm-hmm. If you share a common history, Uhhuh,
, if you share a, any common, uh, maybe cultural similarities,
like, oh, US and Canada. Mm. Yeah. Us and uk. Yeah. Uh,
UK and Canada. Mm-hmm. Right. Or it doesn't have to be anglophones.
They're sharing similar languages, similar histories. Oh.
Portugal and Brazil. Thank.
You. Right.
Spain and Mexico. Right. And so on.
China and Hong Kong. Mm. Uh, China and Singapore. Mm-hmm. .
Right. Um, Belgium and France,
same language.
Along the same line.
Although the not all won't they like beat you up if you say that to either.
One. Precise precisely to my, to my point here. Right.
We get blinded by the similarities. We think there are no real differences.
I remember that song, blinded by the similarities. Was.
That America, did they do.
That? No, that was definitely not America. But Nice.
I like the tie in on culture there. By, by picking America . Very nice.
Well, it, it's the culture in the room right here.
I see.
One of them Anyway.
Alright. So anyway, we're, so what is that leading us to? So.
If 80, well, he, I'm thinking 80% similar,
20% different. Hmm. Okay.
I'm gonna assume that the differences really don't matter very much when I deal
with the culture and I'm gonna focus on incorrectly. Hmm.
This is most people's knee jerk.
Reaction. Right.
You're saying 80% to 20% based is a person thinking they know what's going on
between, um, the United States and Canada, for instance.
Exactly. Okay. Uh, but the truth is though,
that that 20% difference that we're ignoring Yeah. Because it's,
the difference is precisely what's gonna make the problems. Yeah.
'Cause there are differences. Yeah, of.
Course there are. Right? Yeah. And the the quickest way to say, say, ask,
ask Canadian if there are any differences between Canadians and us Americans.
Yeah.
The Canadians see those a little more than we see the other.
'cause we sort of think it's the 51st state. Right.
We just sort of think what us Americans. Yeah. Right. I know, I know.
That's a annoying and, and aggravating to Canadians that I've spoken with.
Right.
So here's the thing. I wrote about this in my sub. You did in my,
in my ck um, right page. Okay. And, um, I,
I saw that actually, but I did it in the form of, of a quiz. Ah,
so it was kind of like a culture.
Quiz. Well, I did not, I did see you put a quiz in, but I'm,
I have to admit I did not take it.
Same. I, I, I read a little bit about it, but I didn't take the actual quiz.
Yeah. Uhhuh it looked interesting. Okay.
So if you haven't taken the quiz even better, because first of all,
the reason the three of us are here, the reason I'm here with the two of you,
I tell is.
This is is this an existential statement? Yeah. Why or what? Why are we,
why are we, why are we here, man? And.
As opposed to other people.
He hasn't even really started drinking yet. .
Not.
Yet. One of the reasons is because you're, you're brilliant. Ah,
not that, not.
Only that. Well, we can accept that stars just move on.
I think the stars not think only.
That. Not only that. I love you both dearly as friends. Oh, thank you. And.
Colleagues. You as well. It's very nice. We say the same back to you.
All right. Enough of this. But.
But it's a mutual admiration society here.
. Now you guys, it's a little na guys know this stuff. You're,
you're into it, I believe. Let's see. You know,
we've been talking and examining these issues of culture.
I'm gonna give you my quiz. You haven't seen it, right? Oh.
Shoot. No, no. I have not seen it. No.
I'm gonna give you my quiz. Five questions. In most quizzes,
most of the quizzes gotta do are five questions, real quick, real easy, promise.
Real easy. He's setting us up. Don't look like total jerk. We're big trouble.
Oh, yeah.
And.
And make, get one total.
And . And you get the, and the answers by the way,
to the five questions about any particular culture Yes.
Are in multiple choice forms. Even if you don't know the answer,
just do what you did on the s sat t.
Uh, I'm, can I, can I, can I ratchet? Can I ratchet this up a little bit?
Can I, I, can I ratchet up the.
You're ratcheting up the stakes.
I am ratcheting up the stakes and, and the difficulty.
Oh, I'm, I'm a little scared.
Well, the, my, I wanna say before you get to the multiple choice mm-hmm.
,
I would like to give us a chance to answer it without multiple choice.
And then if we can't get it, you can give us the multiple choice.
Okay. Fine. We'll do that on the first one. Okay. Yeah, that's good. All right.
I like.
That. And then after we look incredibly stupid,
we'll just go to the multiple choice. Yeah. Uhhuh.
Very quickly go to that .
Yeah. And I, I'm guessing.
Because I'm an idiot.
That's, I'm, we're gonna be able to maybe do two of them per, per episode. Okay.
Per.
Twos. Yeah.
S.
About different cultures.
Yeah, I think, yeah. I,
I saw recently you had done quizzes on sort of different continents, right?
Not exclusively, because I saw Middle East, which is not a.
Continent. I do quizzes on continents, cities, countries. Okay.
Your neighborhood, whatever you want. Wow.
What.
Right? Antarctica.
Yeah. I, I would like to see that one.
I haven't done it yet, but I will. Okay. Okay.
All.
I may spontaneously do it here right now.
Excellent. How about the core of the arts? My, my answer is penguins .
That's my answer. So.
You're gonna, you're gonna be answer, you're gonna be.
Correct. That's my answer to everything Penguin. Most of them.
Yes. But, okay. So we do a couple over three episodes. Yeah.
So we'll get kind of like a continental runthrough.
Well, let's see. Let's get started. Right? All right.
We'll see. We'll see what happens. Alright. Yeah.
Well, we'll start one. The, this is gonna be my,
my culture quiz now on Australia. Okay.
The.
Aussies in the, uh, and.
Is that supposed to be an Australian.
Accent? I what? Because that it was kind of British. Wasn't.
That really wasn't.
A, Aussies were very sorry. It really wasn't. No, I'm sorry. I truly, truly am.
Sorry. You know, as soon as we say I never do.
That had about.
God, I mean, these stereotypes that pop up in people's minds, these.
Why was that a stereotype? It was just a lousy accent. . It's just,
I I'm thinking you could your dragon beam be behind the, the bus here already?
What are the pictures that people are seeing in their heads now?
You have kangaroos and wallabies and, well, it's.
