Even though I live in Europe and this scenario applies to me, the post is not about me personally, rather I want everyone who is in the same boat to freely express their views.

I would like to gauge the different views which Nairalanders may have about this topic. After one has lived for an extended period of time in Europe or U.S., one starts to realize that Europeans show little or no interest in foreign cultures.

The western culture is in my opinion not compatible with the African way of life in general and that of Nigeria in particular. Friendships for example, tend to be a long term thing to Nigerians, while Europeans view them as task specific, that is, a typical European adult has different acquaintances with which he or she associates with for varying purposes. One “friend” is for discussing sports and news, while another comes in handy when  going to a night club.

A good example which illustrates how Europeans deal with their relations with other people, is to look at the working environment. Typically, you will discover that when you work in europe, your colleagues may only freely associate with you during working hours, after work, its no longer a thing which comes naturally, as they separate work friends and real friends.

Furthermore, once you change jobs, you may find that you will no longer be in touch with your former colleagues, regardless of whether you have their contact details or not. In your new job, you will find yourself starting new working friendships with new people, till you change jobs again. I have worked in the Netherlands for 10 years in telecommunications, ICT and banking so I am speaking from experience.

By contrast, in Nigeria, friendships regardless of whether the actors are colleagues, classmates or members of the same church are mostly based on mutual interests and ways of thinking, as well as outlook on life. Once people find that they share any number of these things in common, the friendship lasts for a relatively long time.

It is my opinion therefore, that it is more realistic for a person of Nigerian origin to expect to build a  larger and more meaningful network of people they know in Nigeria or in a Nigerian community abroad, rather  than rely on the loosely knit network in Europe which can be described as superficial at best. Also, Europeans generally expect one to adapt to their cultures – and I’m not talking about learning the language here – they expect you to talk about the things they talk about and basically think they way they think, instead of making the little effort to show more interest in your cultural background and that way, forge a more meaningful association.

Nigerians on the other hand, always show genuine interest  in Europeans when they come to our country. We always make the effort to let them express themselves the way they do, we even go the extra mile to teach them practical things about our culture, for example, making them feel at home at a traditional wedding, helping them with traditional dress, being very friendly to them etc.

Do not get me wrong, what I’m saying in essence, is that it is important for Nigerians to understand these aspects of European culture in order to put their interactions with Europeans in perspective.

Only posts directly related to the topic please.