Foreign to Familiar; A Guide to Understanding Hot- and Cold- Climate Cultures

by Sarah Lanier

Foreign to Familiar is a splendidly written, well researched
work on cultures. Anyone traveling abroad
should not leave home without this valuable resource!
I highly recommend it as required reading for cross cultural
workers. Sarah Lanier’s love and sensitivity
for people of all nations will touch your heart. This
book creates within us a greater appreciation for our
extended families around the world and an increased
desire to better serve them.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cultural, Christian, Travel, Education, Anthropology, Psychology

73 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Sarah Lanier, author of Foreign to Familiar: A Guide to Hot and Cold Climate Cultures, which has been published in eleven languages, grew up in the Middle East and has served in Europe for 20 years as a trainer and consultant with NGOs and other cross-cultural workers. She currently serves as a consultant and trainer for the University of the Nations.

Reviews

[Sydney Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm very much from a cold-climate culture. I'm also pregnant in a hot-climate culture (my belly now belongs to all of Ecuador to touch & rub). While this book didn't give me a magic answer to making that just go away (I'm smiling while I type that), it reinforced all I know about our culture differences and eloquently explained it in ways I hadn't heard. I now have even more tools to help make the gap smaller between us and to avoid misunderstandings that I may cause in my own behaviors. The author used examples from all over the world (not just USA vs. Latino as I am used to) which helps the reader more fully grasp the beauty alongside the complexity of this world. It's a very short, easy read I recommend to anyone traveling to a different culture or living/working near/within a different culture. If you want to avoid offending someone in ways you'd never dreamed of being an offense...if you want to be able to make friends quicker, build work relationships faster or just understand things that make your eyes bulge and your mouth go "why?!" to your fellow sympathizer, read this book's powerful advice.

[Connor Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

While short and not comprehensive, Lanier does a great job of outlining the differences in hot climate and cold climate cultures. It makes me miss the hot climate culture of Paraguay!

[Kim - Inside the Wong Mind · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you ever want to travel or just relate with people from different countries and cultures, I definitely recommend this book by Sarah A. Lanier. Miscommunication is a huge problem cross-culturally and Lanier delivers a simple, practical, clear guide to avoiding the common mistakes that foreigners make. Hot and cold climate cultures are somewhat generalized but the basic principles that guide her advice are logical and will save foreigners from a lot of miscommunication, misunderstanding, and loss of friendship. Some of the title chapters include: Hot- Versus Cold-Climate Cultures, Relationship Versus Task Orientation, Direct Versus Indirect Communication, Individualism Versus Group Identity, Inclusion Versus Privacy, Different Concepts of Hospitality, High-Context Versus Low-Context Cultures, Different Concepts of Time and Planning, and Practical Next Steps.

If you ever plan on visiting another country or making friends with someone from another country, I highly recommend reading this easy-to-read book that is jam-packed full of essential information for reaching out to people cross-culturally. Be wise and read this book. You won’t regret it. You will gain understanding about how to approach your travel and develop friendship-making skills. Thank God someone wrote this book.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful introduction to cultural differences.

Even as someone who has spent my whole life living cross-culturally, I know there's always more to learn about the cultures I'm not as familiar with, and I found the concepts in this book to be a good starting place. Recommended, but would be even better to follow up with The Culture Map, by Erin Meyer.

[Faith Spinks · Rating 3 out of 5]

A succinct, easy to read book about the difference in cultures and their approaches to life. A useful book for people beginning to think about cross cultural life. Having lived and worked in different ‘hot climate’ cultures but coming from a ‘cold-climate’ climate there was not much here I hadn’t observed myself. Although also some areas I felt were not explained well or didn’t have a complete understanding of the concept (high context/low context). For me it lacked the depth I was hoping for but was still interesting.