Australia. They have kangaroos and wallabies.
So I hear I've never been, I'd love.
To go. I've never been either. Yeah. I'd love to go. However,
I'd believe the man with the, uh, the, the questions here has in fact been, Ooh,
yes.
Oh, yes. In fact, the very first cultural,
cultural training that me and my company had ever done mm-hmm. ,
the very first one that got us out of the box mm-hmm. ,
and we're going back a hundred years now. Right. Was a,
was a culture training on Australian culture, huh.
For another culture of similarity. Okay. For Americans and Britains.
Nice. Okay. Alright.
Which was a real challenge for us to put this information together
because it's so much easier to put information together about cultures that are
ostensibly and obviously different.
Oh, sure. I can understand that. But.
Again, to highlight the, the, the fewer,
but therefore more important differences between Australia and the
US and the UK was a far greater challenge. Yeah.
And I think that's what everybody has to go through when they deal with culture.
Are we, are we going to, at this point, attempt to do two of these?
I think that's what you said. Correct. So.
Should we jump in? Is that what you're getting.
To? I'm saying let's do it. All right. Let's do it. Let's kick it off. .
Alright.
So Australia's first.
We're doing a Australians first. Excellent. Okay. And I'm gonna,
I'm gonna give you guys the scenarios. I'm gonna read it. I'm gonna.
When you're in Australia, does it feel like you're standing upside down?
Depends on where you come from.
I see. Okay.
Dean, is this one multiple choice?
Um, sorta of, kind of.
Oh, okay. Oh, okay. All right. Alright. Well, in, we'll see. Initially it's not,
initially you're just giving us a question. I'm.
Gonna give you a one question and you guys have to come up with,
with five different answers. Okay. That have to be correct.
Okay. There's five answers to this question that have to be correct.
And each one's different.
Here's.
What.
I want you to do.
Let's just start with the first one and we'll figure it out as we go.
Along. That's right. I'm gonna read you the scenario,
otherwise this is gonna gonna be a.
Five hour. Then.
I want you to identify five cultural
differences between your culture and the Australian culture.
So we're talking the US culture, us American culture.
And Australian. Okay. Now, can I just, before we start, can I ask, uh, I'm,
I'm very competitive when it comes to game show type things. Um,
is there a point situation,
are we not doing that at first or is this like a warmup?
No, I'm gonna give you all whatever points I want to give you for this. Okay.
Okay.
Great. Just for this one. Okay.
. Yeah. It's like the show that used to be on after the Walking Dead. Ah,
remember that? Yeah, I think it was talking Talking Dead. Talking dead. Yeah.
Uhhuh. And they just used to give it points out. Just points.
Oh, I think, okay. You're thinking of at midnight. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chris Hardwick. Yeah.
Yeah. It was a wonderful show. Yeah. Better than Walking Dead, actually,
in my opinion, but.
Oh, at midnight's. Great. It's coming back. But then.
There, the talking heads.
Yeah. Because talking Heads not the Walking.
Dead talking dead midnight. It is actually coming back. Anyway.
. Okay, so you guys, um,
listen to my scenario because you're all gon each of you are gonna have to give
me, we'll, 1, 2, 3, A total of five.
Oh my God.
Examples of the differences between your culture and Australian culture in this
scenario.
Oh, okay. Go right ahead. I'm overwhelmed.
Here we.
Go. Nervous. Here we go. Yeah. You are meeting in Sydney. Ran.
Penguin. . .
And Sydney is with the y It's not a person, it's, it's the name.
Well, Sydney with a y could be a person. It's the name of.
Major city.
I think it's named after a major A Lord Sydney, if I'm not mistaken.
That's.
True. Yes. I may be, I may be wrong with that, but it's named after somebody.
That's right. Alright.
We're forward and we're already going down Rabbit.
Hole. We down a rabbit hole.
. Alright. Rabbit hole number one. You're meeting at Sydney.
Get back in there.
Are there rabbit holes in Australia? Alright, here's the.
Here's, here's the question. Is Sydney the capital of of.
Australia? No.
No, I know what the capital is.
And.
What is it? Ken Burra. Yeah. Okay. But that's not the question.
You're meeting in Sydney.
I think I've already Sydney.
Ran later than expected. Okay. So you're there on business. Okay. Okay.
And now you're rushed getting into the, sorry.
And now you're rushed getting to the airport for your flight to a meeting in
Melbourne.
Okay. Because you're going to another city in Austria. You've got two.
Meetings. You got born in Sydney and now you're rushed to.
Andre, now going to Melbourne. Okay.
Yep. Because you ran over it.
Which I believe is flying south.
That's right. Okay. You jump in the backseat of a taxi,
apparently annoying the driver who asks quote. Ah,
too good to sit up front with me, mate. Ah, and settle in for the ride.
Mentally reviewing some unexpected problem moments from the meeting.
Like this is referring back to the meeting in Sydney. That.
Already happened In Sydney. Okay. Yes. Like when you, I mean in Melbourne. Yes.
Go ahead.
No, in Sydney.
In Sydney. Right.
Okay.
We haven't gotten to Melbourne yet.
Not yet.
We're in a taxi cab. It's gonna take a while. Oh boy. Okay.
Hopefully we'll get there. ,
maybe unexpected problem moments from the meeting in Sydney.
Okay. Like when you suggested quote, can we table this for a while?
Uhhuh, and your Australian colleague kept right on discussing it.
Or when,
despite how hard you tried to impress your Australian colleagues with your need
to come up with a decision quickly, quickly,
they seemed to take their time and kept coming up with more questions.
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. Well, hang.
On, hang on, hang on. Keep reading the scenario. Hang.
Wow. I don't have a buzz over.
We're almost finished. Okay.
As it becomes clear to you that you may miss your flight to Melbourne,
you text them to ask if they can reschedule for a later time.
Okay? Mm-hmm. , they respond with a few available dates and times,
the soonest being several days later,
which will force you to stay in Melbourne well beyond your original schedule.
Okay.
All right.
I want you guys to give me now, oh boy.
A total of five examples in this scenario that reflect differences between
your culture and Australian culture.
All right. I have, I have a, a question here.
Are we working together on this or.
We against each other? You got, you're competing.
