20 May 2020 Week 5 Response To Cultural Differences Concerning Time

I grew up in the United States. I lived in the Dominican Republic for about 2 years as a missionary. According to the video the United States is monochronic which means we value keeping to schedules. Whereas most other places are polychronic. This means the people in most other countries value relationships over schedules. The Dominican Republic is polychronic.

Before watching the video I don't remember ever hearing the words monochronic and polychronic. However, I certainly have experienced both without knowing those two words existed.

People who are Latinos have a much different concept of time. For them it is common for people to show up an hour or more late to most every planned activity. I have even seen church activities plan for people to show up late. For example, an activity may be officially planned for 4 PM with the expectation that no one will actually show up until 5 PM or later. This includes Spanish speaking wards I have attended in the United States.

I believe I have adapted well to both types of thinking. If I make an appointment with someone I show up on time. If the person I have the appointment with is busy or late I simply do something on my cell phone and wait a while. If it is a church activity I arrive on time and chat with anyone who happens to be there until there are enough people for the planned activity to start. I do not get upset nor bent out of shape if someone else is late.

For my TESOL practice class I am teaching two people that live in polychronic countries. Both of them have rescheduled classes on a regular basis. The reasons they give me are they had to visit a sick friend or go shopping or eat dinner and so on. I have not felt upset in the slightest and simply adjust my schedule and do something I had planned for later in the day at the time when the class was to take place and then give that student the class during the time now freed up.