Step 2: Describe What The Other Person(S) Did

Don’t tell the story. Just focus on the actions and words you can see or hear. (Or, taste or touch if in the case of an object).

Describe exactly what you saw, heard, touched, or smelled. Even though it is somewhat artificial, report exactly what happened with no interpretation.

• Descriptive Observations: crying, hands out in front of him, said “That’s cool.”

• Non-descriptive Observations: sad, nervous, rude, in an angry tone

Don’t tell the story. Just focus on the actions and words saw, heard, touched, or smelled. 

Step 3: Describe What You Did

Describe exactly what you saw, heard, touched, or smelled. Even though it is somewhat artificial, report exactly what happened with no interpretation.

• Correct: I stepped backward and said, “No, thank you.”

• Incorrect: I stepped backward in fear and said nervously, “No, thank you.”

Don’t tell the story or add how you felt or your thoughts about the other person or yourself.  Just focus on your actions and words. 

Step 4: List The Emotions You Felt When The Bump Happened

1. Many times we are aware of being mad or angry but underneath we may feel a more "tender" or impactful emotion such as "fear" or "sad."                             

2. Look for the most “tender” or impactful emotion. It typically is the last emotion you identify. (People often think, “wow, I didn’t know I felt that.” when they name it.)

You will actually feel a “release” from the bump when you identify all of your emotions.

Note: Some emotions may contradict one another.

Do not describe why you felt an emotion or use words like: felt like, felt that, or felt about. 

Do not use words that describe feelings or physical states.

• Correct: sad, honored, weary

• Incorrect: normal, upset, tired, hungry, 

• Correct: sad, honored, weary

• Incorrect: he made me..., I thought they were..., he was scared, etc.

Step 5: Find The Universal Situation In The Incident When It Happened

When ask yourself "why" the other person do what they did, you are trying to identify the situation to which they were responding, not to “understand” the other person(s)’ motive.

Their action was in response to a particalar situation. If you were in to same situation, you would most likely have responded differently. Here we are looking to pin point what that situation might have been.

Don't worry about trying to pick the exact "correct" situation. Just try to find a universal situation that could have led to their response and the culture bump.

Universal Situation are something anyone from any culture could find themselves in. Here are some helpful tips to make your answer for Part A in a universal.

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Instead of specific people's name, change it to their role in the situation.

• Correct: ...parents are mad at their childern.

• Incorrect: ...They (my parents) were mad at Fred (my other brother).​

You can add more details to make it specific such as: 
Roles of the individuals involved, the ages, pertinent relationships, gender, or did the situation occur in public or in private.

Step 6: Describe What You Would Do Or Would Expect Others To Do In That Universal Situation

Try to make the behavior as precise and vivid as possible—Add as many details as you can recall.

Don’t focus on why you did anything in this step.

Often we learn behaviors from family, teachers, personal experiences, or our own personalities which may mean that what you would do might be different from your community at large, or that there are several possible responses to this same situation. 

If you cannot remember being in the exact situation, imagine what you would do if you ever found yourself in a similar position. Or you might think of what someone from your "group" would do in that situation.

Step 7: List The Qualities That You Feel That Action Demonstrates

Remember in Step 1, when you said "I thought that was...(rude, silly, nice, etc)." You were assoicating an action someone did with a quality. This is similar. You associate the actions above with certain qualities. When your brain see someone doing those actions, it thinks (often subconsciously "Oh they are being...(considerate, wise, etc)."

Imagine yourself in that situation or that your watching someone doing the actions you listed in Step 6, ask yourself what kind of person acts or speaks that way.

Do not use the word Normal. ("They're being normal.") Look deeper than normal. 

Try to pick the exact quality instead of its opposite value.

 
Use words like:       As opposed to:

responsible               not irresponsible
Wise                         not immature

Considerate              not selfish

Step 1: Pinpoint The Culture Bump

Recall a time when something caught your attention, when you noticed something different or when someone did something you wouldn't have done.

Then tell what your perception was—in other words, what you thought about it. 

Focus on one particular time, perhaps the first time you encountered the bump or the last time.

Instead of telling the story of what happened, you are looking only for certain details (the person or thing you bumped with and your intial thought about the incident) that will be the starting place of your 8 Steps. 

So don't talk about motivations or feelings in this step.