All right. So can I, we just blurt them out. Oh, boy. Okay. I can,
I can start with one. I got one and I'm in. Oh.
Okay. There's buzzers. All.
Right. I'm in you buzzed in first. Um, table in Australia will mean,
will mean to put it out on the table and continue to talk about it. Do's.
Like really upset. He's really upset because.
Someone he knew and table in the US means to put it aside and
talk about it at another time. Okay. I have another one. .
So it's the total opposite. Total opposite. I.
Think he's correct. Right? I, because I, I believe that, yeah. Alright,
so I was gonna say the same thing.
We we're talking about language differences here, right? Yes. Again,
language differences.
Different interpretations of the term table. Right? Alright.
So we're talking about the, and the language that you speak in Australia is.
Is Eng is Australian English.
Strine.
Oh. Oh, really?
I didn't know that. Sst. R i n.
E. Okay.
Strine.
Is that a word for Oh, it's a, it's a variation on the word Australian. Exactly.
Shortening it and making it with a, with a, uh, a, a way of, uh,
a dialect Arine. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. It's Arine mate. Oh, no, .
That was better. That was a little better. That was better. Yeah. Yeah.
'cause I threw ma in, you know. Yeah.
And I'm sorry to all the people in Australia. Really?
Uh, well, you know, there's, there's now there's a lot there. We can,
we can dig into this. Well.
We can't, well, yeah.
We can do an episode on all, all in Australia. We've done a New Zealand one, by.
The way. We're down to, maybe we can get this one done in this episode.
Okay. So that's correct. Right? That's all right. Right, right.
He.
Was correct. We need another one. Wait, hang.
On, hang on. Wait, I gotta, I gotta talk about this for a second. Go ahead.
This is really important and, and if,
if the listeners are into Australian culture, I want them to know this .
Okay. Please.
Continue. Maybe they're into game shows and they're really pissed.
You're gonna talk about it. , .
One of the aspects of Stride Yes. Is to,
is to shorten words and to add ie. On the end of it. So like,
Brawley means.
Umbrella. Umbrella. Yes. Okay, I got that too. Points. Do we get points? Yeah.
Points for each of us. Okay, great.
A lolly is.
Lollipop.
Lollipop? Yeah. Or candy in general. Okay. Yeah.
And then there are those strange words that are just very different,
like a cozy.
Oh, okay. I don't think we should talk about this.
This on this show is a cousin.
.
I mean, really.
It's a bathing suit, you know? Okay. But, you.
Know, oh, I never would've gone there.
Or as we might say in Britain, a bathing costume. Mm-hmm. .
Sure. So.
Sure.
Yeah. Okay. All right. Um, eh, oh, he's coming in with one.
Okay. So.
Okay. So we got Tom, you got, you got one.
One. I have two points torn as well.
You have 250 points. I.
Don't have any, I have two. I have yet. Oh, okay.
Um, do I get a point for buzzing in?
I think you got Brawley.
Oh, that, we're counting that. Okay.
Oh, so we take that off of, we.
Take, you also got Lollipop too.
All right, so we take two. So maybe we're tied. So we take 50 points each.
I'm the points on this one. Don't go and give it to him. Wait.
What? Okay.
I'm thinking the points on this one. Don't go . All.
Right. Okay. So, or ever. So.
The taxi, so in, in us, in US America, you know,
it's more standard to sit in the back seat of the taxi,
but I'm guessing in Australia it's more standard to sit in the front seat.
So there was some offense taken from the taxi driver when you sit in the back
seat, when you, they expect you to sit in the front seat.
Oh boy. You know, one of the things.
Can I, can I buzz in and add to that? Yeah. Because not only did you do that,
but you then, when he said, are you too good to sit in the front seat?
You didn't move into the front seat. Right? Right.
You stayed where you were. Right.
And he was giving you the information really,
that you should have known about the cultural difference. Yeah.
Because he wanted you to come up to the front seat and act like a mate. He.
He, exactly. Yeah.
So your use of the word mate is an example of what's going on here.
And he said, what's the matter too good to sit up front with me mate? Mm-hmm.
. Yeah. And this actually happened to me. Uhhuh, ,
Uhhuh , Uhhuh ,
which is where I drew this drew of the scenario. Okay. All right.
And what is he telling me? You know,
he's saying that nobody is better than anybody else in Australia.
I'm not your chauffeur, I'm just a taxi driver. I'm doing this for,
for the money. Hmm. You're paying me. We are equals here. Hmm hmm.
And sitting in the back, Uhuh just sit up front with me. Right.
Huh?
Right, right. Yeah. Now this is a very,
very critical issue in Australian culture. Um,
they even have a term for it in Australia. They,
they call it the tall poppy syndrome. So, ah, poppy.
I think you've mentioned that. Yeah.
Poppies grow to different heights. Yeah. Right. Some are tall, some are short.
Right. Yeah. If you're a tall poppy,
you're gonna get your head cut off in Australia, right. Slice. Yep. Mm-hmm.
get, you get leveled. Right. It's a leveling culture.
So grow around the same height as the other poppies. Gotcha. Okay.
I think we've talked about it lot that also in,
in connection with some of the Asian countries, other, other Asian countries in,
in that part of the world. Correct. Uh.
I, you know, you'll see versions of this Yeah.
But for different reasons in different cultures. Okay.
But in Australia it's very powerful and I think Okay.
It really stands out for us Americans. Okay. Right.
'cause in the US the.
The tall hoppy gets the attention. You get.
The attention, the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Yeah. Yeah. You know, if you,
if you've got the expertise and you bring it to Australia,
you expect people to just welcome you with open arms. Yeah. And no,
you gotta be on equal terms with them. Right.
Sure. That's interesting. 'cause for me in the U s A, I don't,
I don't think of that in the taxi when I'm sitting in the backseat. Right.
I'm not thinking of it as like,
I'm not being very egalitarian right now . Um, but obviously that's,
you know.
Hopeful. That's in fact, in fact in the U s A, I remember when we were in, uh,
new Orleans mm-hmm. and, and an Uber came. Yeah.
We were using an Uber. Yep. And there were several of us.
And I went around to the front side and I opened the door and I said to the Uber
driver, um, is it okay if I sit in the frontier with you? Right. You could sit.
A little, it's di that's different. You're.
