Sports venues as cultural arenas : hw sports venues afford actions for the cultural adjustment of the international players of Shenzhen’s economy

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2015

University of Amsterdam Tom E. Bolsius

[

SPORTS

VENUES

AS

CULTURAL ARENAS

]

How sports venues afford actions for the cultural adjustment of the

international players of Shenzhen’s economy.

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I

Tom Bolsius August 17, 2015

Supervisor: Arnold Reijndorp Co-tutor: Chingwen Yang Sports venues as cultural arenas

How sports venues afford actions for the cultural adjustment of the international players of Shenzhen’s economy.

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COLOPHON

Title:

Sports as a means of adjustment

Master thesis: Human geography Author Tom E. Bolsius Churchill-laan 268-1 1078GA Amsterdam t.bolsius@gmail.com Student ID 10809309 University of Amsterdam,

Graduate School of Social Sciences,

Department of Human Geography, Planning & International Development Studies Plantage Muidergracht 14-16

1018 TV Amsterdam

Project in Collaboration With

INTI International New Towns Institute Grote Markt 43

1315 JB Almere

Supervisor

Prof. Dr. Ig. A. (Arnold) Reijndorp

Co Tutor

C.W. (Chingwen)Yang MSc August 17, 2015

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The moment I crossed the Hong Kong-Chinese border for the first time, my expectations of Shenzhen were exceeded immediately. A beautiful skyline, hordes of people forming an orderly chaos and, compared with the metropolis at the other side of the border, Hong Kong, almost no Western people. With every step I took the surprise became bigger and bigger. The city of Shenzhen of is more than the factory of the

world.

Doing research for this thesis in Shenzhen has been more than only an academic journey. The seven weeks abroad brought me one of the best experiences in my life. My fellow students and I got to know the Chinese culture, people, cities, by going on small adventures. Not knowing what to expect, we went on adventures in the streets of Shenzhen, together and alone, and of course, each of us also made their own academic discoveries. However, both type of adventures could not have happened without the help of others. Therefore, I would like to thank the people who helped completing this thesis project.

First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Professor Arnold Reijndorp and his co-tutor Chingwen Yang for their continuous support and assistance during the whole project. Also, I want to thank them for both their patience and motivation at the moments I struggled with making progress.

Second, I want to thank the International New Town Institute (INTI) for providing the opportunity to do our research in Shenzhen. Additionally, I would like to thank Linda Vlassenrood from INTI for setting up an introduction program in the first one and a half week of our stay. The experts and professionals gave us useful insights in the complexity of the area. Of course, I want to express my gratitude to all of them, but in particular the Shenzhen Center for Design; not only for their expertise but also for offering a workspace during our stay.

Furthermore, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the interviewees, informants and everybody else who helped me, one way or the other, with the gathering of the research data. It was heartwarming that after a few weeks some of them contacted me to ask about my progress and offered me further support; followed by invitations to discover different sides of Shenzhen.

Finally, a special word for my fellow students in the program. I want to thank them for advice and feedback and for the countless discussions we had about topics unrelated to our theses. It was very motivating and helped me broaden my view on certain issues. I also want to thank them for the stress-relieving evenings we shared. It was unforgettable.

Tom Bolsius

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ABSTRACT:

A growing number of international companies find their way to this city. High-educated international workers follow the multinationals and settle, although temporarily, in Shenzhen. These expatriates face a new environment with cultural habits and practices they are not familiar with. The feelings of uncertainty and insecurity this causes, increases due to the loss of the daily face-to-face contact with their social network increases.

Many scholars researched this culture shock and the process of overcoming this phenomenon. Different authors stress the importance of the social network and the adjustment of expatriate’s family members. Others focused more on places where this social process occurs, such as sports fields. However, these researches look only at the social context of the place; the design and the functional properties are neglected. This research tries to bridge the gap between the social context and the physical characteristics by using the affordance theory of Gibbons. These affordances involve the opportunities for action for certain behavior. Therefore the research question is: What are the adjustment affordances of sport venues in

Shenzhen during organized sporting activities visited by expatriates and their family members?

To find the opportunities for actions that influence the cultural adjustment of expatriates in Shenzhen, six sports venues were examined, by observing these places and by having interviews with visiting expatriates. Findings show that the sports fields in Shenzhen are places that expatriates have both positive and negative aspect regarding their cultural adjustment. Social adjustment affordances include the presence of different type of actors which offer different type of social support and cultural knowledge. The physical adjustment affordances are derived from the location of the sports venues, due to the distance to different cultural places and the design such as objects that are used as gathering points. However, this research has been highly descriptive. There is no room for explanation. Also, the unusual approach gives new insight, but it cannot be compared with similar researches. Further operationalization of the theory of affordances is necessary for future research.

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INHOUDSOPGAVE

Colophon ... II Acknowledgments ... III Abstract: ... IV Tables and figures ... VIII

Introduction ... 1

Scientific Relevance ... 2

Societal Relevance ... 2

Thesis Outline ... 2

Review of the Literature ... 4

International migration ... 4

Global Cities ... 5

Globalisation and China ... 5

Economical Reforms And SPecial Economic Zones ... 5

Shenzhen... 6

Expatriates ... 7

Culture Shock, Adjustment and Social Networks ... 8

Culture shock and the process of recovering ... 8

Cultural adjustment ... 9

Social networks ...10

Sports venues as places for Cultural Adjustment ...11

Theory of Affordances ...11

Cultural adjustment affordances ...12

Problem Definition ...13 Research Design ...14 Research Question ...14 Subquestions ...14 Conceptual Scheme ...15 Concepts ...16 Data collection ...17

Selection of Units of analysis ...17

Research Methods ...17

Ethical Considerations...18

Data Analysis ...18

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Fieldwork Shenzhen ...21

Explorative stage ...21

Research Area ...22

The Expatriate Areas ...22

The focus ...23 Sports venues ...23 Preliminary observations ...23 Sports Venues ...24 Interviews ...25 Results ...27

