On December 31, 2003 my friend Jesiah and I finished work in Hsinchu, Taiwan and headed to the Taipei Airport (which is actually in Taoyuan) to celebrate New Year's in Hong Kong. For both of us it was our first trip to Hong Kong and given our late afternoon departure, an ambitious undertaking to attempt making it to Kowloon by midnight for fireworks (we made it in the nick of time).
By this point, I had lived in Thailand and of course Taiwan – and had traveled a number of other Asian countries. In my experiences flying between Taiwan and the United States, I noticed that Taiwanese travelers were….less orderly and organized than other nationalities. Some of the niceties were not so important to them as to Americans. This was more noticeable when flying United between Seattle and Taipei. The first leg from Seattle to Tokyo was very calm, orderly and pleasant. The second leg from Tokyo to Taipei had a more frenetic quality with very large amounts of carry-on, sometimes in untraditional formats like cardboard boxes and plastic tarps.
Jesiah and I took Cathay Pacific – the Hong Kong airline – for our adventure. When our flight was called to board, a cultural, social experiment laid out before our eyes. Almost as in a science class experiment where teachers demonstrate how density causes different substances dropped in to sink, float or hover in the middle of a container of water, the nationalities on the flight to striated themselves into bandwidths. First the Taiwanese formed a disorderly pack that pushed through the gate, paying no attention to the airline's boarding systems. Clearly, the gate agents expected no different and allowed it. Assorted international passengers (Americans, Europeans, etc) came next – a few who chose not to heed their proper boarding order, but who still adhered to an orderly line. Then came the remaining international passengers (of which it should be noted the British all remained in this third group) and Hong Kongers who both followed procedure AND proceeded in an orderly, dignified manner.
Greeks seem situationally transition among these cultural styles. The ferries, for example, are simultanoeusly the most elevated and crude travel experiences in Greece. The ferries themselves – at least any of the newer ones – have luxurious lounges, multiple eateries of various price points, bars, well furnished cabins with private bathrooms and showers, kennels for dogs, TV lounges, play areas for children, lockers for your electronics and a medical office and helipad per ship, Once aboard, whether for an hour or eight, the ferries – particularly the large ones – are comfortable and the passengers aboard calm and generally polite and orderly. However, the boarding and disembarkation resemble the Taiwanese approach to flights. Everyone turns into a giant mass and pushes forward as if they won't all get on or off the boat – which is especially absurd when the ferry reaches the end of the line in Piraeus/Athens.
I suppose some of what goes on is in the eye of the beholder. Taiwan is a collectivist society – prioritizing the needs of families and communities before the individual. It may well be that everyone rubbing shoulders and being a bit chaotic doesn't seem crude or undignified as it would to a Brit. Surprisingly, according to Geert Hofstede, a professor and researcher in Organizational Behavior who developed his eponymous model of cultural dimensions, Greece is almost as collectivist as Taiwan and more collectivist than even Japan. To get scientific and clear, the United States has an individualism ranking of 91 (the highest in the world), while Japan ranks 46 (meaning it's a little more collectivist than individualist), Greece ranks 35 (meaning, it's clearly in the collectivist camp) and Taiwan has a individualist rating of only 17 (meaning it's COLLECTIVIST).
Maybe Greeks don't want to be as shoulder-to-shoulder as Taiwanese most of the time, in most situations – but getting on and off the ferry, maybe they're all in it together?
Ironically, at 25 I found collectivist Taiwan a hard country to live in, although most likely for reasons that extend well beyond how collectivist or individualist their culture might be. But I can say I didn't have much appreciation for their collectivist orientation. Yet the older I get, the more I realize most of my favorite cultures involve a heavy dose of collectivism. I think it's no coincidence that some of my other favorites like Bali/Indonesia (14 in individualism), Thailand (20), Singapore (20) and Laos (10). France is my one truly individualist outlier at 71, but it's still lower than the United States by 20 points.
None of that is to say I enjoy a good swarm getting on or off transportation. But there is a care and consideration – a value on community and family – to which I gravitate. It's hard not to look at the politics and social ills of our times and not see them less present if not absent from the countries I listed. No one is shooting school children in Southeast Asia nor is there mass homelessness, mean politics, persecution of minorities or parent-child estrangement. Whatever their faults and trade-offs – because nowhere's perfect – these countries have bonds and taboos that remain unbroken. There is something to be said for societal norms that keep people safe and stable. Maybe people don't thrive or achieve as much in their finances or careers (although many of them do particularly in Singapore and Taiwan), but they seem more likely on average to have community, connection, support, belonging and familial love. The chances are overwhelmingly high that from the cradle to the grave, someone is never in it alone.
Perhaps what makes Greece such an appealing culture to me is that for a collectivist culture, they share a lot more emotional space with Americans. They speak openly, joke around are warm hearted. They have fewer rules and are more likely to invite you to share a glass of ouzo or a beer. Or, to put in Hofstede terms Greece lives in closer proximity to the United States in several other cultural dimensions in his model – Motivation Towards Achievement and Success and Indulgence (how free or restrained people are within a society – Greeks are pretty free).
Sadly, today I'm spending a very individualistic day mostly in my hotel room at the Athens Airport Sofitel. It's a comfortable place to write and begin to transition to heading back to the United States, even if just for a few days. Last night and today are also important steps on the journey to get back to my kids and bring them back to this wonderful collectivist society with strong notes of personal liberty. Early in the morning, I'll let the Germans (Lufthansa) with their own unique blend of cultural characteristics carry me home to Los Angeles in the quest to get my kids. (I'm resisting the potential jokes and digs I could insert here)
As for my mom? She arrived on Patmos last night with just a minute to exchange hugs between the time she walked off the ferry and I boarded it. She's now holding down the fort in Patmos, enjoying her cheesy-bread breakfasts and hopefully the island. She managed to get onto WiFi, figure out how to adjust for the high performing hot water heater and to befriend the resident cats. Not surprisingly, the neighbors remember her from last year and greeted her when she went out this morning. I think she'll be just fine.
