rebs

Hi,

We're moving out to Dallas in 2 or 3 months time and as part of our relocation package from hubby's employer, we have the opportunity for 2 days of 'cross-cultural training'.

I was just wondering if anyone has any experience of these kinds of programs and how useful or otherwise they found them?

Cheers

Rebecca

Ray

What a wonderful idea ...do go and report back ..it could amuse us for months ....

another bloody yank

Do it and report back. I have to know what they say!

penguinsix

Are you going to learn the meaning of life? No, but it can help with some little things. It might point out the importance of a drivers license for example, not only as a thing needed to drive a car, but basically the substitute for a national ID in the US (which you will have to show to get into a bar, buy alcohol, etc). Some other tidbits about Social Security Numbers, vaccinations for kids (and how important they are), etc.

You might also get a few hints about social interaction, how certain things here are considered normal and certain things are kind of taboo.

It's also a chance to meet a few other people who are 'new to all this' and perhaps have someone to meet up and start your social whirl a spinning.

If you got the time, you might have some fun. Like I said, it's not '42--the meaning of life' but it might be worth something if done right.

ugacrew

Hey if they have a Powerpoint Presentation to go with it, ask for it please!!! Upload it here if you can. I with ABY would love to know what they say.

Tarkak9

In other words... BE in person and most likely without trolls.


Cross-Cultural Training with Nike. Sa-whoosh!

Lord Knows

I hope Fatbrit hasn't started moonlighting now? That could bring an end to any UK-to-US migration.

OverThePond

We had the same offer ... never got round to attending it though! After landing in the US we were caught up in a whirlwind of getting a SSN, license, house, bank account etc etc etc! I totally forgot that we had this two day course thingy on offer if we wanted it! They also gave us access to a web-site with some hints and tips ... there was a really funny article on it that I remember saving about how Brits perceive Americans and how the Brits are wrong! I tried to find it this morning but no luck ... I'll check again when I'm not getting late for work!

MsElui

we moved over in october and got the same from my husbands employer. we did a 2 day session. At the time i found it quite interesting and i enjoyed meeting the expat 'speakers' they brought along as they were potential useful contacts for us. Looking back now - i think some of the things they told us was a bit over egged - and we have not seen the reality of the situations they described although it was still useful to be aware of them in case they did happen. it was great to be able to ask really basic questions about what we had seen by that point and not feel silly. was a bit of a pain at the same time as we had to find childcare cover for our2 young boys - although the organiser helped us find a 'drop in' nursery that has proved useful for a wide range of events outside of the training. The printed material was also quite interesting for reference. One of the speakers even recomended a dentist to us - who he said was really good and not a crook! we will be looking into going to sign up with them shortly! As another point of view - i also got to go into my husbands officers for the 2 days - see where he was working, the facilities he had, meet some colleagues etc so that was nice to do too.

jumping doris

We had the offer too but, like you, got caught up in stuff.

All my children had to do English as a foreign language sessions at school. I was horrified at first but it taught them a lot about the small things here and it turned out to be very useful.

rebs

Hi,

Thanks for the replies everyone...

I think we will try and take the offer - they have a child's version which my son (aged 10) will do. Even we only get a small amount of benefit from it, I'm of the opinion that all info is worth gathering and no sources should be ignored completely...

MsElui - good point about being in hubby's office for a couple of days, I can see that would be beneficial. Did you do the couple of days when you moved over, or during your househunting trip?

Jumping doris - that's really interesting what you say about your children doing English as a foreign language classes. Was that something that is permenant, or just for a short while? Is that typical, do you think? I was wondering how the school treat the fact that the UK kids will spell things so differently - or is that pretty much the least of the kid's issues in moving across?

JEM3110

We were given a copy of "Hello USA!"

ugacrew

I'm sure a bunch of you are trying to look for the copy of "Goodbye USA!". ABY and I hid those. You've gotta pay us some ransom to get one.

JEM3110

Lots of good advice in "Hello USA!" - like how Americans don't like smelly people and the importance of taking a shower!

lapin_windstar

There are plenty of things the average British person could learn about American culture in a real cross-cultural training program. Plenty of apparently well-intentioned British people make really jarring or ignorant statements, especially when it comes to race/language/history, because they are not familiar with the culture.

Edit: although to be fair, the same could also be said for many Americans!