Kind of jumping into their space. Right. Exactly. Right. And they were,
you know, said, sure. And I, I climbed in. Right. And.
It's a perfect example right there. Yeah. In, in that small little experience.
Mm-hmm.
of a taxi of a very deep and rich and major cultural distinction.
Yeah.
'cause my first option was for me to feel comfortable would be to sit in the
backseat. Yeah.
Right.
Okay. So we need to come up with three.
More . Uh, I can, because those, I think I can, those the two I, I had,
I got, I think I've got more here. Hang on. I had him, uh,
I gotta go back through the scenario in my head. Oh, I know. Um, okay.
So then he gets on his phone and ignores the driver and is texting,
uh, about the, 'cause he's going over notes from the meeting in, uh, well,
I think you're filling in blanks, Sydney. He said that, but Okay. No,
I'm thi well, I'm going there and then, and, and from the meeting in Sydney,
and then he, um, and, and he goes, then he goes to,
he realizes he probably is gonna be late for the media in Melbourne.
So he sends a text to them and in,
and he's texting them. And, and I, that may be something that bothers him,
but I'm not even going there. I'm going,
then he wants to delay things and as a result,
instead of getting a Let's put you back a couple of hours,
he's getting a couple of days. Yeah. That was the only time.
'cause the view of time is gonna be quite different between the US
American and the Aussie.
Well, I think the view of time is in the big picture rather similar.
Okay. Around the world, you know, compared to lots of other cultures. Mm-hmm.
,
I think the difference is coming up actually between Sydney and Melbourne.
Really?
Yeah. Huh.
These two cities are in like many places around the world, you know,
you get differences between national cultures,
but you'll also get differences within the culture. Right.
New York and Boston.
Right. Sure. Or regions, you know. Yeah. The American, the,
the American South and the, and the s and Northeast. Yeah. And in,
um, in Australia there's a, there's a,
it's more than just a playful rivalry between Sydneyites and
Melbourne. Sure.
So he's annoyed them because he was take,
took too much time in Sydney and now Melbourne's a little annoyed that he's
showing up. Well.
Well, once again, the Melbourne, Mel,
Melbourne folks are being told that their second fiddle to Sydney. Yeah.
He's coming from Sydney first, where a big deal was made. Right.
And now I'll come and see you guys. Oh, and by the way, can you,
can you move your schedule for me because.
I'm running late?
'cause I spent more time it exactly than I had originally scheduled at Sydney.
Yeah.
So like, oh yeah, sure. We'll take sure.
Mm-hmm. .
Yeah. So they're already annoyed.
They're already, can I, I have one more question, Uhhuh.
I have one more question on this. Is this really question one of five?
Or is those are the five things?
No, this are the five things. Five.
Things. Ah, gotcha. This are the five things. Okay. So, alright, great. So.
I think we've identified what three, um, we have identified the.
There's a time element or a, a, a competition element between Sydney and Mel.
Yeah. You don't want, you don't want table a cultural element. You.
Wanna tell taxi, right. The table, the sitting in the front seat with the taxi.
What about the idea that it,
that once the guy stays in the backseat doesn't pick up on the hint,
then he jumps onto his phone and is going over things on that.
Yeah, I think you're right. Mm-hmm. ,
I think he just reinforced the opinions that the driver had more.
You are making this up.
Yeah, he did. He said he was looking at his phone, looking at notes. Mm-hmm.
Well, he is looking at notes whether they're on his phone or not.
Mentally reviewing some un I I happen to, I pulled.
It up. Oh, you're cheating . No, I looking on You could've done that too.
You wrote, well, what do you mean? I could've done that? You could pull it out.
Well, the answers on, well, I could've cheated as well, mentally reviewing.
There's a cultural point. This I think.
Problem moments from the meeting.
Mentally. Wow. Wow. What a, that's I'm so,
I I'm a Paul. I.
Don't have two more. So I, I I.
We need.
Two more. I'm a little stumped here. We.
Need two more. Okay. No, I don't e I don't either those.
Three. I, I, I think I, yeah.
I saw I'm up to, um.
Uh.
Were there multiple choice for this or no or No,
this is a wide open fill in the blank. I mean, a, a short answer. Yes. Okay.
Well, let me, let me see. And,
and he got into there and he's gotta make the plane still sitting in the
backseat playing. I.
Mean,
is that two separate things in the taxi that first of all sat in the back to
begin with and then didn't change once they said, I.
I just think that aggravated the situation even more.
So that's two. So there's three we're, that's just one. Okay. Okay.
That's one .
Wow.
So there were two more points.
Two more points to go to. Okay.
And I, and I'll give you a hint. Oh, wait, wait, wait.
Um, .
Oh, wait, wait, don't tell me. Oh.
Wait, wait. Don't tell me. Um, the Australian.
Captain different show.
Despite how hard you tried to impress your Australian colleagues with your need
to come up with decision quickly,
they seemed to take their time and kept coming up with more questions. Right.
Uh, I don't remember hearing that. Well.
That's was.
Right. So.
What is that?
Maybe.
You just need to pay attention, Tom.
That's maybe that's that's, I was already coming up with the answers.
I always did that. So.
Maybe that's customary in Australian business meetings to continue to ask
questions to kinda let the process play out with more and more questions.
Whereas in the US us America business context, we want to kind of get to.
Get to the point and get over it. Get the point. Yes.
Wrap it up and get out of there. Yeah.
I think you're, I I, you're right.
And I think you're reinforcing something that Tom said, Torin.
Oh, I think I get the points then.
Oh, no, I don't think so. No, I'm not saying that for that. Oh,
I'm just saying because you did mention the issue of time. I did. You're,
and you're raising time again, Uhhuh, . Um,
but I think through the,
the point about questioning at questions at the meeting, right. Um,
there is this difference sense of time,
and you are really gonna see it between Melbourne Heights and Sydneyites,
but Oh, right.
But you'll see it between Americans and Australians in general. Okay. The,
the get to the point I, listen, I'm coming here with the expertise,
just listen to me and let's get this done. And the fastest we can get it done,
the better. And you're only,
you are only pushing your Australian colleague to try to slow things down
because you're not being a mate, you're not being a bloke.
So there's a re an an opposite reaction to the
kind of pushing for faster time that would come about slowing things down
instead of, especially when you, instead of actually doing what you would like,
especially.
