I have never moved out of the United States but I am aware of some cultural differences in non-verbal communication. A few semesters ago I took a Communication and Culture class here at San Jose State. In this class, we had to describe some cultural norms and differences and I was exposed to some new and interesting non-verbal signs that were different than our own. First, In Japan, it is considered disrespectful to place your chopsticks in your bowl of rice or noodles; it is a symbol of death in their culture. Here in the Unites States, it is extremely common to see people stabbing their chopsticks in their bowls when they are not using them. Another example of a non-verbal sign carrying a different meaning is in France. In France it is common to give flowers in odd numbers (1, 3, 5 flowers) but not the number 13 because it is assumed to be unlucky. In the U.S we tend to give roses by the dozen. These simple things can be tricky when dealing with cultures other than your own. I suggest embracing other cultures and learn more about customs other than your own.
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Jenale,
ReplyDeleteThose are some good examples of nonverbal cues that can be easily mistaken in other cultures as different meanings. The numerical meaning you mentioned about flowers in France brought to mind an incident at work where I encountered a relating issue.
I gave change back to a Chinese gentleman who then returned my some back. He did this because in Chinese culture the number four is considered very unlucky, and he did not want to be “given” bad luck. At first I thought he was kidding but he was quite serious.
Now while the number four being bad luck is a cultural norm in China it can also have a great affect non-verbally if you were to give someone four flowers, which could be like wishing them bad luck.