A Canadian professor accepted a two-year teaching assignment at a South American university. Despite the professor’s guidelines for appropriate classroom conduct that had been conveyed at the first class meeting, students continued to come to class 20–30 minutes late.

In addition, instead of quietly taking a seat, they came to the front of the class and apologized to the professor and to the other students for the tardiness. Often the reasons they gave for arriving late were related to family problems.

Explain the cultural differences involved in this situation.