[Maggie Hong · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a very good book to help people understand culture differences. The only thing that I'm not happy with is one of its examples of China as a nation with "hot climate culture." It says that in hot climate culture, people has less boundaries and less privacy too. It says that a Chinese international student lives in the dormitory in a nation with "cold climate culture." Since he was brought up in hot climate culture, he doesn't know about privacy, so he opens his roomate's closet and begins to use his roomate's things without asking. I read the book many years ago, and still remember the story because it's not only a bad example to illustrate hot climate culture but is also not true. Even in hot climate culture, where people has less privacy, this kind of act will still be very uncommon, and it is considered stealing as it is elsewhere in the world. Having less privacy does not mean that people will take other people's possession as their own without permission, it only means that people are more curious about eath other's business, and may ask or gossip about other people's private life more. I am not very sure if the example is still in the book, but if it is, I do think the author needs to change it. In general, it's a very good book.

[Edie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book and quick read on understanding hot-climate and cold-climate cultures? Being a cold-climate culture person myself and marrying a man who grew up in a hot-climate culture family, this book helped to explain a lot with the differences we already noticed. I also often have opportunities to interact with people of other cultures. This book is a great resource for someone going overseas, interacting with foreigners in their home country or understanding the cultural differences between north and south US. I feel better equipped to understand, respect and interact with a person of a hot-climate culture. Also my eyes were opened as to how my own cold-climate culture has molded me to be task/time oriented and how that can come across as cold and impersonal. Whew, that explains a comment I received when I asked a store clerk a question during a trip to the 'south' while visiting my husbands family. The store clerk said, somewhat politely mind you, "You're from the North, aren't you?" After my affirmative reply, I was then cold shouldered. I think he felt I cold shouldered him first with my cold-climate, fact-seeking self. Thanks Ms. Lanier for so clearly helping me better understand, interact and respect people of cultures different than my own.

[C.G.Koens · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has spent a lot of time overseas in both hot and cold climates, I completely identified with the ideas in Lanier's book. Although not true 100% of the time (as she points out, individuals can be different from the mass cultural stereotypes - for example, I was born and raised in the "hot south", but my personality is much more "cold northern"), she comes very close to the heart of cultural misunderstandings and issues in this book.

If you're considering moving overseas or even just spending time in a culture other than your own, I would highly recommend picking up this short book. I read it in an about an hour, and laughed all the way through it as she reminded me of various situations I have personally experienced. Well written, well thought out, and a great handbook for travelers of all ages who don't want to stick out more than they have to.

[M.K. Laffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend to literally anyone. Reading this book really opened my eyes to understanding a lot more of why people do the different things they do. It would definitely be a benefit to really anyone to read this.
In regards to the actual writing, superb. The dialogue was concise enough that it kept your attention span, yet detailed enough to be interesting and give you enough information. The transitions between each story within the book were very well-done and seamless, so I always knew what was going on and where we were even though it was an extremely fast-moving plot.

[Rachel Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is simple, relatively short, and easy to read. I felt like some of the information I already knew, but it was a good reminder for me. All of the examples used to illustrate the main ideas made it fun to read. It made me aware of just how many “cold culture” characteristics I have and how I will specifically need to adjust to living in a “warm culture.” I really appreciated the 10 practical tips at the end that summarized the book and provided helpful points to remember when entering a culture different than my own.

[paradispetrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

En kort överblick, men mycket bra grejer. Så otroligt intressant hur vi människor fungerar och tänker så olika beroende på vilken kultur vi växt upp/ lever i. Författaren jämför inte heller bättre/sämre, utan konstaterar helt enkelt att kulturer är olika. En bra introduktion till ämnet. 3.75 ⭐️

[Mindy Tharnish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely a must read for anyone wanting to travel or do business in a culture different than their own.

[Monica Maldonado · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was recommended to me by one of my new friends from India to better understand her worldview and why life in Boston can be so confusing to her. found this to be a very easy, quick & helpful read to better understand the perspective of our neighbors & my own ignorances

[Allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative!!

[Scott Hayden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining and practical. Full of real-life examples, this book presents a general framework for understanding cultural differences. Lanier uses a lot of personal stories. This author is an experienced traveler, not just a theorist.

Quick and easy to read, but very useful. This now is part of my highly-recommended reads for those working or living across cultures. I had not even finished it before adding it to my basic seminar "Conflict, Allergies, and Motor Oil."

