travel

Culture Smart! Ireland: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

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A new edition of Culture Smart! Ireland is available now!

Most guidebooks on Ireland will tell you where to stay and what to see. Culture Smart! Ireland is written for people who want to know more and go deeper. 

Here you will find the beliefs and attitudes of the Irish, their rich musical and literary culture, their ancient language and mythology, the values they live by, how they do business, how they enjoy themselves, and the ways they have been molded by their tumultuous history and indeed their geography. 

This understanding will be appreciated by your hosts; it will open doors to you, even open the hearts of a generous, talented people, justifiably proud of their unique identity.

Whether you’re travelling, working, or just curious about this delightful country, Culture Smart! Ireland is your key to understanding and appreciating its people and culture.

Available here

Book Details:

  • ISBN: 9781787023666
  • Format: Paperback
  • Page count: 200
  • Dimensions: 171 x 108 x 13mm
  • Published at: £10.99 / $14.99/ CAN $19.99

Culture Smart! Guatemala: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

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A new edition of Culture Smart! Guatemala is available now!

The largest and most populous Central American country, Guatemala is a land of contrasts and contradictions. It offers great physical beauty alongside ancient Mayan ruins and a conglomeration of diverse peoples and cultures. It is also unique in Central America in that more than half its population is of Mayan Indian origin. Today the country reflects a combination of ancient Mayan heritage, Spanish colonialism, and modern Western influences, mainly from the United States.

Culture Smart! Guatemala introduces you to the complexities of Guatemalan society and shows how history has shaped the values and attitudes you will encounter. It describes different aspects of Guatemalan life, from festivals and cuisine to socialising and doing business.

This new and updated edition provides key insights into the minds and hearts of Guatemalans today and offers practical advice on how to make the most of your time while being a savvy and considerate guest.

Whether you’re travelling, working, or just curious about this fascinating country, Culture Smart! Guatemala is your key to understanding and appreciating its people and culture.

Available here

Book Details:

  • ISBN: 9781787023635
  • Format: Paperback
  • Page count: 200
  • Dimensions: 171 x 108 x 13mm
  • Published at: £10.99 / $14.99/ CAN $19.99

Culture Smart! Saudi Arabia: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

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A new edition of Culture Smart! Saudi Arabia is available now!

The Saudi Arabia of today is nothing like the Saudi Arabia of twenty years ago, or even ten years ago.

In the past, the Arab Gulf nation was a closed, secretive country, a conservative Islamic society strictly guarded by Sharia law and closed to visitors except those coming for religious pilgrimage or work. Now, the country is going through an extraordinary transformation that began in 2016 at the launch of Vision 2030, the plan that Saudi’s leaders King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman have devised to catapult the country into the future. 

The pace of change and its wider effects, particularly on Saudi society, cannot be understated. No matter who you talk to, from young Saudis to their parents, from businesspeople to housewives, practically everyone’s face lights up with excitement when you discuss the topic with them—and the buzz is infectious. One reason for the optimism may well be because the key message that underlies the Vision is that the country’s most valuable resource is not its oil, but rather its people. And it’s the people that this book will introduce you to.

Those who take the time to learn about Saudi history, its culture, traditions, and way of life, will find that their experience in this unique country will be greatly enriched.

Available here

Book Details:

  • ISBN: 9781787023543
  • Format: Paperback
  • Page count: 200
  • Dimensions: 171 x 108 x 13mm
  • Published at: £10.99 / $14.99/ CAN $19.99

Culture Smart! Oman: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

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A new and updated edition of Culture Smart! Oman is available now!

The Sultanate of Oman, long regarded as one of the more mysterious countries of the Arabian Peninsula, is one of the world’s better kept secrets. 

Often referred to as the Pearl of Arabia, it is an ancient land with a rich history, dramatic landscape, and diverse fauna and flora, and yet it was largely cut off from the modern world until the accession to the throne of Sultan Qaboos in 1970. Since then, this peaceful country has developed slowly but deliberately, placing a strong emphasis on retaining its cultural heritage while moving into the high-tech era.

Culture Smart! Oman describes the way of life of the Omani people. A historical overview shows how this former maritime trading power rose to prominence and explains the origins of many current Omani social attitudes. By examining the values, customs, and traditions of this distinctly Arabic country, it offers an insight into modern Oman that will enrich your experience on the ground. 

Descriptions of how people go about their daily lives—at home, at work, and in social situations—will help you know what to expect, while points of etiquette will help you avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and set the foundations for friendship with your hosts. 

Whether you are visiting Oman to explore its unique landscape of mountains, wadis, deserts, and beaches; to discover its historic heritage and festivals, bustling souqs, camel races and sand skiing; or for business—you will find the Omanis to be a gentle, warm, and hospitable people, who are happy to share their beautiful country with those who treat it with respect. 

