No Right or Wrong in Culture: Reflections on Global Expat Assignments, Strange Customs, and the Human Operating System

 “In culture, concepts of absolute right and wrong do not exist. The moment we measure another society against our own rigid yardsticks, cultural value is lost. True understanding opens only when we accept human customs as they are—yet shedding lifelong preconceptions is never easy.”

1. The French Logic of Discarded Cigarette Butts

Decades ago, Europe—particularly France—treated smoking with remarkable permissiveness.

During frequent business trips transiting between South Korea and Germany, I regularly passed through Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

I still vividly recall the sight of stylish travelers casually resting one foot on the baggage carousel, exhaling long streams of smoke into the terminal air, and routinely flicking finished cigarette butts straight onto the floor. At the time, it seemed to be an unspoken local norm.

Curious, I asked a French colleague from Bosch:

“Why do people toss cigarette butts onto the floor instead of using the ash bins?”

His reply was direct and unexpected:

“The airport cleaners receive their salaries from the taxes we pay. If we leave litter on the floor, it gives them work to do and keeps them employed! Don’t worry, it is completely normal.”

Confronted with that rationale, I realized how multi-layered and subjective cultural perspectives can be.

2. The High-Mounted Urinals of Bengaluru

On another technical assignment visiting the Bosch Research and Development Center in Bengaluru, India, I encountered a different everyday mystery.

While Indian colleagues were generally of average build, stepping into the facility restroom was an unexpected surprise: the wall-mounted urinals were installed exceptionally high.

Aiming steadily required standing slightly on tiptoes.

Given that my local engineering peers were roughly my height or slightly shorter, why those fixtures were mounted so high remains an unresolved engineering mystery—one I never quite found the right moment to question out loud!

3. Bosch Global Expatriates: The Cultural Pull of Korea and the Dynamics of China

At the global headquarters of Robert Bosch GmbH in Schillerhöhe near Stuttgart, an entire division within Human Resources is dedicated exclusively to managing international expat delegations.

Among German engineers, the United States and Japan were traditionally top choices.

Yet South Korea held a distinct reputation: German engineers assigned to Korean offices frequently made active efforts to secure contract extensions or second assignments.

The warmth of Korean Jeong (emotional bonding), dynamic evening food culture, and structured lifestyle left a lasting impression on them.

China presented a very different expat dynamic.

German engineers posted to Chinese operations exhibited a high tendency to marry local colleagues—regardless of prior marital status back home.

For married expatriates, this required navigating divorce proceedings in Germany to start new families locally, often with colleagues working within the same department.

Colleagues half-jokingly compared informal "divorce and remarriage rates" across expatriate hubs in Japan, Korea, and China.

4. The Power of Cultural Rewiring

We grow up inside one nation, attend school, build friendships, and form families—believing our home culture represents universal truth.

Yet when thrown into an unfamiliar cultural environment with different languages, values, and social norms, established perspectives and family structures can be rapidly challenged and reformed.

Throughout 38 years as an automotive engineer, I designed complex mechanical hardware and calibrated intricate electronic control units.

Looking back across decades of global assignments, the most powerful and transformative operating system shaping human behavior is Culture.

💡 hk Automotive Commentary

“Control algorithms require strict inputs and deterministic logic, but human culture defies binary right-or-wrong classifications. Navigating global automotive engineering taught me that embracing unfamiliar social customs with curiosity is the key to mastering cross-cultural collaboration.”