Are you a Peach or a Coconut ?

Peach:
Juicy
Sweet
Soft skin
Easy to eat
Hard stone inside

or

Coconut:
Outside is rough
Hard to crack open
Challenging to eat
Dry flesh
Very versatile

(Women selling her art in a small shop in the Old Town of Suzhou.)

No I haven't gone crazy... at least I don't think so !

One of the reasons I'm in China is actually to study... Professors are flown in from Europe for a few weeks to teach their class here in Suzhou. One of the classes I have is Multicultural Management which is taught by a native German - raised in London -worked in the US - teaches in France - flown to China teacher. I like this class alot.

Somehow it puts words and labels on things I've always felt but have never really been able to decribe... such as "Cultural Differences" !

(Older Woman walking amongst the crowd in Shanghai.)

One of the aspects we studied was communication... And the question is, in terms of communicators are you a Peach or a Coconut ?

Peaches can start conversations quickly. They are easy to get through to and it seems like they are letting you "in"... Coconuts are hard to crack! Getting a conversation started takes a lot more time and energy!

A Peache's private sphere is inside, once you hit the center you realize you only know one or two aspects of the person and the rest is off limits... Whereas a Coconut, once you're "in", you're "in"! Passed the rough merky brown skin and the layers of flesh, out poors the milky center!

(People Walking in the Old District of Shanghai.)

Anyway.. this is all very general and beyond cultural backgrounds our Personality also makes a huge difference on where we stand as communicators. But knowing more or less where a culture stands on the line that goes from being a Peach to a Coconut helps to understand relationships and expectations in a professional or personal context.


(I'll post the chart that shows where different countries are situated when I get it from the our Professor.)