When you've come in as a tall poppy with all the answers to their.
Right. Right, right. Okay. So they're looking for ways to chop your head off.
Yeah.
The, the similarities in the cultures are there, but here's the difference.
90% of Australians live along the coast. Ah-huh. ,
not 90% of Americans don't live along the coast, right?
No, a lot of 'em do. But not 90% we're nowhere near that.
Right. Because the interior is very, very hostile.
Oh my goodness. Yes. Very hostile, very difficult. Right, right. Yeah. Okay.
So in order to succeed in Australia, you've gotta, if you're gonna,
if you're gonna succeed at all,
especially if you're going to go in the interior,
you've gotta build relationships with people and depend on each other. Hmm.
Okay. Or else, or else. You gotta be a mate, you gotta be a bloke. Hmm.
You gotta be somebody I can trust. Uhhuh .
And that's the first thing that counts.
Okay.
So you don't come in with all the answers. You go to a, you go to the bar,
you're invited to for a drink, socialize, somebody buys you a shout.
They call it a shout. Okay. You have to buy the next shout. Nice. Right.
It's this constant interplay to build, to, to build relationships. Right.
And the,
the topography in which most Australians do live along the coast is just the
opposite of the interior. It's very, very pleasant. Hmm. Okay.
Australians have said to Americans, why are you coming here? You're coming,
you know, 3000 miles. You can just go to California.
There's a certain similarity in the topography where they do live,
and the, and the climate and the weather. Uhhuh, .
And it's more laid back, you know, throw another shrimp on the Barbie, okay?
Mm-hmm.
mm-hmm.
. Right. So that whole idea of chill. Oh, okay.
Take your time. Right. And if we have questions, let's deal with things.
Let's deal with the questions, let's get the answers.
And if you're rubbing me the wrong way, I'm gonna ask lots of questions.
Mm-hmm. Right. Slow things down. And not even in, in, in,
as with a lot of cultural things,
I'm guessing that a lot of this stuff would be done almost in a subconscious way
too. It's not done. I'm gonna fix you as much as it is. Um,
this is my reaction to feeling pushed and rushed.
Right. Most people don't realize that they're working from a cultural.
Place because it is a cultural thing. Sure. I'm.
Unconscious.
Rarely do any of us. Right.
Right. Except you've annoyed this guy so much now that he's happy to be.
Now he is doing Yeah.
.
Alright, so we got four. Yeah, I understand that. Okay.
I don't have a fifth one. Uh, I'm, I'm tapped out. Okay. Um, uh, Dean,
we'll we'll give up on that one. What do we got for a fifth one?
Uh, you know, I, I'm gonna give points to both of you for the fifth one. Oh.
Because it's kind of related to the first one that we talked about.
We talked about this tall poppy syndrome.
We talked about being a mate and being a bloke and depending on each other and
building trust. Mm-hmm. , it's all, you know, of a, of, of,
of a piece.
There's also this whole idea that when you look at the history of Australia,
where did all these people start? Where'd they come from?
Other than the indigenous people? Right.
Ab other than the aboriginals Aboriginal.
People. Right. The, the cut from the, from the European continent from Yeah.
It was a penal colon. A lot from the uk. Yeah. Yeah. It.
Was a penal colon.
Absolutely. Yeah. These.
The, and Australians will proudly refer to themselves as ies. Mm-hmm. Okay.
Prisoners of her majesty's surface. Sure. Huh. Sure.
So we all started out here all the same,
and the same happened to be really way down the social ladder.
Right, right. So.
Anybody who puts on airs of any kind Oh.
Sure. Yep. Right.
Yep. Is immediately gonna be challenged. Yeah. So if you put on airs,
like you come here with all the answers, you come here with all the,
the solutions. Just do what we say as a lot of us Americans and Britains too.
Because after all, they were prisoners of her Majesty service. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
,
I would imagine that the Britts could alienate them even faster than the
Americans. And.
I'm sure there are cases where they.
Have 'cause of the history. Right? Yeah, sure. Exactly. Yeah. Sure. Okay. Cool.
Huh. Okay. That's interesting. Yeah.
Now, this is one of the differences, and it's not mentioned in this scenario,
but if, you know, you wanna dig deeper into,
into the histories of the cultures of Australia and the US and,
and other cultures of similarities. You look at New Zealand Hmm.
This is one of the differences between a Aussies and Kiwis,
because in New Zealand they were imprisons of her Majesty service.
Right. Right. These.
Folks came a whole lot later. Right.
And they came often as landed gentry who were looking for more
opportunity.
So a totally different viewpoint of the mother country and that much more.
Much more connected to the mother country.
Than, and we have, I know we have talked about that in the past.
'cause we talked about your trip to both New Zealand and Australia, and,
and you were mentioning that then. And, and I, that's,
I find that very interesting because of the, the proximity,
the geographical proximity of the two countries and the,
the past history in the sense of both being from an a,
a large point of the pop population coming from, uh,
other than the indigenous people coming from, um,
the UK or from England itself. And, uh,
and yet being vastly different.
Vastly different. And,
but they're not burdened with this history of new prisons of her majesty
service. Huh. Right. Alright. It seems to be a point of pride. You know what,
I I, yeah. Not, I should, I should correct myself not burdened by it,
but a point of pride.
Oh no, they aren't. They, they still feel very good about it. Right. I mean,
they, they were very, they're very happy to con to be part of, of that entire,
um, kingdom in essence. So.
Right. So.
Where in the.
Commonwealth? So how, how many, how many points you guys get? No points.
I get the points without.
One. I think, wait a minute. Yeah. You think you get all the points.
How did he win ? I knew this was gonna happen. This was gonna happen.
It was inevitable.
I get all the points, but each of you gets a jar of Vegemite.
Oh, great.
Perfect. Excellent. I'm, I'm gonna go in and gag myself now. . Um,
actually.
Would like to try it.
Sorry, oie. I'm sorry.
I've heard Yeah, I, but obviously people love it too. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. I, it's a, um,
it's a lot of talk I do every year watch the Australian tennis open Sure. Yeah.
