The Queen's English

A few days ago, I had the pleasure of hosting a student from England for a night, and in his honor my housemates and I threw a small party. Unfortunately for us, a few of the people that came managed to fulfill every negative stereotype that I think Europeans have of Americans, within about the first five minutes of their meeting the English student. 

Everything was going fine at the party until the English student stepped outside to smoke a cigarette, which was when these two girls and two boys, for lack of a better word, pounced on him. I did not know the four of them, so maybe it was out of character, but they immediately barraged him with requests that he just talk to them with his accent. To hear him say it, he speaks the Queen's English, but to them it must have been some sort of exotic experience. Soon, the four Americans started to practice their own, embarrassingly contrived 'British accents' on him, which he took with admirable aplomb. Thankfully, these four people soon left, but in the morning at breakfast they were our only topic of conversation. The English student was fairly polite about it, but made it clear that he had hated every second of it. My friend and is formal host was much less diplomatic about it, talking about how people like that give us all a bad name.

As he talked, I realized that whenever you meet someone from another country, you are in a way a representative of your home country to that foreign person you meet. And whatever kind of impression you leave on them is going to shape how they feel about the entire country you have hopefully just represented well. So without knowing it, all those American tourists out in the world are doing public relations for the U.S.A., here's to hoping they leave a better impression than the four from my party.

Have any ideas or comments on how we can better represent ourselves to the world? Comment below, I'd love to hear from you.

This post was authored by Faiz Mandviwalla, a senior at Temple University and an Assistant Firm Director of PRowl Public Relations. Follow Faiz on Twitter here and LinkedIn here. 

Why Going Abroad is Important for Aspiring Public Relations Professionals

Today is my last day abroad of the summer, and I'm writing this post from Berlin, Germany! I've spent this summer interning abroad in Barcelona, Spain, and also had the chance to visit the south of France, the Netherlands, and Germany. This summer, along with the summer I spent 2 years ago in London, Paris, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, has shown me how important it is for aspiring PR professionals, like myself, to experience the world beyond the United States. This summer has gone by far too fast for me, but before I (gratefully) return home, I wanted to share why going abroad is so important.

1. Living, studying, or interning abroad will undoubtedly teach you things about a culture you could never understand just by looking at it. Learning about the rest of the world through class and study is well and good, but cultural immersion is the only real way to experience it.

2. Our world is becoming ever more connected, which means that at some point, you'll probably be dealing with a foreign company or public. When you do deal with this foreign entity, knowing the culture can be vital to accurately forging a connection with them. For example, spend a week in Spain and you'll realize that between 2-4 pm is never a good time to do business, because everyone is on siesta, either getting lunch or napping. But, if you'd never been to Spain, you wouldn't know this, and your business efforts could go to waste.

3. An often-overlooked component of inter-cultural relations is food; and who doesn't love food? Well, if your're from Spain, you probably before some sort of Iberian ham, or some seafood. If you're German, on the other hand, you're likely to go for some sort of curry sausage dish, or some delicious brattwurst. And if you're from France, then a crepe or some crackers and cheese might be your preference. When interacting with people from a different country, serving the wrong food or going to the wrong restaurant can ruin the relationship from the start.

If you ever get a chance, even a glimmer of a chance to go somewhere abroad, then take it! Even if you're just going on vacation, go somewhere different, and take the time to feel out the culture. My professor once said that as soon as you arrive in a new city or country, take a minute to think about what your smelling. What you smell when you arrive will be the unique smell to that place, and if you don't acknowledge it immediately, you'll stop noticing it after a little while. So, all I'm saying is to get out of your bubble, your comfort zone, and go somewhere new. First time I stayed in a cheap European hostel, I hated it, but give it a chance, and it'll grow on you, just like whatever foreign destination you choose will grow on you.