Different countries view time differently for example if I said I would see you tomorrow I have made a commitment to do that, a respect for time. In the Dominican Republic there is little respect for time as they say I will see you tomorrow if god is willing so if they don’t show up it is gods fault and not theirs they are off the hook. It is frustrating for someone who is raised in a country where time is important. As the people here after saying that they will be there tomorrow show up a week later and if you say something their reply is they are there not what is your problem. Interesting how different cultures view time.
Exactly the same thing happens in Spain @Martin Alonzo ..Mañana for everything...but tomorrow can take weeks... it's very frustrating sometimes
Have you heard of the so called Filipino Time? That means not being prompt with the appointed time. The Americans coined that term during their tenure in our country before the second world war. They noticed that a meeting set for 2pm would see the participants coming in half hour after the appointed time. And no matter how they emphasized the time, the Filipinos still come in late. That's the reason for caling latecomers Filipino time.
When I worked in Ethiopia, there were several occasions when people used "Ethiopian Time" whereby you work from six o'clock. Thus, four o'clock in Ethiopian time would be ten o'clock in either the morning or evening. This comes from the fact that you're near the equator and daylight hours don't change much. I wasn't caught out by it at any stage, but you always had to keep in mind which version of time people were using.
My husband had worked in London for 4 months. He said that Londoners have a strict decorum when it comes to time. They observe the time especially the working hours. What's good in their office is that they come in promptly at 8:30am and also leave promptly at 5pm. Even the bosses come in on time. He would see the president of their company coming in sometimes ahead of him at about 10 minutes before the official start of the work. In the Philippines, most offices have no specific time for managers. In my first permanent job in a bank, our boss would regularly come in after 9:30am even if our official time is 8:30am and although he leaves the office after 7pm, I still don't find it okay. I wonder why he needed to come in late. Now that I am in the executive position, I usually come to the office before 7am while my official start of work is 8:00am.