Shenzhen Bay Sports Center : Ultimate Frisbee ...27

Characteristics of Ultimate Frisbee Shenzhen ...27

Characteristics of the place ...28

Visitors ...28

Social Activities ...29

Adjustment affordances ...30

Nanshan Cultural, Sport Center and Art Museum ...31

Characteristics of The Dawei Athletic Swim Club ...32

Visitors ...32

Social activities ...33

Football Fields in Shekou: Soccer School ...35

Characteristics of Shenzhen United ...35

Characteristics of the place: ...36

Visitors: ...36

Social activities ...37

QSI International School of Shekou: Five-Star Basketball ...39

Characteristics of Five-Star Basketball ...39

Visitors: ...40

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VII

Shekou Sports Center: WORLD TENNIS ...43

Characteristics of WORLD TENNIS ...43

Visitors ...44

Soccer World Shekou: Football League ...47

Characteristics of the football league ...47

Visitors ...48

Conclusion ...51

Social adjustment affordances ...51

Physical adjusment affordances ...53

Summary ...54

Discussion ...55

Scientific importance and Reccomandations...57

Reflection ...58

References: ...59

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TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1: List of observed sports venues and sporting activities 24 Table 2: List of interviewed persons per sports venue 25 Figure 1: Nanshan Cultural, Sports Center and Art Museum 3 Figure 2: Conceptual Scheme 15 Figure 3: Shenzhen Civic Square Square 20 Figure 4: Square in front of the Shenzhen Cultural, Sport Center and Art Museum 26 Figure 5: Overview of Shenzhen Bay Sports Center during Frisbee activity 27 Figure 6: Overview of Nanshan Cultural, Sport Center and Art Museum during swimming activity 31 Figure 7: Overview of Football Field in Shekou during practices of Shenzhen United 35 Figure 8: Overview of QSI International School of Shekou during basketball practices of Five-Star

Basketball 39

Figure 9: Overview of Shekou Sports Center during tennis league of WORLD TENNIS 43 Figure 10: Overview of Soccer World Shekou during the Football League 47 Figure 11: Sports fields at Shenzhen Bay Sports Center at start of Frisbee activity 50

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INTRODUCTION

Established as the first Special Economic Zone of the People’s Republic of China (henceforth China) (Easterling, 2012), Shenzhen has developed from a few rural villages into a global industrialized city. Its growing position as a global trade hub enhances the continuous rapidly (economic) growth of the city (Chubarov and Brooker, 2013). According to the local government the population of the area has increased from just over 30000 in 1979 to 10.63 million by the end of 2013 (Shenzhen Government, 2015). However, estimates state that 15-20 million people live in the city, including the unregistered residents. The number of foreigners has also increased massively over time. In 2001 official numbers showed that 6990 (People’s Daily, 2001) workers from abroad were living in the city. In 2005 this number was almost doubled to 13000 (Shenzhen Daily, 2005). Statistics of 2011 shows that 23000 foreigners were working permanently in the city and 70000 foreigners stayed for a temporary term. In the first decade of the 21th century the city attracted almost 550000 foreign workers (Shenzhen Daily, 2011) and in the following years this number became bigger.

The exact number of expatriates in Shenzhen remains ambiguous, but it is clear that thousands of them found their way to the city. And although Shenzhen is number three on the list of “most attractive Chinese cities for expats” (State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, 2015), expatriates encounter different struggles. After their settlement they experience a new home, a new environment, new culture, new social contacts et cetera. This leads to uncertainty: daily face-to-face interactions with your old social network is not possible; the cultural habits of Shenzhen should be learnt; and the daily routines are not routines yet, because the neighbourhood and city are still unknown. The loss of the familiar signs and symbols of social interaction results often in what is described as the ‘culture shock’ and can cause enormous pressure on the personal well-being of expatriates. The process to overcome this struggles is known as the adjustment process (Oberg, 2006).

The social relationships formed by expatriates are an important factor in this adjustment process. Actors like family members, colleagues, locals, other expatriates can be used as social support in the adjustment process. This support can be divided into informational, emotional and instrumental support (Caligiuri and Lazarova, 2002). For example, the actors in the network can give expatriates information about the culture of the host country, decrease stress and anxiety, and help the newly arrived expatriates with the Chinese language to improve the interaction with locals.

One of the places that could help newly arrived foreigners to form a social network is the sports venue. Scientific research shows that in a Western context organized sporting activities and social activities around the venue provide opportunities for migrants to form social ties and therefor have a positive influence on their integration (e.g. Makarova and Herzog, 2014). For expatriates overseas, i.e. highly skilled temporary migrants, there are examples (Beaverstock, 2002) that the pre-established network of these organized sports forms a safety net and offers opportunities for friendship and sometimes even opportunities for business.

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2 SCIENTIFIC RELEVANCE

The cultural adjustment is not something new in scientific research. Already mentioned in 1956 (Oberg, 2006), this concept is widely researched in different studies. A lot of the literature about expatriates and other temporary migrants has been written from an individual point of view. Here, the focus lies for example on the Big Five personality treats (e.g. Huang, Chi, & Lawler, 2005); social competences (Hechanova, Beehr, & Christiansen, 2003); and language and cultural knowledge (Kim & Slocum, 2008; Kim & Okazaki, 2014). A second group of scholars examined the more contextual factors, such as the influences of work-related circumstances (Okpara & Kabongo, 2011), family members (Caligiuri et al, 1998; Willis and Yeoh, 2002) and the cultural distance with actors in their social network (Shaffer et al., 1999).

There has been paid attention to places were different types of migrants meet their peers and other actors (e.g. Beaverstock, 2002; Gielis, 2009; Müller, 2014), and thus places of the formation of social networks. However, these studies focus mostly on the social contexts of the places while the physical features are neglected, although there are examples that design can play a role in the forming of social ties (e.g. third

places (Rosenbaum et al., 2007). By using a new perspective, the theory of affordances, to examine sports fields

in Shenzhen, this research on cultural adjustment of expatriates dwells between the psychological/social perspective on the one hand, and the perspective of the physical characteristics places on the other hand. By coupling these two, new insights arise.

SOCIETAL RELEVANCE

World leading cities on the global scale are London, New York and Tokyo. According to Chubarov and Brooker (2013), these true global cities contain all range of well-developed functions and are of true global influence. Shenzhen is two tiers lower. One of their explanations is that the city is not westernized enough, like Hong Kong, and therefore it misses connections with the global network1_{. The expatriates}

are one of the most important links with the rest of the world. Therefore, they are important actors in the economy of Shenzhen. For both companies and the government the adjustment process of expatriates is relevant, because this can be a good indicator of the success of the stay overseas (McEvoy and Parker, 1995). The outcomes of this study can be integrated in the policies about the sports venues in Shenzen, to positively stimulate the adjustment process of expatriates and therefore to be beneficial for the economy of the city.