Ahlan wa sahlan bikum fi Oman! “Welcome to Oman!”

Available here

Book Details:

  • ISBN: 9781787023512
  • Format: Paperback
  • Page count: 200
  • Dimensions: 171 x 108 x 13mm
  • Published at: £10.99 / $14.99/ CAN $19.99

Culture Smart! Egypt: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

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A new and updated edition of Culture Smart! Egypt is out now!

At first sight, modern-day Egypt may seem a chaotic place: a cacophony of sounds, an overload of smells, and a swirling visual feast. Ancient church domes and medieval minarets share the same space with fast-food chains and chic air-conditioned cafés.

This country that has so inspired conquerors, explorers, academics, and artists is home to 113 million people, who call it Omm Eddunia, Mother of the World. 

Despite its rich archeological heritage, it is the people who are Egypt’s true wealth. They are by nature friendly, cheerful, warm, and hospitable, renowned for their sense of humor, and extremely stubborn and proud. Good personal relations are at the core of the Egyptian value system; here, people are more important than time or money. 

This new edition of Culture Smart! Egypt explores the codes and paradoxes of Egyptian life. It outlines the country’s history and shows the forces that have shaped its sensibility. It explains people’s values and attitudes and guides you through local customs and traditions. It opens a window into the private lives of Egyptians, how they behave at home, and how they interact with foreign visitors. It offers practical advice, from how to make friends to avoiding faux pas. 

Available here

Book Details:

  • ISBN: 9781787023451
  • Format: Paperback
  • Page count: 200
  • Dimensions: 171 x 108 x 13mm
  • Published at: £10.99 / $14.99 / CAN $19.99

Culture Smart! Sweden: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

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Sweden is, in many senses, an unspoiled paradise of achingly beautiful archipelagos, forests, mountains, lakes, and coastlines. The surprisingly varied terrain is full of contrasts and contradictions—as is its people.

Swedish society is based on the belief in equality, independence, self-expression, and respect. It is rights-driven, with a strong commitment to maintaining a safe and secure “home of the people.”

Although historically Lutheran, the Swedes today are largely secular and make their life decisions from a non-religious, rational standpoint. This does not mean, however, that they are not spiritual. It is in the natural environment that many Swedes find spiritual fulfillment—in the forests, on the lakes, and in the mountains. For many Swedes, reverence to nature is a kind of religion! And luckily for the Swedes, they are granted a lot of free time – a minimum five weeks’ paid vacation and several public holidays – in which they can enjoy their surroundings.

In the summer months, Swedes make as much of the outdoors as possible with picnics, sports events, or socializing al fresco at sidewalk cafés. Many Swedes are inseparable from nature, which brings them inner peace and harmony. In the winter they go for long walks in the crisp snow, ski along forest tracks, and skate on one of the many frozen lakes, while jogging, hiking, swimming, and picnicking are popular ways to enjoy Sweden’s long, beautiful summer days.

Swedes also make the most of their time outdoors by using locally maintained trails for cross-country skiing, jogging, walking, running, cycling, and horseback riding. In national parks there are trailside huts where hikers can stay for a nominal fee. By law, the “Right to Roam” allows the Swedes nearly unlimited access to any land or waterfront area, whether for mushrooming in the spring and fall, or for boating among the 25,000 islands in the Swedish archipelago. Sweden is also a fisherman’s paradise, with more than 96,000 lakes and a national border that is mainly coastline. As a way to get back to nature, around 1.8 million people own a summer cottage, “sommarstuga” which they will escape to during the long vacation.

So, don’t forget to pack a rucksack and some hiking boots when you visit Sweden – you will easily find somewhere to stop, relax and take in the breathtaking natural landscapes!

Book Details:

    • ISBN: 9781787022881
    • Format: Paperback
    • Page count: 200
    • Dimensions: 170 x 110 x 15mm
    • Published at: £9.99 / $14.99 / CAN $19.99

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Paperback

eBook

Culture Smart! Italy: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

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It is impossible to be bored in Italy. To excite, delight and stimulate you there is the beauty of the land, the elegance and charm of its people, the variety of its regional cultures, the quality and dash of its design and engineering, the reputation of its artists, sculptors, writers, musicians, and filmmakers, and, of course, the glory of its monuments and architecture.

One of the great pleasures of Italy, though, is eating and drinking. Each region has its individual cooking style and ingredients. In the north black pepper, butter, and rice are the staples. In the south it’s hot red pepper, olive oil, and pasta. In Piedmont scented truffle may be grated over your risotto; Liguria has a pasta sauce of crushed basil and pine nuts called pesto; in Tuscany you may eat freshly caught hare and tomato, or wild-boar sausages; and in Sicily you will be offered the most delicious sardines. Many of these ingredients will have been prepared that day, brought fresh from the market.

