Close Quarters

I am the first to admit that travel can be a giant hassle, particularly when you are part of a group and the actual traveling involves going to another country and having to contend with the various immigration hurdles set in-place by the nation you are leaving and one or ones you are visiting. Such logistics, for better or worse, find people being in very close quarters with others who may or may not always be in the most pleasant of moods. In such circumstances, one does not always see others in a setting or specific circumstance that is the most flattering to them. At the same time, others do not always see us at our best either. 

Trying to "get along" with folks you may not know or know well is rarely without some degree of stress. Someone may something with which you disagree. Another may find something you say to be offensive. When this happens the question immediately becomes what to do about it. Do you speak up? Let it pass? Pretend you understand or even agree with what they said just to avoid any possible conflict? These are among the everyday choices most of us make in the course of an average week. When they revolve around folks we do not know well, the communication challenge includes  determining how best to send and receive messages to and from others.

Teaching here in Songdo, South Korea, has put me in close quarters with a range of interesting people, including other instructors, students and area residents. At least at the beginning, none of us knew each well or, in a number of cases, at all. Now, nearly three months later, many of us have gained a better sense of each other to the point where we are feeling more free to communicate in ways that reflect how we normally behave and talk. This is not unusual, of course. With time comes familiarity. Still, it reflects to how important it is to communicate with a level of sensitivity that, when it comes to communicating, people tend to feel their way along.