Kiribati

Greetings

Man greeting Man – Handshakes are fairly common, the most common greeting is “kam (plural)/ko(singular) na mauri” which means greetings to you.

Woman greeting Woman – A nod of acknowledgment is common. Handshakes are used as well.

Man greeting Woman – A nod of acknowledgment is common. Handshakes are used as well.

Communication Style

• Kiribati culture is all very indirect in terms of communication. It tends to take a very long time (from a western perspective at least) for the main idea to get across in a meeting for example.
• There is a LOT of chatting, a lot of circular discussion, a lot of politeness before the issue is brought forward. If there is not enough allocated for this massaging of the relationship, things will usually not go well.
• It's best to slow down, allow for time and good humor to take over, and then slowly dive into the issue at hand.
• People are very concerned about keeping others happy so there is not much conflict or discussion or sharing of concerns/anger/emotion.

Personal Space & Touch

• The appropriate amount of personal space during conversation is usually around arm’s length. With people of the opposite sex a little further apart is common, between women a bit closer, and if with family, much closer than between women.
• There tends to be a lot of touching and leaning into each other and such between close women. In a meeting (botaki), people stand/sit in a large open building (maneaba) and never get close to each other, but if working one on one in either Tarawa or the outer islands, an arms length is typical.
• Men occasionally will touch women when talking, say on the elbow, arm, but it is not so common. Women would not do this to men.
• Women are tend to be more comfortable touching each other in conversation, but not too much unless they’re very close or family.
• Generally, not much touching goes on in terms of business/work colleagues.

Eye Contact

• Direct eye contact is not acceptable from young children to adults, especially when being talked to by adults. It is viewed as disrespectful to look adults in the eye when the adults are speaking to the children.
• Between adults, intermittent eye contact is usually the norm. There tend to be a lot of shifting of eyes, looking around the room, doing things like making cigarettes (by hand), stirring tea, etc., rather than look into eyes of speakers or the listeners.

Gestures

• To point to something or indicate something you need, you use your nose, never your finger, as it is considered rude, especially on outer islands especially. You raise your head and point with your nose, even scrunch it up to indicate which thing you’re indicating.
• To call someone, you put your palm down and curve your fingers in and pull down in a scratching motion.
• Eyebrows up (a look of surprise in many cultures) means yes. When asking a question people may not verbally respond with even an “eng” (yes) or “saki”(no), they may just raise their eyebrows (meaning yes).

Views of Time

• Time is secondary to good relations and friendship. Social situations are generally considered more important than business ones, so lateness is typical. For example, a meeting may be scheduled to start at 4 and not really get into action til 4:30 or even 5, and then if they decide to take a break, it could go on for an hour. This depends on where you are: on Tarawa (more western views of time) and the outer islands (less time-concerned).
• On Tarawa, there are no schedules for when ‘buses’ come, you just wait on the side of the street for one to come.
• People will give you as much time as you need and then some if you need them further.

Gender Roles

• On Tarawa, women tend to have much more independence than outer islands but women are supposed to be very chaste and family oriented. Chaste til marriage, and no drinking (that’s for men).
• Most women must wear very concealing/conservative clothes (cover breasts, cover area from your knees to the shoulders for sure), and loose, not tight fitting.
• Foreign women are generally heavily judged, so it's best to follow the rules. Take care in dating local men, unless you’re really there for a long time and you feel a part of the culture, and still then, you may want to wait a while longer.
• Smoking is usually considered distasteful for women but more acceptable than drinking.

Taboos

• Feet and heads should never be close to each other. If you pass someone who is laying down and your foot is near their head, that is considered very bad.
• If you pass through a group of people who are talking, it's best to bow to get through them and try to get your head as low or lower than them to show respect. If possible go outside a circle of people.
• You should never touch someone else’s head as it's considered very “ta-buaki” (bad form).
• Crossing over a person who is laying down is rude.

Titles & Business Cards

• "Ten" followed by the name for a man. "Nei" followed by the name for a woman, just a title, like Mr. and Ms.
• Business cards are not used that often.

Meetings

• When leading a meeting it's usually best to allow 15 minutes of time or so for people to get there after the meeting is scheduled to start, then get things started slowly with a bit of small talk.
• It tends to be very top-down where the meeting leader is expected to talk the entire time and end things as he/she sees necessary.
• There is usually discussion but expect it to be very slow to come forward.

Gift Giving

• Tobacco is a highly valued as a gift for a ‘botaki’ (formal meeting) to village elders. It's usually not wrapped, just given to the unimane (elder man) in charge.

In the Classroom

• The school year runs from January thru December. There are short breaks throughout the year. On Tarawa, there are longer days and more expected of students.
• Men should not wear shorts, women should wear skirts to the knee and loose, not tight.
• Lecture is highly common, some teachers and schools are trying to incorporate more discussion and student-centered learning.