Italy’s rich diversity and localism explains why there are more than two thousand names for the huge variety of pasta shapes, and more wine labels – at least four thousand – than anywhere else in the world. Italy has many food festivals, called sagre, where local food is on display.

A full-scale Italian meal is substantial, and so varied that it bears out the adage, l’appetito vien mangiando (the appetite grows with eating). Two main courses are preceded by a starter and followed by cheese, a dessert, and/or fruit. And no one is in a hurry when eating out in Italy! The interval between secondo piatto and the cheese and fruit, followed by dessert and coffee, is the time for leisurely conversation and is what authentic Italian dining is all about.

Like all our guides, Culture Smart! Italy focuses on the people. How do they behave? What makes them tick? What is the best way to get on good terms with them? For that is the real way to enjoy Italy. Buon Appetito!

Book Details:

    • ISBN: 9781787028760
    • Format: Paperback
    • Page count: 200
    • Dimensions: 170 x 110 x 15mm
    • Published at: £9.99 / $12.99 / CAN $17.99

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Culture Smart! France: The Essential Guide to Customs and Culture

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Cinema is the youngest art form, just over a hundred years old, and France was its birthplace. France boasts the third-highest cinema attendance in the word after the USA and Japan, both in terms of admissions and revenues.

The success of French movies is partly due to state protection of the industry. A proportion of films must be in French and produced by French production companies (the same goes for music), and because programs cannot be released on DVD until six months after their theatrical release, France is still a nation of cinephiles and cinema-goers.

One of the most famous international film festivals is the annual Cannes Film Festival, and French films and actors also often receive awards internationally. An example was the 2019 historical drama Portrait of a Woman on Fire, which tells the story of a forbidden affair between an aristocrat and a painter commissioned to paint her portrait. Unlike the UK, foreign dramas on French TV tend to be dubbed rather than subtitled.

Delve deeper into what makes the French “different”. Charming, challenging, uncooperative, questioning, and doing things their own way and to their own advantage are all distinctly French traits. But what is it that makes the French so distinctive? And how do you get through to them?

Culture Smart! France will give you insights into the essence of the characteristically strong French national identity so you can make the most of your time in France and better understand the people who have had such historical and cultural influence over Western civilization.

Book Details:

    • ISBN: 9781787029088
    • Format: Paperback
    • Page count: 200
    • Dimensions: 170 x 110 x 15mm
    • Published at: £9.99 / $12.99 / CAN $17.99

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Culture Smart! Bhutan: The Essential Guide to Customs and Culture

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Discover the last true Shangri-la – no longer hidden within the folds of the mighty Himalayas.

In Bhutan, mask dances, called “cham”, are performed during a “tshechu” (a religious Buddhist festival), depicting and describing, through movement and music, the teachings of Buddha and the dharma. They are broadly categorized into three distinct themes: dances with moral stories; dances that purify and protect from destructive spirits; and dances that celebrate the triumph of Buddhism and glorify Guru Rinpoche and his deeds.

The dances are a powerful way of bringing Buddhism closer to the people, who largely depend on the clergy for guidance on the spiritual path. The Bhutanese believe that the mere act of watching the “cham” allows the spectators to gain merit and receive a special blessing.

“Atsaras” (clowns) are an interesting feature of the festival ground, frolicking around and entertaining the crowd with their antics, and often brandish a large wooden phallus. Each dance is meaningful, but some, with their dramatic narratives and visual splendor, are particularly popular with the audience.

The “Raksha Marcham”, or the Dance of the Judgement of the Dead, is one of the most interesting mask dances performed at the “tshechus”. The drama unfolds with the dance of the Rakshas, the aides of the God of Death, “Shinje Choekyi Gyalpo”. It is Judgement Day, and the first to appear before the God of Death is a sinner, dressed all in black. His sins outweigh his good actions, and he is sent to hell. Then comes another person, dressed in white, and again, the God hears his deeds. He is found to be virtuous and led to the pure land.

Culture Smart! Bhutan gives you an insight into the country’s history, values, customs, and age-old traditions. It describes the historical circumstances that have shaped the Bhutanese people and their way of life. It debunks some myths and helps you to discover this fascinating country for yourself. It highlights changes in attitudes and behavior as the country modernizes, while offering guidance on how to develop a rapport with the Bhutanese and forge meaningful friendships.

Delve deeper … travel smarter.

Book Details:

    • ISBN: 9781787029088
    • Format: Paperback
    • Page count: 200
    • Dimensions: 170 x 110 x 15mm
    • Published at: £9.99 / $12.99 / CAN $17.99

Buy:

Paperback

eBook