V brings up a good point... class time is precious here. My professors would always lock the door at 10 minutes after the hour. Students would get very angry at being locked out... because it's ridiculous that you should actually be on time, right? One student banged on the door for 5 minutes during another student's presentation when she was half an hour late. My experience with students, however, is a bit different. When professors didn't show up, I was the only one who seemed much bothered by it, although the rest of the students would get a bit annoyed. (but not much) My fiance (who goes to your school, V) often just has 1 class to go to... he takes an hour to get to school by bus, only to find out the teacher didn't go. He seems to take it in stride, but I would be pissed at wasting 2 hours on a bus for nothing. One problem we often had was that the professor would call the department head in advance to say they weren't coming. The department head would make no effort to let us know not to come (even though there was a message chain system in place).
Cultural differences: time Ditto, but I want to make it clear I'm not talking about my university: both times I had problems getting to work were at another institution. Luckily, I've never been absent from any university classes, and never late for any, either place. I've known one American couple that were habitually late. About twenty minutes late, they would start calling; then, call every 30-40 minutes, until they set off. They were never on time. I attributed it to their giving themselves permission to be late. From this standpoint, it's easy to understand Mexicans being late: the culture gives them permission. (So, Mormis, please don't think we think any less of anybody, just because they may run late, or not show up: I still speak to my Mexican friends who didn't show up for my event!) In fairness, I should point out that when I've had meetings scheduled with decision makers, they've not tended to be late, so there are differences; and, I've never had a maid fail to show, or be more than modestly late (no more than an hour, say). There is the other extreme, too, that of the Germans. "On time" may have a different meaning in that culture, it seems. I'll give you an example. We were vacationing by bus with my wife's family, all Germans, in the Alps. The driver announced he wanted everybody downstairs the next morning, at 9:15, for a 9:30 departure. Fair enough. At 8:30, we get a call from one of our relatives, "Where are you?" they asked: "We're in our room. What's up?" "Everybody's downstairs, ready to go. You're the only ones not ready." We pointed out what the driver had said: it didn't matter, they were ready, and we should be, too! It turned out that a whole bus load of Germans were downstairs, with their bags, ready to go, a full 45 minutes before they had been told to be there: my wife and I, "running late", had become an embarrassment to the family! There's got to be a happy medium....
Driving and parking make me nuts as do people who continually just walk right in front of me so I have to run into them or dodge them. I know that Dorothy and I are not in Kansas anymore but I don't know why folks cannot, when going to cross in front of another, when the other has more or less the right of way, pause or slow for half a second and walk behind, rather than cutting the other person off. For example, on a sidewalk going in opposite directions and they want to go into a store you are about to pass. I may have already posted on this thread about the average Mexican driver does not seem to be able, or is to rude to try, to get his or her car between two lines. Others have commented about turning is seemingly permitted from any lane. How about cars, even taxis, with no brake lights. How about giving others a head's up when you are stopping? If on a street with two lanes in each direction, and there is a curve in the road, they drive like they are at Le Mans or the 24 Hours at Daytona, taking the shortest distance between to points with no regard to another driver going the same direction in a sihgle lane. That's my two cents worth for today.
"On time" Well, the four students I spoke of showed up, this AM, as agreed. They were really cute about it, calling me at 7:05 to say they were running late on account of the rain (I had "gritched" at them, mildly, for being so late, last time). They were here, by 7:15, perfectly acceptable by anybody's standards (I suppose). A cultural difference I think I've observed- it's been true with my students, in two different institutions, so far- is NO CHEATING. I consider it remarkable, and to their credit, I've not seen a single student attempting to cheat on a test, including the one I gave last night, and about which the students were extremely nervous, based on a casual remark I'd made. Seeing this, makes me proud of them.
V, Nice post. Must be very rewarding to see these kinds of things. Keep up moulding those young minds. We need it to be dry by tomorrow night.
TJ - One of my best friends here always drives in the middle of the road on a curve. I once asked her why she does this. Her response was that "it's illegal to pass on a curve anyway, so I like to drive in the middle." Hope that sheds some light on the situation. I guess I can't really argue with it... once another friend got into an accident when she took a left turn from the right lane. She and her sister were actually able to convince the girl in the other car that it was HER fault. V - The kids at my school were HORRIBLE about cheating!! One kid once cheated off of my exam, leaning over even further to get a glance when I tried to cover it up. I chewed him out later and he just laughed about it. Popular cheating methods included placing a cheat-sheet in the small tray underneath the chair in front of them, and writng notes on their arms/palms. They also had "acordiones", small sheets of paper they would hide in their hands that had notes written in very small print. Or, when the smarter kids had finished, they would signal answers to the kids still in the exam through the windows to the classroom. ANyway, it's refreshing to know that's not the case in your classroom. It usually has a lot to do with the respect the students have for the teacher.
Gringation, since you are apparently now down with the culture thing, I look forward to showing up, uninvited of course, at your wedding. I will be sure to get the word around to others who are alsouninvited. We shall have a nice time and getting to know you. Not having the pleasure of meeting you, my feelings are not hurt by not being invited. Mat, thanks for all the info on Gringation's wedding; location, date, time, etc. I owe you a beer. Please email me a picture so I will know what she looks like. Do they kiss the bride here in Mexico?