THESIS OUTLINE

This thesis is divided into three main parts. The first part Framework contains the framework of this study. It begins with a review of the theoretic literature. Then, the aim of the study is explained, followed by a chapter that discusses the design of the research. Part two of this report is called Fieldwork. It the process of the choice of the research units. The first chapter of this part describes the use of sources in Shenzhen. The second paragraph gives insights in the research area. The third paragraph is a description of preliminary observations. The last paragraph gives an overview of the chosen research units. Then, the part three Results presents the results of the observations and the interviews. Each of the researched sport venues is presented in a separate paragraph. Finally, in part four Conclusions contains the conclusion and discussion of this study, and gives a reflection on the process as a whole.

1_{This statement is confirmed by Professor Li Jinkui of the China Development Institute. According to him} “Shenzhen will not become a world player if the Chinese residents do not improve their English”.

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THE FRAMEWORK

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REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION

The ‘age of migration’ that has a major influence on the social transformation and development of all parts of the world, started in the second half of the twentieth century and continues until today. The impact of the international migration became bigger in the twenty-first century as a result of new forms of population mobility in combination with the growth in volume (Castles, 2002). Therefore, it is not surprising that migration studies has become a specific scientific field. However, like more social processes it is an interdisciplinary academic subject. This is not necessarily problematic, but a generally accepted framework to examine migration is lacking. The absence of a starting point in the intellectual debate hinders the understanding of the migration process (Castles, 2010).

In 2013 slightly more than three percent of the world population lived outside their country of origin (UNFPA, 2015). Migrants have different motives to move. Castles (2002) recognizes eight types of international migrants: Refugees, asylum-seekers, forced migrants, family members, return migrants, temporary labor

migrants, irregular migrants and high skilled and business migrants.

 Temporary labor workers are the people who migrate to a new country for a limited time to find

work so they can upgrade the financial status of the family back home by sending remittances.

 High skilled and business migrants are, like the name implies, the men and women with a certain level

of skills that are scarce on the global market. These professionals work for transnational corporations and international companies.

 Irregular migrants are usually in search for employment in another country, but they do not have the

right documents and permits. Therefore, they are also known as illegal migrants.

 Refugees are those migrants who fled their country as a result of the political situation in their

country of nationality. According to 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, they have a ‘well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion’.

 Asylum-seekers seek the same protection, but they do not fulfill the strict criteria.

 Forced migrants includes the people that are forced to move because of things like natural disasters

and development projects.

 Family members are the people who join their relatives that migrated in an earlier stage.

 Return migrants are those who return to their countries of origin. They have stayed for a period in

another country for the different reasons mentioned abroad.

One of the perspective to examine international migration flows is that of globalization. According to Kahanec & Zimmerman (2008) migration of people lies at the core of ongoing process. This flow of people that crosses international borders is considered as one of the four dimensions of globalization; the other three are the international trade of goods, the flows of financial capital, and the exchange of information. Dreher (2006) mentions that these dimensions are intertwined and strongly affect each other. One form of this interwovenness is visible as labor migration. More than half of all the migrants is economic active (UN, 2015). In other words, they have a job or have a (small) business. They play a role on the global market. Because of the different motives they had to migrate, not all of the migration can be considered as labor migration. Although there are different ideas how to define labor migration exactly; all definitions have in common that labor migrants move from one country to another for the purpose of

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employment (IOM, 2015). Thus, there are people that migrate because of job opportunities. The fast-changing needs for skills and personnel around the globe stimulates this migration process. These needs change due to technological advances, changes in economic markets and the industrial transformation of developing countries. It other cases, younger workers are allured with financial treats, as response to the aging population (Taran, 2011).

GLOBAL CITIES

According to Boyle et al. (1998) the world economy is now managed from a few global cities, where wealth and the highly educated population are concentrated. Example of these global cities are London, New York and Tokyo. Hong Kong can also be considered as one of the world leaders (Chubarov & Brooker, 2013). Although there are different definitions for this concept, they have in common that such cities are the control and command centers of the world capitalist economy. Headquarters of major transnational companies are located in these places, just like the big players on the financial market. For that reason, these cities can be considered as centers for skilled business and financial labor (Yulong & Hamnett). However, this cities are also attractive for low-skilled people because of the bifurcation of the labor market. (Boyle et al., 1998).

The last decades more and more Chinese cities are engaged in the world economy. In the scientific field there is a growing attention for the cities that claim they are becoming a ‘global city’ (Chubarov & Brooker). However, the question is where to put this cities in the hierarchy of world leading cities. According Taylor (2000) the status of these cities can be measured by their degree of global reach, influence and power. One of this cities with a growing claim is Shenzhen, a city next to Hong Kong. The next chapter gives the process that led to this claim.

GLOBALISATION AND CHINA

ECONOMICAL REFORMS AND SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES

In the late 1970’s the Chinese government led by president Deng Xiaopeng launched an economic reform which aimed to capture a place for China in the more and more globalizing world economy (Zhu, 1994). After decades of being a country with a planned economy the Communist Party decided to liberalize the trade market. (Branstetter & Lardy, 2006). However, it was until 1992 before the Chinese government used the term “market economy” for the first time, when saying that China was moving towards a “social market economy” (Liang, 1999).

One of the policies was to establish the so called Special Economic Zones (SEZ): areas where firms were offered lower taxes, administrative advantages and a unusual freedom in their operations (Branstetter & Lardy). The SEZs were especially an instrument to attract foreign direct investment (Zeng, 2015) and the concept had many resemblances with the Export Processing Zones countries as Taiwan and South Korea used to stimulate their export-orientated efforts since the 1960s (Chen & de’Medici, 2010). T

However, it was a new concept for China and it was used as an experiment with the free market system. The idea was that if the SEZ was a success, more Special Economic Zones would follow. By the end of 1980 there were four SEZs established: Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou and Xiamen (Zeng, 2015). The first SEZ was located near the border with Hong Kong, and is now known as the city of Shenzhen. The Chinese government saw two advantages in the proximity with Hong Kong. First, the established global economic relationship of Hong Kong could provide an entry point to the rest of the world (Chen & de’Medici, 2010). Second, the government was anticipating on the integration of the economic structure of Hong Kong when its sovereignty would be resumed by China (Zhu, 1994).

