Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Albanian Practices


Albanians love to spend their extra time in cafes. They do this in a daily basis. Leisure time is usually spent talking to families, friends, colleagues. When they reach home, they chat with their neighbors as well. Albanians are not so particular with time in both social and business meetings.

Albanians are still conventional. Women stay at home and take care of the household chores while men are the breadwinners of the family (although there are those women who now go to work and seek the professional life). Women are expected to serve their husbands, their sons and their house guests. Men are generally possessive to their wives. For Albanians, a man and a woman hanging out together is a big deal. A single man and a single woman seen hanging around together in public can be assumed engaged. Arranged marriages are still common for Albanians although there is freedom for young men and women in choosing who they want to settle down.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

The Basics of Albanians

Albania is located in the continent of Europe. The major ethnic groups of Albania include Albanian (consisting 95 per cent of the total population), Greek, Gypsy, Serb, Bulgarian and Macedonian.

Let us learn the basics of the country. Handshaking and kissing are two common greeting gestures for Albanian men and women. In terms of their style in communicating, Albanians can be regarded as very straightforward on some cases but may be indirect too in sensitive issues. Say for example, when you appear to be thinner or chubbier from the last time you met, they will tell you explicitly. But when issues are deeper, they will skirt around, instead. Albanians value their families so much that it is normal for them that they project a positive image about their families regardless of their current state. If they have any experience that seems to be bad and shameful, they tend to forget this and never talk about this even to close friends.