Because social dymanics and etiquette vary between countries, I wanted to get a feel for how to operate in social situations in Iran (a Farsi-speaking country). I found this site:
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/iran-country-profile.html
which was very helpful.
Some of the things that I found to be very useful were the social norms regarding gender. For example. During introductions, usually men are introduced to men and women are introduced to women.
Another aspect of Iranian culture that I found to be interesting is the gift giving stipulations. If invited over to a someone's house in the United States, we would usually bring some kind of gift, whether it is a dish for a meal or some other kind of thank you. Similarly in Iran, this type of gift is also necessary (usually flowers or some kind of pastry). Also, all other formal gifts must be wrapped elegantly but you should not expect the recipient to open the gift in front of you. Most interestingly, when you give a gift you should alwasy "apologize for its inadequacy." I found that humorous at first but I realize it is probably rooted in a sense of Islamic humility that extends into the social sphere.
The website also talked about family etiquette; parts of which I found surprising. An example of this is that asking about the female members of of a family including wife and sisters is considered inappropriate. This is something that would take me a lot of getting used to because in the United States we don't generally make a gender distinction when asking about someone's family. Also, In Iran, family ties are considered more important than any other social ties and family needs trump all other needs (including business needs). Businesses might also bend more to family needs in Iran because nepotism is considered a good thing. This is because it shows that you are hiring people you know and trust. By virtue of hiring a bunch of family members, and employer would also be aware of and encourage the employees to cater to their families' needs.
There are a lot more aspects of Iranian culture on this site and I will continue talking about them in the following culture posts.
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