Suppose you are crossing an African industry on your bicycle and you fall down (nicely a goat ran in front of you…and yes it occurs) – how do you feel onlookers in the market would react? Just before you answer, let me provide more context. The industry you are riding your bicycle through is located in a modest West African village and the villages are traditionally recognized for their fantastic hospitality.

So, now that I have given you extra information, do you want to take a guess at what the onlookers would do? Oh, I forgot to mention that you are female and white (choose your nation!). So, let me give you some choices:

Would the onlookers:

A. Run to help you

B. Laugh whilst you lay down wiping the blood off your knee

C. Laugh even far more as you start to cry

D. All of the above

Nicely, if you selected all of the above, you guessed correctly. Even though I can’t guarantee that this would always take place any time you fall off your bicycle although peddling by way of an African market, it is nearly a sure factor that most West Africans who witnessed this incident would laugh–and also come to your aid. Remember, we are extremely hospitable people! However, we love to laugh at others’ physical awkwardness and even misfortune. Embarrassing scenarios are an inevitable cause for laughter. This is evidenced by my personal empirical analysis whilst teaching intercultural communication at the school for international training where I ran a workshop on laughing across culture, and also from encounter: I would have surely been one of the laughing onlookers who would have nevertheless come to your aid.

Westerners who travel or moves to Africa are usually surprised to see lots of laughter amidst so considerably poverty and desolation. What is usually not understood by outsiders is that laughter is utilized as a way to cope with harsh and often difficult living conditions. And so, it is not uncommon in numerous areas to hear people being referred to by the sort of handicap they suffer from. For instance, somebody who limps may well be named “the limper” even when his name is identified by all.

Most conveniently, nevertheless, in most of Africa, a classic “teasing relationship” exists that permits numerous ethnic groups to tease every other utilizing insults and funny or exaggerated stereotyping of the other ethnic group in conversation. Sociologists and anthropologists have credited these “teasing relationships” for decreasing tensions and mitigating suspicion amongst groups whilst simultaneously creating bonds amongst them. These findings only help what Africans themselves have recognized from the beginning.

At worst, this ethnic banter can appear to be politically incorrect to many, and at best it can be very confusing to westerners or a person from a various nation as they too can speedily become drawn into these exchanges.

So, what are the implications for you? To the extent that you are seeking to integrate, be included, build business or social bonds with your host, the following suggestions can be useful.

1. Be aware that an embarrassing circumstance will most likely trigger laughter, and of course this contains farting (loudly) in public simply because an individual will surely laugh or even call you out

2. The a lot more various you are from your host, the funnier your embarrassing circumstances will be to them. As my uncle utilized to tell me whilst developing up in Burkina Faso, there is nothing at all funnier than a confused “foreigner”. And of course, you ought to not cry in public. It is unusual and observed as an embarrassment to publicly express sadness (except if the crying is related to death) to stay away from producing a fool of your self.

3. There is no better way to integrate into your setting than to be able to be laughed at and to laugh at your self. It is therefore useful to be conscious of what makes your host laugh, and to know how you can make them laugh, preferentially without having resorting to falling from your bicycle.