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By combining the advantages of Hong Kong’s developed economy and the local conditions of the Chinese mainland (such as cheap land and labor) China was able to obtain a place in the global economy as a manufacturing country (O’Connor & Liu, 2014). This success of Shenzhen led to the establishment of more Special Economic Zones in other regions of China. Nowadays, there are dozens of Special Economic Zones. The variation is big, the focus lies not only on manufacturing anymore, but they all have in common that the laws and regulations favor firms in their operation (Zeng, 2015). The success of the SEZs is so big, that China is expanding their ideas of SEZs to other regions in the world, such as Africa, to gain economic influence (Bräutigam & Xiaoyang, 2011).

SHENZHEN

Like said, it all started with the Special Economic Zone at the border with Hong Kong. Today, the area is known as the city Shenzhen. Although Shenzhen is nowadays one of the largest cities in China, it is less than four decades ago that the area consists only a few villages with a total population of 30000 people (Shenzhen Government, 2015). Originally, the zone’s shape was planned as a linear stroke, so that it would be easy and attractive for business people to cross the border to or from Hong Kong (O’Connor & Liu, 2014). The zone was divided into four districts: Nanshang, Futian, Luohu and Yantian. In 1992 two districts were added: Bao’an and Longgang (Ng & Tang, 2010).

As of that year, after the Southern Tour of Deng Xiaoping, the transformation of Shenzhen accelerated. The foreign investment increased and as a result, young migrants from the inland of China found their way to the city. Shenzhen offered high wages, employment and a place for entrepreneurial experimentation, but most of all, a relaxed political vibe and a sense of freedom (O’Connor & Liu, 2014). According to official statistics, the city had 10.63 million inhabitants in 2013 (Shenzhen, 2015). However, estimations in 2008 said there were, at that time, also four to six millions people living in Shenzhen temporarily, which were not counted in these statistics (Chen & de’Medici, 2011). Most of the inhabitants are not Shenzhen-born. These migrants account for 83 percent of the total population (Zeng, 2015). The migrants are mostly from the Chinese inland, so therefore Shenzhen is therefore not as ‘westernized’ as Hong Kong. Chubarov and Brooker (2013) state this is one of the reasons that Shenzhen cannot be seen as a fully global city like London and New York. Another reason is that Shenzhen is still a manufacturing, export hub. However, there is a growing presence of advanced service industries and the number of multinationals is increasing. Big companies move their (division) headquarters to the place, such as the Asian branch of Wall-Mart and IBM. Factories are replaced for offices and the city is shifting away from their status as factory of the world. As a result, the number of foreigners living in Shenzhen explosively grew since the beginning of this millennium. While in 2001 only 6990 foreigners were registered (Shenzhen Daily, 2001), in 2011 already 23000 foreign people lived permanently in the city. Another 70000 stayed on a temporary basis (Shenzhen Daily, 2011). The foreigners who work for the multinationals usually stay for a limited period. They are so-called expatriates.

Although Shenzhen is a relatively ‘open’ city, it is not a typically Chinese city, the Chinese culture is not replaced by a western culture similar to that of Hong Kong. Therefore, the expatriates experience a big difference in the culture when moving to the city. This could led to some problems. For example, according to Branstetter & Lardy (2006) there are signs that people of the West were not prepared on the cultural clashes that occurred after the opening of the Chinese market. Before the possible consequences of such a culture gap is described, more insights are given in the general background of expatriates.

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EXPATRIATES

In the categorization of Castles (2002) expatriates can be considered as part of the group high skilled and

business migrants. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the term expatriate is derived from the Latin

verb expatriare, which is composed from the words ex (not including) and patria (fatherland). Expatriare therefore means ‘to drive a … away from … native country’; or ‘to banish’ (Hardill, 1998). This implies that the definition of the modern term expatriate would be something like ‘an exile’ or at least that the person is forced to leave his country of origin. However, in the modern use of the term expatriate the meaning has slightly changed. Chan (1995 as cited in Yeoh and Khoo, 1998, p.163) gives the following definition: “a highly skilled who by his [sic] qualifications is employed by a foreign country or sent by his employers from his

home to perform certain specialized functions on a contract of at least six months.”

To get a better understanding, the definition is cut into two components. First, admittedly, sent by his

employers implies a certain force, however, the fact that they work on a contract is an indication that the

migration of these persons is a deliberate process. However, this is also the case for the temporary labor migrants that work on big building sites in countries like Qatar (Gardner, 2013). The second component of the definition makes clear that these are not included.

Yeoh and Khoo mention that the migrant is highly skilled and is asked for his qualifications to perform a specialized function. Berry and Bell (2012) state that the term ‘highly skilled’ is problematic in the literature. While the definition of Yeoh and Khoo implies that the expatriate is not high-educated per se, in the literature about expatriates the terms high-skilled and high-educated are often used interchangeably because the possession of skills is often defined as having an higher education. Government agencies like the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (2015) only speak of high-skilled migrants, but consider scientific researchers part of this group. It is therefore that Findlay and Gould (1989) state that careful contextual consideration is needed when examining expatriates.

A third aspect of the definition used by Yeoh and Khoo is that expatriates work on a contract of at least six months. The minimal length of the assignment makes a clear distinction with a long business trip, but a maximal length is lacking in the definition. Boyle et al. (1998) elaborate their willingness to move from country to country on a regular basis is one of the main characteristics of these skilled transients (Appleyard, 1985). De Cieri, Dowling and Taylor (1991) mention that expatriates usually stay between six months to five years in a country and then move on.

In the definition of Chan expatriates are only those high-skilled migrants that work on a contract. However, the author is not clear if ‘is employed by a foreign country’ also includes the group of high-skilled international sojourners that move on own initiative (But as Doherty et al. (2013). These are the so-called

self-initiated expatriates. For the sake of the research, these type of expatriates are included in this study.

Therefore, when talking about expatriates, the self-initiated expatriates are added to the definition of Chan.

However, this research will only focus on western expatriates. According to Davies (2004) the definition of ‘western’ expatriate must be based on cultural closeness, and not on geographical closeness. The definition of a western allochtoon (i.e. immigrant and its descendants) used by the Dutch Central Agency for

Statistics (CBS) helps to identify the group of countries that are part of the Western world and have

therefore a Western culture. This group includes countries from Europe (except Turkey), North America, Oceania and the countries Japan and Indonesia. However, the latter two are considered as western because of their sociocultural and socioeconomic status in the Netherlands. This research focuses on

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Shenzhen expatriates and therefore expatriates from these two countries are not included. Henceforth, the term expatriate refers to western expatriate, unless explicitly stated otherwise.