Down there. And they always bring that up at some point.
to the broadcast, back to the us. Yeah. And the funny thing is,
because Australia has a long history in tennis, uh,
long and glorious history and tennis and, um, so the,
the people on there,
several of the p announcers and stuff back to the United States are from
Australia. Yeah. For, for all of the tennis, uh, broadcast. And, um,
and they will gladly bring up how much they like it. Mm-hmm. .
And I think they do that just to get to the other people. Oh, sure.
to get a reaction.
Yeah. No, I, I, I would like to try it at some point.
Um, should we move to our next continental or region?
Should we go on and do one more? I think we should. I mean,
we're gonna be a little time pressed 'cause I don't wanna drag this out too
long, but that's all right. Okay, let's do another one then. All right.
Hop on the plane and we'll go somewhere else. Um, where's we go?
I'm say in Middle East. Where, where we.
Go the Middle East. East Middle East. Middle East. East to Middle.
East. Interesting. And I got, and I've got five questions. Well, and.
I lived in the Middle East for a couple of years, so I, that may benefit me,
but I'm not gonna say it will 'cause it might not.
I'm believing that, that.
I can you, I'm, I'm really sorry you said that . I really am. Because if.
You don't get these.
I'm not saying you're gonna' get so slaughtered there.
I'm not saying I might.
I'm hoping that you look ridiculous in this whole thing. I'm.
Not claiming anything. If, if I'm hoping it gives me a benefit.
All right. Five questions. Each question now. Okay. Multiple choice.
So, okay. So these are the multiple. Okay. So I would like us to really get,
again, I'm, I'm competitive. So let's say how many points for each Correct.
Answer. 10. Can we say 10 if we get it right? Sure.
Now it's like there's no ambiguity. You're getting it right or it's wrong.
All right. Okay, great. Sure. Because I wanna a win and a loser Who set the.
Who's setting the rules here?
I do believe I get extra points because I have not lived in the Middle East.
Don't I get a, you.
Get a headstart. 20 extra points. There you go. You get a handicap already.
You can get.
Extra.
Mental points.
in your head.
He's already got the mental points. Points. They're a little,
they're a little shiny. Sometimes they stick.
Yeah, they're a little, yeah. They're.
You gotta be careful. Those headphones are kind of bothering to get.
All question number one. Ah, here we go.
Okay.
In Shaah.
Oh.
Yes. Throughout the Arabic speaking countries in the region,
which already means that not all the countries,
but most of the countries are speaking Arabic in Shallah throughout the Arabic
speaking countries in the region.
A literally means if it's God's will and is used often as
a disclaimer for any statements of intent. Okay. Or B,
refers to the Muslim prayers recited during the period of time between sunset
and sunrise. Okay.
Or C represents the sense of community and brotherhood that exists
between all the Arabic speaking countries in the region. Okay.
Or d refers to the unusually cool weather that sometimes
blows in from the north during the month of September,
providing some longed for heat relief.
Oof. I wish I had gotten some of D when I was living in Jordan .
That sounds lovely. Okay. I I have my answer.
Um, I, well, I I have an answer. I had a, I have an answer you didn't say, but,
uh, now, okay, I have an answer. I have an answer.
Should we.
Say 'em at the same time? Yes. 3, 2, 1. A.
Inah, you are both right. .
Alah.
Maha.
I was just, I was just wondering if in some way, not directly,
because a was the clearly the, the correct answer as I knew it. Oh, well.
Now we're getting arrogant.
Well, I'm a little arrogant about it. Yeah. . But,
but I thought that the other two, the second and third choices,
B and C I thought were kind of had a sort of tie in
in the sense that, that it's a phrase used throughout that entire region.
Yeah. Well one was a prayer.
Right? And so, yeah. And I, I forget what sea was,
but the winds kind of took that away from me.
'cause I thought you were gonna say all of the above at some point and that was
gonna be a trick question. Yeah.
I wouldn't do that. No, I wouldn't do that. Okay.
The third one was representing the community and brotherhood that exists between
all Arabic speaking countries in the region, which doesn't exist exist.
But, but I thought that would be a way of tying them together,
is that they all say it, but, Hmm. Nah. Well.
This is true. They do all say it.
It's one thing your quiz shake doesn't really tie together.
. Alright, so each have 10 points.
Great. But I got points, so I'm good. So I'm ahead 30 to 10. Now the.
Point being, oh, we're not counting the other one point being here.
If you're not of the con of the region, you gotta re remember that.
If somebody says, you know, uh, Ahmed,
are you gonna send me the document by Tuesday? And Ahmed goes, ah, absolutely.
Tuesday, you'll have it on your desk in Shaah, right? Maybe you will. Yeah,
maybe.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Maybe you won't and you can't go back to Ahmed and complain about it because
he's gonna go, I did my.
Best. Yeah. Yeah.
It wasn't up to me. It was up to.
A force beyond me. Yes, exactly. Uhhuh. . Okay.
Alright.
Number two.
All right.
In Saudi Arabia.
Oh, okay.
Wasta. Okay.
A refers to the traditional male daily business dress.
Okay.
Okay. That's male. M a l e. Okay.
Uhhuh.
B refers to the requirement for every guest at the table to eat everything that
is served to them on their plate.
Okay.
C is a term referring to an individual whom you need to know,
who will ensure that things get done for you.
Okay.
D refers to the traditional female daily business stress.
Alright.
All right.
I have my answer.
A, B, C, or D.
I have a feeling I am at very much at a disadvantage right now.
. Um, so should I go first so that your answer doesn't influence me?
Um, okay. For,
for some reason what C was what again.
A term referring to an individual whom you need to know,
who will ensure that things get done for you. Yeah.
I like that one.
Yeah, that's the answer. C.
Really? Yeah. Okay. Uh.
You, you're both right. , you're both right. Yeah. You had a,
was that you conferred with ?
Yeah, I did. I get.
I I did. I I did.
I was texting by WASA at that point point. Being.
In Jordan, I definitely did .
You know, I.
Talking with Saudi Arabia, but.
Point being in Saudi Arabia, you know, a lot of,
let's say us Americans go do try to do business there,
and they don't have contacts, they don't have, they haven't built relationships.
They just think they're gonna get,
go through some sort of system or process and get things done. Right.
And you're not, it's not gonna happen. Right.
