United States of America Bettina Wellige, Mareen Wulf, Mario Knüppe

Agenda Facts & Figures Socializing Entry Bill and tip Restaurants Elevator Customs and practice Business Business meal meetings & punctuality Dress coat Critic handling Business Cards Communication/ conversation greeting Small talk Topics of conversation Collocation

Facts & Figures

Foundation:1787 National holiday:July 4 th -> Independence Day July 4 th 1776 Area: km² Habitants: 300 million Admin divisions:50 states + administration area (Washington DC) Capital: Washington DC ( habitants)

Other Cities:Los Angeles (8,85 mio.) New York (8,55 mio.) Chicago (7,4 mio.) Religion:Protestant (52%) Catholic (24%) Jewish (2%) other (4%) non-religious (14%) Language:English (official language), Spanish Currency:US-Dollar Sports:American Football Baseball Basketball Ice hockey

Socializing

Documents for Entry are filled during the flight No stupid comments while passport control Passport control: Fingerprint and Iris check Tell Officer the reason and time of the visit Having a ticket for the flight back No jokes about Weapons in your case Entry

Bill and tip 15% of total Bill Usually the host pays the bill and the guest pays the tip Services are based on tip (main part of income) Taxi driver, Waiters, suitcase carrier Tip is not in the total Bill included Nearly everybody pays with credit card, even the tip

Restaurants A waiter assigns a table You often pay only the first glass of non-alcoholic beverages Don‘t ask for toilet, just for Restroom, men room or ladies room

Elevator Don‘t stare at each other (look at bottom or door) Don‘t touch other people Don‘t use your cell Women enter the elevator first No Rules if Elevator breaks down

Customs and practice Public intimacy is not welcome (nudism at public places, homosexuality) No embracement, touching or caressing

Business

Business meal The host pays the Bill Children are undesired The host orders same beverages as the guest Always choose an easy-traveling Restaurant The value of gifts should be 20$ maximum Thank you note

Meetings & punctuality An Agenda is not important Agenda loyal people are classified as inflexible Small unpunctuality is acceptable Don’t be early In negotiations: Time is Money No forecast, just short-timed strategy

Dress coat Look about details for the right clothes (pictures, phone calls) Follow wishes on invitation (black tie) Women should wear stockings and nontransparent blouses Unshaved is a no go

Business Cards No sharing out, just ask for Cards If no Business Cards available, the person is not interested Just ask for Business Cards if the conversation is more than a small talk

Communication/ conversation

Greeting Who sees first, greets first No consideration on hierarchic differences Always a smile or a short nod Introduce yourself and other people with name and prename

Small talk Small talk is very important in Business conversations Small talk starts a meeting Don’t mix a small talk with the readiness to make a longer conversation (“How are you today”)

Topics of conversation Good topics Making compliments Topics like Business, Traveling, Food, Sport, Music, Movies, Books Bad topics Intimacy: sexuality, affliction Topics with the danger of controversy - Religion, Racism, Abortion, Politics

Collocation “Nice to meet you” “How are you today” “fine, thanks” “Where are you from” “What do you do?” “See you later”