According to Willis and Yeoh (2002), expatriates can be considered as part of the transnational elite. Elite refers to their skills and position in companies. The term transnational refers to two distinct, but related concepts. First, the expatriates are employed by companies that have an international character due to their spaces of operation and the structure of the organization. Second, it refers to the social formations of the transnational elites, which can stretch beyond borders and therefore it creates a group of people that are suitable to live and work in different environments without the extreme problems of dislocation. The next chapter elaborates the problems of dislocation and how the expatriates deal with this struggle.

CULTURE SHOCK, ADJUSTMENT AND SOCIAL NETWORKS

CULTURE SHOCK AND THE PROCESS OF RECOVERING

While immigration studies focus on an explanation for the migration of groups of people, the psychology field pays attention to the consequences for individuals. When an expatriate moves to a new country because of a job, he or she will not only face a new workplace with new colleagues, but also a new home; a new culture with other habits and routines; and the loss of old and the establishment of new social ties. Although this can be seen as the exciting parts of the adventure, there is also a negative side. Kaye and Taylor (1997) argues that virtually every expatriate experiences the assignment overseas as exciting in the beginning, but this is followed by dissolution and finally ends in a state of ‘shock’. First described by Oberg in 1956 (Oberg, 2006), this phenomenon is known as the ‘culture shock’. The extend differs from person to person (the range extends from feeling slightly unease to being actually ill) and appears in most cases in the first three months after arrival (Black & Mendenhall, 1991).

The process to overcome this state of shock is called the (cross-)cultural adjustment process (henceforth, cultural adjustment process). Oberg (1960) divides this whole process in four different phases. The first two phases are already mentioned. It starts with an period of excitement after the arrival; or the honeymoon-stage. The second phase is the crisis phase, the culture shock, as described above. The third stage is described by Oberg as the actual adjustment: the outsider succeeds in obtaining knowledge about the new cultural environment and starts to recover from the suffering. The fourth stage begins with the moment the expatriate fully accepts his new environment and therefore can cope with the differences. However, over time culture shock and cultural adjustment have taken on a new understanding. Some researchers have referred to the process as (cross-)cultural adaptation (Patterson, 1988; Kim, 2001). There is a small difference between the two concepts. Kim (2001) discusses that cross-cultural adaptation is not the process of just adding new cultural concepts to the set of knowledge and skills. The author mentions that as expatriates learn new things, it is inevitable that ‘deculturation’ (i.e. unlearning) of at least some old cultural elements will follow. This can be seen an extra step in the process of cultural adjustment. Patterson (1988) mentions that expatriates that stay for a year to three months in a new environment usually follow the path of adjustment. When they are on a longer assignment period, it can result in adaption including a change of identity.

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While discussing the culture shock and the way people try to overcome this phenomenon, the literature often uses the terms (cross-)cultural adjustment, (cross-)cultural adaption and acculturation interchangeably despite the differences. In this research the term cultural adjustment is used, but like the existing literature, this includes the processes of cultural adjustment, cultural adaption and acculturation. The focus in the research lies on the third phase as described by Oberg; i.e. the actions that helps expatriate to cope with the new situation. These phase is part of all three concepts.

CULTURAL ADJUSTMENT

Still, cultural adjustment remains a broad concept. Therefore a clear definition is needed. Black (1990, p.122) defines cultural adjustment as “the degree of psychological comfort and familiarity an individual has for the new environment”. In their approach to examine this cultural adjustment Ward and Kennedy (1999) distinguish two domains to get a better understanding. The first domain comprises the psychological

adjustment. This refers to the psychological well-being and satisfactions of the expatriates and is related to

the psychological comfort Black mentions. The second domain is that of sociocultural adjustment and refers to the capability to acquire the right skills and knowledge to fit in the new cultural environment and refers more to the familiarity in the definition of Black.

To unravel the complexity of cultural adjustment scholars use different conceptualizations in their approaches. Selmer (1999) split the sociocultural adjustment in three components: work-adjustment,

interaction adjustment and nonwork adjustment. Palthe (2004) deepens these ideas. First, she mentions the work adjustment. This involves the adjustment to the new job of the expatriates, which means feeling

comfortable with new tasks, new work roles, and the new work environment. If the expatriate works for an subsidiary of the parent company he used to work for the similarities in procedures and policies can accelerated the adjustment process. Second, Palthe describes the interaction adjustment. This involves the communications with host nationals (i.e people that already lived in the host country) both work and non-work related. This is considered as the most difficult form of adjustment, due to the fact that communication with host nationals reveal differences in mental maps, and norms and values. The third facet is the general adjustment (or nonwork adjustment) of the expatriates. This concept is about feeling comfortable with overall factors that affect the daily life, such as local food, health care and recreation facilities, and living and housing conditions.

The degree of anxiety is not for all individuals the same. Some persons suffer more than others. There are also differences in the duration of the experienced culture shock (Church, 1982). Black (1990) states that studies show that the individual differences in cultural adjustment could potentially be forecasted. For that reason, in the literature there is a lot of attention for the variables that influences the problems experienced in the cultural adjustment process of expatriates, like the (lack of) cultural skills (Forster, 2000). Without the right skills it is more difficult to overcome the culture shock. Chapdelaine and Alexitch (2004) mention for example that persons that do not know the rules of social behavior in the host country will face conflicts earlier. Therefore communication skills are essential (Rosen et al., 2004), however, the degree of importance for specific skills differs per host culture (Hannigan, 1990).

Not only personal variables influence the cultural adjustment of expatriates. Forster (200) states that the need to develop cross-cultural skills is extra important if the gap between the home country of the expatriate and the host country he or she now lives in is very wide; this is known as the cultural distance (Selmer et al., 2007). When the culture shock is emphasized because of the distance, like it is the case in China, it is also important to gain skills. (Kaye and Taylor, 1997). Another variable that influences the cultural adjustment of expatriates is the adjustment of the family members. Palthe (2004) states that family adjustment is an important indicator for the overall cultural adjustment of expatriates. For example,

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Caligiuri and Lazarova (2002) notice that single female expatriates without a supportive family have difficulties in their adjustment process. It should be mentioned that this non-work variable especially plays a role in the general adjustment for the same reason that work-related variables, such as job similarity, are particular related to work-adjustment (Palthe, 2004).