You need to be connected to the right person and understand that traditionally
in this culture, you need your wasta and you are a wasta for somebody else,
right? Sure.
Sure. That makes sense. Right. Okay.
Now can I ask, 'cause I, I don't remember hearing.
I'm sorry, we don't have enough time using.
Just quickly or using the term wasta in Jordan,
but definitely that that still existed.
That concept still exists.
Yeah. Um,
so is that a term that is used throughout the Middle East or is that specific to
Saudi Arabia? It's.
It is used throughout, because it's an Arabic term. Yeah.
It is used throughout the, I've heard it in dif different countries too,
but it is a major absolute first requirement in Saudi Arabia. Okay.
Don't put your efforts and your energy into trying to get the document approved.
Find the person who's gonna get it approved for you. Yeah.
Alright.
So we both have 20 points.
Yeah. Well, if you're cheating, we have 20 points. That's right. That's correct.
I.
I'm gonna give, I'm gonna give both of you a bonus of 50 points right now.
Okay.
Just, just for, just for hanging in there and, and,
and guessing everything correctly.
I'm very proud of myself for getting that last one right.
I think. Yeah. And from the Australia round we can say we both got 50.
I think we were pretty even. Yeah.
Yeah. I think, I think you did. Yeah.
We're we're tied at seven.
So we did questions one and two number. We got, we got, we got five altogether,
or up to number three. All right, here we go.
Cra cra cra in the uua e, United, emer.
Arab Emirates.
Arab, it's.
Emirates. Move your lips. I'll talk . Oh, there's no visual. Nevermind.
Cra is a yes,
a kind of savory donut that is a very popular food used to break the Ramadan
fast each night at sunset. Yum.
B What was that?
I said yum, yum.
I don't think a little.
Little comments there. It was allowed.
Don't don't we have a box of cra?
I wish, I wish we did. Someone should have brought the bcra. Go ahead.
I'm sorry. Go ahead.
Someone always should breathe the cra.
.
Especially when you hear what it actually is. .
So ignore that one. .
Yeah. No, actually that's, I I already.
Know the answer.
But it's okay. Okay.
A rah in the u a e is now we're up to B literally
translates from Arabic into the word tomorrow,
but it typically refers to an ambiguous timeframe that occurs any day
after today. Okay.
C Okay. I'm also, I'm, I'm also participating in this one under protest.
But but go ahead.
I thought you was gonna say under the influence, which Well.
That too, that too. I'm about, I'm almost two thirds of the way through my,
I'm sorry, go ahead. Go ahead. Alright.
You ready for C? No, I'm ready. Okay.
Ra is a derogatory term used by some Arabic speakers in Gulf Arabia
to describe Arabic speakers outside of Gulf Arabia.
Okay.
Like, I guess that would be like Egyptians or.
Tunisians. Okay. Or Torrent.
Right, right. . Good. It's very clever of you, Tom.
Thank.
You. And three, I get points Last, last possible answer.
Cra d refers to a specific hand gesture used by
drivers, especially in heavy traffic.
Okay. Okay.
A, B, C, or D Well.
I know the answer so you should go first. Can you repeat that?
A kind of savory donut.
Yeah.
Yeah. Literally translates into the word tomorrow.
Right. But a wider version. Yeah, go ahead.
A derogatory term to describe other speakers of Arabic. Arabic.
Mm-hmm. , and then the, and the hand gesture by the, um,
by the taxi driver. That could be Okay. Um,
I'm gonna go with a.
The donut. Yeah, yeah. Wrong.
Okay. Well you already eliminated it. Sounds delicious. The answer is B,
tomorrow.
Tomorrow.
And tomorrow. Tomorrow.
So when Ahmed says you'll have that document in Shaah on
your ra in Shaah.
Ra on Tuesday.
In cra that means.
I was singing tomorrow from Annie right there. . That's what I was doing.
Ra So you never asked the, never asked the question. Um, can, uh,
you know, when, can you send me the document?
Because Ahmed's gonna say tomorrow. Mm. I'll send it to you tomorrow. Yes.
You'll have it on your desk on Tuesday. No, no.
Any time after today is any time.
It's, it's fungible. Yeah, sure.
Very.
Fungible.
In, in the US there's a, there's a, a phrase, not really a phrase,
but there is a, um, a shortened phrase that is used all the time,
which is a s a p mm-hmm. ,
which means as soon as possible and the keyword in that is possible. Right,
right. Because people think that means I'm getting done right now, like.
10 Min five, 10.
Minutes and it often means you'll get it. Sometime I'll.
Do my best. Yeah.
Right. In.
Fact, yeah, it's, it's true. It's very.
Similar. So along those lines, that's a good.
Connection. Yeah. And in fact, I, I've had someone say to me,
what do you Americans get so upset about when I didn't get the,
this guy was from Taiwan. Mm-hmm. And he, and, and,
and he was mystified of the American reaction when they didn't get what he said
he was gonna send.
He said it wasn't possible for me to send it until I could send it. I.
Did my best. And that's.
What it says. Right, right.
As soon as possible. Yep. No, that's a good connection. Yeah. Right.
'cause some people, like you said, think that's immediate and some folks Yeah.
When I can get to.
You think I'm gonna get to it. Right. Right. Yeah.
So what kind of strategy do you have to employ then you you can't say things
like as soon as possible.
You have to be more clear.
In what you need on what day Can you send it to me?
Okay. More, more.
Specific or, or you have to accept that. Okay. It's, it's gonna.
It's gonna come down the road that's.
Possible. That might not be in check or, you know.
Because they may not.
And also I've got a feeling if I do that in the wrong way in Australia, ,
they're gonna get annoyed with me and, uh, drag it out even.
Longer. Well, I think, I think the strategies have to be different. Yeah.
You very different cultural issues going on.
And for me and Jordan, I really had to get used to that to accept that. Right.
Okay. That doesn't necessarily mean tomorrow. And I, I realized that,
and that's . That's okay.
Tomorrow's any day other than today. Yeah.
Or a, it's the same thing in the culture of plumbers in the United States. Yeah.
Um.
Well now we can talk, like, have a whole session, session, a whole episode on,
on.
On people who do utility work in the United States.
Contract, fun.
Culture and, and another cultures. Sure. Absolutely. All right. Cool. That's,
that's coming up, uh, later on, but not now.
