Julia Pecherytsia

Cultural awareness is not about knowing how to say “hello” in five languages.
It’s realizing that not everyone who disagrees with you is rude, wrong, dramatic, cold, lazy, aggressive, or “too much.”
Sometimes they’re just operating from a different manual. Which is inconvenient, because judging was faster.

My kids keep bringing me their friends’ feedback like quarterly performance reviews. Well, for starters — this is my Ukrainian face. I grew into it.

But seriously, I believe in high expectations for kids. Not because childhood should feel like a work camp. But because one day the world will expect things from them and unlike me, it will not offer absolute support, emotional debriefing, comfort food, and at least three reminders before every deadline.

That’s not strict. That’s love with standards and a slightly intimidating accent.

Summer is a beautiful time to fulfill your wildest travel dreams. 🧳 Not commenting on the budget. That part is between you, your credit card, and whatever emotional support system is currently holding the family together.

But have you noticed? When we travel, culture feels magical. The food is fascinating. The customs are charming. The accent is beautiful. The “different way of doing things” becomes a story we proudly tell at dinner. We call it an experience. 🌍

But when that same “different way of doing things” shows up in our office, school, neighborhood? Suddenly it’s too much. Too loud. Too cold. Too direct. Too emotional. Too rigid. Too informal.

Apparently, culture is delightful when we paid for the plane ticket. Less delightful when it asks us to adjust.

And let’s be honest: even the most open-minded among us still judges. Cultural awareness is not pretending we float above judgment. We don’t. We’re human. We have habits, preferences, and a suspiciously strong belief that our way is “just normal.” 👀

Cultural awareness is realizing that not everyone who disagrees with you is rude, wrong, dramatic, cold, lazy, aggressive, or difficult. Sometimes they’re just operating from a different manual. Which is inconvenient, because judging was faster.

And there’s always that quiet power question: who needs whom more?

When we are visitors, we call it immersion.
When they are newcomers, we call it adjustment.

Funny how that works…

At the end of the day, we need each other more than we like to admit. And often, the people we think “need us” are already doing the invisible work to make the workplace, classroom, family, or community run smoothly. We just don’t notice it. Because when someone adapts well, their effort becomes invisible.

And when they stop adapting, we suddenly call them difficult. 🤝