SOCIAL NETWORKS

Different scholars state that the social network, “the set or sets of actors that are connected by one or more specific

types of relational ties” (Wang, 2002, p.324), plays an important role in the different aspects of the cultural

adjustment of expatriates. Colleagues of expatriates form one group of these actors. Host nationals that work for the same company could help them not only with the new job task (work adjustment), but because they are familiar with the social behavior of the culture, they could also teach the expatriates the skills that are necessary to interact within their new environment (interaction adjustment) (Ward & Kennedy, 1993). Other colleagues, like peer expatriates with a similar background, could also be used for

social support (psychological and general adjustment).

Caligiuri and Lazarova (2002) categorize this social support into three groups. First, emotional support is the support of the social network that helps the expatriates overcome stress, disorientation and loneliness. This benefits the psychological well-being. Second, the informational support is the support that helps the expatriates to reduce their confusion and uncertainty. This form of support includes the exchange of information about daily life factors like where to go for dinner, where to buy things et cetera. It also includes information about the social behavior patterns of the new culture. The third form of support is the instrumental support. This refers to the provision of the necessary resources that help expatriates find a way in the struggles of a new environment. Examples are free language lessons, lending stuff or helping each other with work around the house.

However, the social network of expatriates consists of more than only the employees of transnational corporations they work with. There are more actors involved, such as peer expatriates and neighbors. Willis and Yeoh (2002) were one of the first to mention that spouses, children and those who are working in other sectors should also be considered as possible important actors. This is not only because of their social support (Caligiuri & Lazarova, 2002), but Willis and Yeoh argue that an important part of the social networks of expatriates is partly formed by the informal contacts of the expatriates’ spouses. They form the communities of transnationals. However, Beaverstock (2002) claims that British expatriates in Singapore actively use their family members to form social relationships not only with peer expatriates, but also with locals. In addition, he states that the formed ties are based on both friendship and work-related bonds. As a result certain places developed from social meeting points into key sites for business purposes.

Wang and Kanungo (2004) also show that it is important for the psychological well-being of (Northern American) expatriates to be part of an active social network with both weak (work-related/economic) and strong (friendship/family) ties. They mention The latter group provides familiarity and therefore has a positive influence on the confidence of expatriates; the first group can guide the expatriates through sociocultural differences and thus decreases the expatriates’ uncertainty about the new environment. They mention that a balanced network is essential (i.e. it should contain a mix of both locals and peer expatriates). An unbalanced network could have a negative effect on the cultural adjustment, for two reasons. Without the help of locals the expatriate could have a lack of the right skills and cultural knowledge; without expatriate actors they could stick in their feeling of loneliness.

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The high mobility of the expatriates characterizes one of the networks of which they are part of (Willis and Yeoh, 2002). These are networks of globalization. Related to the term transnational elite are the concepts of communities of transnationals and transnational community. The former refers to the way expatriates experience and organise their daily life in host countries, while the latter refers to the overarching network of transnationals in different countries. It is the chain of social spaces around the globe that are created by shared interests and solidarity.

SPORTS VENUES AS PLACES FOR CULTURAL ADJUSTMENT

One of the places were intercultural interaction take place is the sports field (Beaverstock, 2002). Gastaut (2011) states that sports can be seen as a general force of socialization, integration and resettlement. Therefore, it is a place where people of different population categories could mingle with each other. This different population categories include besides migrants, but also homeless persons, the unemployed, people with disabilities and prisoners. So, sports fields are places where migrants can meet other; people that are not part of the well-known social circles (Vermeulen and Verweel, 2009). In the case of migration, Makarova and Herzog (2014) describe the importance of sports for those who struggle socially in their new environment and culture by examining young immigrants in Switzerland. Participating in sporting activities stimulates their integration in the new environment. The pre-established network of a sports club could be a helpful tool.

Also, for people who live temporary in a country, sports could provide opportunities for cultural adjustment. There is not much attention for working expatriates in this specific context, but according to Popp, Love, Kim and Hum (2005) students from abroad who participate in sports usually meet two type of peers that can help them to get familiar with their new environment. The first group contains the people from their home nation who have a familiar background; and the second group contains peer students who are from different countries but are in the same phase of the adjustment process.

Verhagen and Boonstra (2014) state that the process of forming of social networks happens before, during and after a sporting activity. This could mean that not only the participants bond, but the process could also occur amongst the spectators (e.g. parents of sporting children). This is in line with the ideas of Hoffmann (in: Makarova and Herzorg, 2014) who says that the sporting activities itself are not integrative per se. According to him the factors that determine whether sporting activities provide opportunities for frequent and positive intercultural contacts are the conditions in which these activities take place. However, these studies only describe conditions related to the social context; the focus lies on the sports

clubs (i.e. the social structure of the sporting activity). There is no attention for the physical context; i.e. the

field itself or the sports venue. In the next chapter the potential importance of the physical object and the functional properties of sport venues is elaborated from the perspective of the theory of affordances.

THEORY OF AFFORDANCES

Like mentioned, in the relevant literature about sports the importance of the social context is recognized, but there is a lack of attention for the physical context. According to O’Toole and Were (2008) this is a general problem in the research about the conditions that contributes to the direct acting of people. Clark and Uzzell (2002) state that the theory of affordances makes it possible to examine the relationship between the functional properties of the environment and how environments are used. This theory was originally introduced by Gibson (1977) in the field of ecological psychology. Clark and Uzzell (2002) say that this theory provides an opportunity to examine the physical objects and behavioral response together.

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An affordance is neither a property of an environment, nor the way this property is used; it is the possibility for action that the (object in the) environment offers the actor. An affordance could both stimulate or discourage actions (Gibson, 1979). Affordances can be divided into two groups (Clark and Uzzell, 2002). The first group comprises the physical affordances. In this concept, the physical aspects of an environment offers the actor opportunities for certain behavior. For example, a fence can be described in the standard units of physics (e.g. the height and length). However, for some persons a fence affords a place to sit on. This means that an affordance is measured relative to the perceiving person. The second group of affordances are the social affordances; the affordances that arise by the presence of other people. Rietveld et

al. (2013) give the coffee machine at a work place as an example. The person waiting for a cup of coffee

offers an opportunity to drink coffee, but for others it offers opportunities for conversation when a person is there to get coffee. According to Gibson (1979) social affordances are the most richest affordances; i.e. they offer opportunities for a big variety of actions.