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend gave me this book as a guide for an upcoming trip to India. My biggest concern has been my lack of knowledge regarding the culture and fear that I will do something that won't translate across cultural lines. I do not want to unknowingly do something disrespectful. This book wasn't exactly focused on India, but for anyone who will be exposed to a multiplicity of cultures this is a great guide. Lanier has a ton of experience dealing with etiquette and customs, and her experiences show her wisdom in adaptation in different countries. One thing I thought was extremely interesting is the quote by Thomas Jefferson that references hot and cold climate people groups. Although it wasn't very helpful for my upcoming trip it definitely was an easy read and extremely insightful.

[Ashlie aka The Cheerbrarian]

This was required reading for a course I'm taking, Introduction to Cross-Cultural studies. I have a Master's in Intercultural Communication and am taking this class for review, so the material wasn't new to me and was a simplified version of other things I have studied.

This was a really easy read and gives a basic overview for someone wanting to understand how to navigate cultural differences. I'm not sure if I agree with all the concepts in the book but it serves as a good jumping off point for learning. The author has a lot of experience and peppers the story with personal anecdotes which makes this book much more interesting than a basic dry textbook.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was short and sweet with insightful anecdotes of cultural misunderstandings around the world. Regardless of the culture in focus, I found that each anecdote taught me more about myself and my own culture. I have often been offended by people's rude behavior and simply counted it off as rude. However, the author explains how offending or being offended can be greatly reduced if we inquired deeper into the cultural norms/values of the other. A great read, at times I could not sleep because it brought back so many memories that needed to be dealt with.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give this book 6 starts, I would. It's such a great one to help understand different cultures, plus you can read it in about an hour. I have passed it on to many people. Anyone working with people of different cultures, and in all honesty, anyone should really read this book to help them understand different cultures in our world today!

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book! Excellent for anyone who travels to another culture, or who interacts with anyone from another ethnicity or cultural group. Sarah gives very helpful paradigms for the broad differences between different cultures, which helps us to understand, appreciate, and communicate much better. Highly recommended.

[Mari-liis Duglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very interesting to read, especially before going to live in another country in less than a month. I found that it gave me a much better perspective of what awaits me and I feel much more prepared to experience and understand all the new and different things that lie ahead of me.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye-opening book. Gave some great insight into dealing with different cultures. It also helped me better understand some of my own struggles as a Puerto Rican from Florida living in Ohio. Great resource!

[Ahmad Alkouh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way the author has divided the world into hot or cold cultures. As a cold person living in a hot culture you can see the differences.

I personally live most of what is mintioned in the book.

[Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

A valuable and easy read on understanding general cultural difference that often causes misunderstanding (what the author calls cold vs. hot climate cultures). I particular like the various personal anecdotes.

[Lisa Blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book in helping one understand people from different regions and different cultures. Highly recommended!

[Andrew Yong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great review of different cultures from an original respective.
Most of all, it is written with much respect and little judgment towards other cultures.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple and quick read on a complex topic. it does not come close to explaining everything, but is a very helpful starting point for people interested in cultural differences.

[Cassie Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief look at the way our culture and climate affects how we relate either relationally or efficiently. Fascinating and helpful!

[Mimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

a few things:
1. This book literally just describes the tension of who I am as a person. Instead of a little angel and little devil on my shoulders, I have 2 little balls of energy titled either hot or cold culture that I am constantly picking between.
2. This is a nice light introductory read on a pretty expansive and intense topic. definitely a must read for anyone ever moving to a different culture, or interacting with someone from another culture- so EVERYONE!
3. people always talk about the hot and cold culture comparison (which is great) but we are SLEEPING on the last part of this book that explains high-context vs low-context cultures. it makes a lot of sense but i just haven't spent as much time thinking about it.

[Sibel SkO · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written. 100% accurate. I have always enjoyed reading and learning about other cultures. I have traveled to many countries myself. Now I understand why Japanese people would give me directions whenever I asked when living there. I see now why my mom is so brutally honest at times. Being from a cold culture climate, my mother is from a cold culture climate and my father from a warm culture climate, I understand and see their differences, their quirks, and why they get so irritated with each other. A quick read. Will pass the book to my mother so she can understand her husband. Lol