Global Intercultural

Go for some travel fun if you are sick of your routine at the office. You can take a trip to Russia for a moscow classic watch and find out why is it called red square and become that much smarter. You can go for fancy dinners at chic restaurants, luxury shopping, visit theatres and museums, or you can try out the many varieties of Russian vodka.

If you want to get away from the city choose a trip to a seaside resort and go out to spas to take care of your body and soul. Your skin will absorb the fresh air, the ocean water and the cool breeze and you will look like a Greek goddess at the end of it. Or if you are an adventure freak go for an extreme sport holiday to the mountains and then you can tell what is the closest continent to the north pole? without a second’s thought. Staying active will help you get in better shape, fill your body with oxygen and take your mind off stressful matters at work. Don’t waste time staying in your room or bathing in the hotel’s swimming pool. Go out, explore and learn and you will have a blast.

We are not going to describe or promote anything illegal in the artical. On the contrary, we would like to talk about a new dating service that would meet needs of people with high income, various interests and representing different nationalities.

We all are aware of the fact that such busy, successful and independent people spend a lot of time away from their homes. It also happens quite often that the process of making money and traveling around the world trying to attract more people and to get even better social status does absorbs oneself. What is more, professionals have to spend more than a couple of weeks abroad. Countries are different and cultures also very greatly. It would be perfect for them to have intercultural executive dating service that would meet all the requirements.

Today matchmaking services are not like those we have had before. They are different and have unique formulas. Intercultural dating has also become quite widespread. Business people have an opportunity not only to spend a couple of days in a nice company, but to continue the relationships until no one knows when…

Fair trade agreement is an expression at the tips of our tongues these days. Fair trade may be defined as a social movement and market-based approach that aims at helping producers in developing countries. Fair trade aims at promoting sustainability, wealth and prosperity in one pf the poorest nations of the world. Subsistent economies are constantly in the need for new markets for their produce and the receiving countries are attracted by the lucrative prices and the quality produce. Therefore fair trade agreements emerge and they are commercial deals under which distributors sell products of a given class at no less than a minimum price set by the manufacturer.

There are more and more companies that forward social and environmental issues by signing fair trade agreements. Some companies producing eco-friendly jewellery go as far as to contribute a percentage of their profits to bettering the conditions of their workers in the Third World. There are rules under which ethical engagement rings are made with the respect and attention to the mining communities where the stones and metals for them are produced. In this way fair trade policies are helping other parts of the world to develop and catch up with the West. This is possibly the economical standards of the future so pay attention.

The importance of cultural awareness cannot be underestimated. Our global village habits can help but we still have to make lots of efforts to really learn about other cultures and countries.

There are many roots into the heart and spirit of another nation. You can learn the basic facts about some country from an encyclopaedia or go and research online. You can read the literature of another country and therefore find out something about the history, way of living, traditions and habits pertinent to that part of the world. Learning a foreign language or at least finding out general things about the grammatical structure of it may give insight into the psyche of the foreign country.

But there is nothing like real participation in the life of a nation to find out its cultural peculiarities. And in order to do that you need to travel a lot and be an active tourist or better still, stay for longer and become one with the locals. There are many intercultural exchange opportunities like au pair programs or student exchange programs. You need to take time to find out about the country of interest and these chances are perfect occasions. Working and studying in a foreign country will inevitably teach you many things about its realities, whether you like it or not. It comes naturally and becomes part of regular life instead of the efforts of theoretically ‘learning’ about culture from a book or documentary. So get to it. You will never regret the move.

If you are fond of post-apocalypse movies you’ve probably seen the earth without humanity – at least the director’s version of the event should it happen. The worst horror of all, of course, is the fact that the projections of some cinematographers aren’t far off from science fiction.

There is overwhelming evidence that man has changed the environment on planet Earth dramatically. Changes continue to happen on a daily basis. But thankfully there are more and more people who realize the importance of going green and contributing to saving the planet. You can also take small steps to be on the right side.

Start with your shopping habits. When you shop ask for a paper bag and instead of disposing of it put it back with you next time you go out. Buy products that have less packaging and that are marked as organic and fair-trade. You can find many companies are doing green versions of their products. These include items from eco yoga mat to ecological toys for you pets or eco friendly promotional items so don’t forget your mission on the next shopping trip.

Another step you can take is disposing of your garbage in an environmentally friendly way. Make sure you have all the necessary equipment in your apartment block, and if not, petition to get it. Recycling is a great measure to combat the problem of waste so contribute to promoting and actively using it. These are just initial ideas. Go and be creative.

Anti-globalization is a huge phenomenon these days. It has many faces and introduces many ideas some of which may be contradicting. The core idea is the opposition of dominating large corporations as bearers of capitalism and greed.

There is some good that anti-globalists have done through the years of the movement. Besides attacking concrete corporations for concrete deeds, anti-globalization activists generated the rhetoric of global integration and democratic representation in the world, together with the total advancement of human rights and egalitarian norms in economy as well as society. The critique of corporations as conglomerates of power and money-making, with more rights than the average citizen holds, has probably come to the front especially due to the anti-global movement.

At the same time anti-globalists have discredited themselves on a number of occasions. They seem to forget about the freedom of choice that people as customers exercise deciding to go or not to go to fast food restaurants and chain retail venues. Instead they could have focused on the importance of educating and creating a generation of responsible customers who don’t necessarily go for the cheapest product but for a product that is ethical and of good quality . Their protests have proven to be populist measures to attract maximum attention to their sometimes silly behaviour, actually undermining the important issues behind those protests.

Thus, there are pros and cons of the movement. Whether you are in or out is a decision to take on your own.

The challenges of launching your business globally are many and one of them is cultural awareness of the business and societal environment. Before you venture to open a branch somewhere across the ocean you have to invest your hard-earned money and your time to investigating the market, the culture of the country you will do business in. It will pay off in the future, be sure of that.

For example, your company’s logo is a hand showing thumbs up. This is an understandable and popular concept almost everywhere you go and everyone knows it’s a sing of approval. Almost is the key word here however. Because of you go to Turkey the sign will cause an immediate scandal. We won’t tell what exactly it means but be sure it’s not a good thing. So make sure all your important logos and trademark slogans aren’t offensive in other cultures and languages. It is not rare that in some languages company names sound funny or silly so you may want to think about changing the stress in certain words or go for a different one altogether.

Don’t assume your globalized image will work everywhere. Make sure the staff get proper trainings and education about the culture and especially business customs of the country they will be working in. Cultural misunderstandings can ruin prospective deals and shut doors in an instant. Do don’t make them happen. Ever.