Clark and Uzzell (2002) give the research of Woolley and John (2001) as an example of affordances. Although Woolley and John do not use the term affordances, in their study these researchers examined why there are skaters on Tudor Square in Sheffield, England. They wanted to what the square has to offer for them. They found three affordances. The first is a physical affordance. The kerbs, steps and handrails offer the skaters opportunities to do skating tricks. The second affordance is social. Because of the presence of skaters on the square, other skaters are attracted. They could help and advice each other to improve their skateboard skills. The third affordances is related to the location of the square. The location is in the center of the city, and is highly accessible by public transport. Obviously, the third affordance it is not a social affordance, however, Clark and Uzzell are not clear if this can be considered as an physical affordance. They ignore a categorization. Regardless, the location matters and should be taken into account when examining the affordances of places.

CULTURAL ADJUSTMENT AFFORDANCES

In this research the affordances that are related to the process of cultural adjustment of expatriates will be examined. Henceforth, these are called adjustment affordances. These include both physical affordances and social affordances. For cultural adjustment the definition of Black (1990) is used: “the degree of psychological comfort and familiarity an individual has for the new environment.” So, an adjustment affordance is a possibility for action, caused by an object or place in the environment, that has an influence on the psychological comfort and familiarity of an individual (i.e. an expatriate).

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PROBLEM DEFINITION

The expatriates face a new environment than they are used to when they move to Shenzhen. Although these kind of problems are something every expatriate experiences, it is not unthinkable that in a city in transition, like Shenzhen, the rapidly changing environment and the migrant flows causes a bigger impact on the expatriates if they have to constantly adjust to new city design and people. In their transition of becoming a full global city, Shenzhen will attract more and more foreigners in the forthcoming years. Because the rules of a sport do not change across countries it can be a symbol of familiarity for those who migrate. Research has shown that sports venues can places that can serve as a bridge between different cultures. However, the literature on sports venues as places of cultural integration lacks on a few points. First, the researches focuses mostly on permanent migrants. Expatriates have a different interest and stay only for a few years overseas. So, there is lack of attention for the ‘integration’ i.e. cultural adjustment of expatriates. Second, and related to the first, when sports venues provides opportunities for cultural adjustment it does not necessarily mean that expatriates are actively trying to aim for it. The perception of the expatriates is neglected. Third, there is no attention for the role the functional properties and the design of these places play in social interaction (and therefor in the adjustment process of expatriates). Sport venues in Shenzhen are therefore interesting places to examine: could it be places were expatriates and their families have a starting point to find new friends and social support that can help them to get used to the new cultural habits and routines? Or do they it as places that helps them ‘ignoring’ the new culture because of the familiarity? The goal of this research is to clarify how the expatriates see their own cultural adjustment and that of their family members in relationship to their visits of the sports venues. Therefore the research question that is the guideline for this research is the following:

What are the adjustment affordances of sport venues in Shenzhen during organized sporting activities visited by expatriates and their family members?

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RESEARCH DESIGN

RESEARCH QUESTION

As in paragraph Problem definition is the stated, the research question for this study is as follows:

What are the adjustment affordances of sport venues in Shenzhen during organized sporting activities visited by expatriates and their family members?

SUBQUESTIONS

The following subquestions are formulated to help finding an answer to the research question. Each subquestion contains a short clarification:

What are the physical characteristics of the sports venues expatriates visit?

The characteristics are divided into two parts: the functional properties and the design of the place.

What are the characteristics of the sports clubs that organize the organized sporting activities.

This questions helps to get insight in the characteristics background of the organized activities, such as the reason for the sports clubs to organize opportunities and the reason for the sports club to choose for the sports venue

What are the characteristics of the visitors of the sports venues expatriates visit?

With this question an indication is made of all the people that are around the sports field. This means that not only the players on the pitch are taken into account, but also the spectators or the participants of other sporting activities. Off course, it is not possible to get every detail of them, but by observing and asking small questions the fullest possible image will be shaped.

What are the reasons for expatriates to visit specific sports venues?

This question has multiple layers. First, it is necessary to know if the sport participant have chosen for the sports or for his/her team-members. Second, and that is related to the first, why has the sports participant chosen for this specific club? If there are more options for the same sport, what makes this place that is chosen? Or if the sporting activity does not matter, why did he/she pick this team? Third, maybe the expatriate just a visitor and watches he the game of a family? Fourth, are there more reasons than only the sport activities to visit the sports venue?

What function have the social activities that place at the sports venues visited by the expatriate and his/her family members?

This question examines other social processes than the sporting activities take place at the sports venues, regarding their role in cultural adjustment. In the literature it is mentioned that the sporting activities itself are not integrative per se, but it are the conditions that matter. Therefore, the focus lies on the social processes that take place off the field. For example, children playing at a playground near the sports field. However, if it is clear that the sporting activities itself have a significant role, they will be included.

What social ties and social networks are created by the expatriate and its family by visiting the sports venues?

In the literature it is mentioned that social ties and social network are important for the adjustment of people. Although the adjustment affordances is based on the perception of the expatriate and its family members, they could be subjective about the social ties and networks they build. This questions tries to get insights in the friendships and other relationships between the expat-family and other actors, to see if to what extend the created network is balanced. This question also examines the function of the social network.

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CONCEPTUAL SCHEME

Figure 2: Conceptual Scheme2

2_{Although the (adjustment) affordances are not included in the conceptual scheme because affordances appear in each step.} Sports venue

location

Functional properties and design Organized sports Participants Spectators Social activities Other visitors Social network Cultural knowledge Social support Cultural skills Cultural adjustment Family members

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(Cultural) Adjustment: the degree of psychological comfort and familiarity an individual has for the new environment.

Affordance: The possibility for action afforded to an observer by an object or place in the environment (Bruce and Green, 2003 in: Uzzell and Clark, 2002).

Adjustment affordance: a possibility for action, caused by an object or place in the environment, that has an influence on the psychological comfort and familiarity of an individual. Physical adj. affordances: Affordances related to the design of the sports venue.

Social adj. affordances: Affordances related to the presence of people at the sports venue.

Organized sports: “athletic programs that provide systematic practices and competitions-contests” (Katzmarzyk & Malina, 1998, p.379)

Expatriate: A highly skilled foreign-born person from a Western country (in North America, Europe or Oceania) living in another country than that of their citizenship. Both assigned expatriates (AEs) and self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) are included. The expatriate has the intention to stay for a period of maximum 5 years.

Family members Spouse, children

Social activities: All the processes that involves social interaction between peoples.