Let explain out that I'm in the lead.
All right. Oh, well he.
Needed to point that out.
He did point it out. That's very cultural right there. He.
Didn't ask me to point it out. That's, no, he pointed it out. Oh.
Well, I'm right. Yeah. I'm, I got the story.
Here in front of, we're, we're doing three of these episodes in a row here,
and it's already getting vicious, but the next two,
there will be a different producer. There will be.
Blood and not the movie.
Go ahead, Dean. Number four, moving on. Yes.
And number four, Les Les in Kuwait.
In Kuwait. Okay.
Literally means get out of my face.
And is a harsh and negative statement used as an expression of frustration and
anger.
Okay. Okay.
B literally means I've just eaten. Thank you.
And used usually as a way of not obligating someone to invite you to a
meal out of hospitality. Hmm.
Huh.
C literally means no worries and is guaranteed to bring a smile to your Gulf
Arabian colleague when you use it. Okay.
D literally means I could never do that.
And is a polite way of refusing to do something by alluding to the fact that you
don't have the authority to do so, even though you would like to help very much.
Wow.
I have no idea B I'm saying d.
B Tom, you say ash literally means I've just eaten. Thank you.
And used usually as a way of not obligating someone to invite you to a meal out
of hospitality.
Yes. Okay. And I'm saying d.
D literally means I could never do that.
And as a polite way of refusing to do something by alluding to the fact that you
don't have the authority to do so. Yeah.
Even though you would like to help out very much. Uhhuh. . Yeah.
The answer is C oh.
I c was my second guess. . Nah. Oh, wow. Half points,
five points. No.
It's like the s a t if you don't know.
C c. Yeah, right. I was gonna say that. Yeah.
Literally means no worries. So when you complain at the things,
when you complain to Achmed that it hasn't showed up, he goes,
Maha Maha.
Alh. No worries. Yeah, I'm not familiar with that one. Okay. Alright. Alright.
No, no harm, no foul on that one. No. No. Okay. Chill.
It means chill. Chill.
Baby. Leave it alone.
It'll work out. Chill. Let's, uh, go to the last one. Number.
Five, number. No, I'm nervous. Number five. Number five. And we're.
Leaving, we're still in the Middle East,
but we're leaving the Arab Arabic speaking world. Oh.
And we are now the word sabra in Israel.
Ah huh. Uh, I know the hummus .
Is that the same? I.
Think I, I might know this one. Wait minute.
He knows the Go ahead.
I'm not.
He knows the hummus. Really? The particular brand. Yes.
Hummus. Now, well, that.
That may be helpful.
Maybe.
In Israel is gonna be hummus, but, okay. Well.
Yeah, sure. . Oh, yes.
Sabra in Israel,
A refers to anyone in Israel who denigrates the Zionist mission of a homeland
for the Jewish people.
Hmm. Okay.
B is a derogatory term used by some Israelis of Eastern European heritage
to describe Israelis of North African heritage.
Okay.
C Sabra is an antique sword unique to the region,
the design of which is believed to have come down since biblical times from the
ancient Israelites. Okay.
Or d refers to individuals born in Israel who behave according to the
Israeli stereotype of being brash at first and then warm and
friendly over time. Oh.
Boy. Can you repeat A.
Refers to anyone in Israel who denigrates the Zionist mission of a homeland for
the Jewish people. Okay.
C.
I'm also gonna go C.
The sword. Yeah. Wrong. Ah.
Really? I was really kind of hoping it was C uh, uh, that's,
that's why Yeah. I had no idea.
Yeah.
Sabra refers to individuals born in Israel who behave according to the Israeli
stereotype of being brash at first. Huh. Then warm and friendly over time,
because the word sabra is the Hebrew word for the prickly pear.
Okay. The fruit of the prickly pear. Yeah.
Oh.
So it's prickly on the outside when first.
Meet, then when you get in there.
Yeah. They question you. They, they, they, they're kind of in your face. Uh,
yeah. Challenge you. Uhhuh , uh, they're in a rush. Listen,
Israelis don't have time for things, you know? Right, right.
Everything is always an emergency. Sure.
Or at least historically has been uhhuh . Right.
So let's not waste time even with niceties necessarily. Yeah. If I,
if you don't say something more direct, if you say something I don't like,
I'm gonna tell you Yeah. I'm in your face. But over time,
we're gonna build a trusting, loving, warm,
and long-term relationship. So that's.
All right. That concept. So this.
Once you get through the prickly stuff, it's sweet and juicy.
So, I'm sorry, is sabra that that concept or is that a a a person is No.
It's a concept. It's a concept. It's a cultural concept.
Alright. Interesting. Alright.
Ah, that's cool.
Yeah, it's good to know. It's that, that's very interesting. Yeah.
I'll remember the prickle pear and it's interesting that there's a company brand
name Yeah. For that, for, for the hummus. Maybe.
There's prickle P in the, in the, could be the hummus.
Could be . Well, I, I,
I found it all very interesting. Yeah.
And I'm looking forward to doing it again. Again.
I learned some real interesting things. Yeah, absolutely. Uh,
so thank you Dean for that, for putting it together. And I'm.
Still in the lead, so I'm.
I'm, and I think I won, actually. No, I won. Going away we're,
we have two more episodes. I'm pretty sure. I already won our November,
December episodes and I think I won this episode though. No,
that makes me one up. I'm in the lead, so, and you have nailed I am.
Oh God. And I gotta sit here and listen to this crap.
I have 80.
And you have 70. That's our.
Points. Wow. Wow. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Moving on. All right, well,
well, we'll be back with you with another, another quiz,
another couple quizzes I guess. And we'll.
Be continuing to.
Drink and, uh, probably in about a month's time.
And we're still drinking except.
For us. There'll be.
A few weeks. We will have been drinking for a month. It'll be,
by the time you hear us again, a lot of.
Drinking going on. Something.
That you can't.
For that necessarily do in a lot of countries in the Arab world,
in the Middle East. Right.
There you go. Discussed in our last episode. There.
You go. That's right. Absolutely. Because.
After all this is.
Oops, your culture showing smell. Yeah.
Okay, listen, the way to get hold of us is, oops,
culture show@gmail.com and our Twitter handle is, oops.
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