Social interaction: ‘communicative exchange (verbal or nonverbal); attempts to direct communication to another individual; joint cooperative activity involving two or more individuals; physical actions deliberately directed towards another individual’ (Carter et al, 1995, in: Kemp and Carter, 2010)

Social network: a finite set or sets of actors that are connected by one or more specific types of relational ties. (Wang and Kanungo, 2004)

Sports Venue: There are a few conditions that the sports fields must have. First, the sports field is used for organized sports. Second, expatriates are present at the place, whether they are participating in the organized sports or not. Third, the organized sports that takes place during the observation is held on a regular base at the same sports field. For this research it means that at least once a week the organized sports should be held on the sports field concerned. Fourth, the present expatriates should have moved with at least one family member to Shenzhen. This is because according to the literature family members are an in different ways an important influential factor on the cultural adjustment of expatriates.

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DATA COLLECTION

SELECTION OF UNITS OF ANALYSIS

The data collection take place at the unit of analysis itself: sports fields. Not all sports in Shenzhen fields are sufficient to do research on. The conditions the sports fields must have are described in the paragraph

Concepts. To meet this conditions for the right places the selection of the unit of analysis consists of two

steps:

The first phase is a general search for sports fields visited by expatriates. In the first two weeks of the research different sports teams that are established especially for expatriates or a mix of expatriates and locals are contacted via different social media and e-mail. The search for contact details focuses on different places like internet, social media such as Facebook and at the sport complexes itself. Further, as many expatriates as possible will be approached at various places to find information about possible useful sport fields.

During the second step a first selection of sport fields will be made. The remaining venues were visited during the third and fourth week. The visits were purely explorative. Small notes and pictures were made during the visits as memory aid. These visits helped in the decision process and were used to figure out of the sports fields meet the conditions as described in the paragraph Concepts

RESEARCH METHODS

Two qualitative methods will therefore be used to collect data. By observations it is possible to retrieve information about someone’s daily use and routines. Because of the presence of the researcher at the research location, all kinds of activities can be discovered. This also provide new input for any interviews to be done (Van Duppen, 2010).

First, the data collection contains the participant observation at the sports venues. The purpose of the observation is to get an understanding of both the activities that take place at sports venues as well as the design and functional properties. Like mentioned above, the activities do not only contain those that are organized by the sports clubs. Participant observation is necessary because an interviewee could be not aware of certain social interaction/activities. The researcher needs to see for himself what happens at the location, to seek for new insights and/or to seek for confirmation of the information provided by the interviewee. Further, the researcher will make observations only at the sports venues the expatriates visit. Each sports venue needs to be visited multiple times (at least two times) to get good insights of both the activities that take place on and the activities that take place off the field.

Second, the observations are used to collect information for interviews with expatriates. These interviews will be done by means of semi-structured interviews. These are interviews that have a structure with a fixed content in terms of subjects. However, additional questions can be asked in a different order as a response to the answers of the respondent. Hence, it’s a flexible way of interviewing (Bryman, 2008, p. 438-439). The interviews will be held at the sports field after the organized sports has ended, if possible. This has two advantages. First, the interviewer can make use of visible aspects of the sports fields during the interviews. Second, the observed activities are ‘fresh’ in the minds of both the interviewers and interviewees. Therefore less information is lost. The interviews have a semi-structured and therefore a topic-list is made (Appendix A). However, each observation and each interview gives new insights and therefore the topic-list should be seen as a guideline.

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A second group of the people that will be interviewed are people from the organization of the sporting activity. These interview have a more third-person perspective. It is contemplative. Therefore, the topic of the interviewees is not sufficient. Another topic list (Appendix B) regarding the focus on the organization is therefore included.

The interviews will be recorded with an audio recorder or a mobile phone with an audio recording application. Although the audio recorder is the desired tool, an application on the mobile phone should be sufficient . The language during the interviews will be English, except when the expatriate is from the Netherlands. In that case the interview will be held in Dutch. This is easier to find ‘hidden knowledge’. (Crang, 2002).

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

The risk when performing interviews is making the respondent say more than he or she would like to. There is also a risk of influencing the respondent to give answers that fit our pre-conceived idea of what the study should result in. This is especially important in a qualitative study, where results are easier to influence compared to a quantitative study.

During the interviews the participation has always been highly optional. It is made sure that the participants are aware of this and have been given them the opportunity to abort the interview at any time. The participants are informed of the purpose of the thesis and what their answers will be used for. We are aware of the fact that this might affect the respondents’ answers, therefore we have made sure to ask questions that are concerning facts rather than personal opinions. Before conducting the interviews we have asked the interviewees for their permission to record the interview on a dictating machine (e.g. mobile phone)

DATA ANALYSIS

Like mentioned, the interviews have a semi-structured character and therefore a topic-list is drawn up. However, this should be seen as a guideline. The expectation is that the different sports venues have enormous varieties, that it would be hard to analyze and compare variables. Also, there is only a limited amount of interviewed expatriates per sports venue and the interviews with the organization have a different character. Therefore, the interviews are not coded. However, each of the sports venues will be examined and presented in the results in the same structure, to clarify the varieties.

CONSTRAINTS AND LIMITATIONS

Doing research on sports fields, organized sports and expatriates comprises some limitations. First, most of the organized outdoor sporting activities, e.g. sports with practices and leagues, end in the spring because of the rising temperatures during the summer. This study have taken place from the end of March until the beginning of May. This means that some organized sports already finished their activities (for example, the Shenzhen Women Rugby). Although interviews could be held, but it would give an incomplete representation of the situation without any observations.

Another limitation of this research is derived from the use of the theory of affordances. By picking expatriates that are involved in the observed activities specific questions could be asked about the particular sport venues, but it also goes hand in hand with some negative implications. The group of expatriates that are not present at the sport venues is neglected. An example of these people could be the parents that drop their children at the sports venue, but do not watch the practice of their children. They could also be seen as actors. However, it is not unthinkable that these expatriates have a different point of view on sports

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and their relationship with the different aspects of cultural adjustment, and therefore the affordances differ. For the sake of this research only actors are chosen that have a more complete image of the activities at the sport venues.

A minor limitation is the language barrier. Although both the interviewer and the interviewees high-skilled and therefore the assumption can be made that their English (the language used during the interviews) is of a decent level, there is a chance that misunderstandings can occur. When English is not the first language of both the interviewer and the interviewee the chance increases that misunderstandings occur.

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