Non verbal messages are sometimes much more powerful than a verbal message. Every culture has its own form of non verbal messages, where to them its perfectly normal but to us we may see it as rude. Eye contact is a very important gesture of non verbal communication, within the Unites States we use eye contact as a form of respect and to let the listener know that our attention is on them. However within the Asian culture this holds a totally different meaning. For example: the first time that I noticed it was when I was in a communication class. A student went up to the podium ( he happened to be Asian) and he performed his speech, and not once did he look at the audience, he kept his eye on his paper the entire speech. The teacher then critiqued his speech just like he would always do, and commented on how he needs to give eye contact to his audience. He then replied by saying that in his culture it was a form of disrespect if he were to give someone direct eye contact. It was seen as rude in his particular culture. Wow, was I amazed, I had never know that until then.
I'm not too sure within other cultures what their culture is like. But I know that in my culture Mexican men are warm and friendly, and make a lot of physical contact. They often touch shoulders or hold another’s arm. To withdraw from this touch is considered insulting.
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I really enjoyed reading your post. You pulled in a lot of useful and interesting information.
For example I have also noticed a lot of differences between the Asian culture and our own. My cousins are half Chinese and they follow a lot of the traditional Asian cultures. One thing I have learned is that when you eat dinner with a group of Asian people they will tend to chew very loudly. I used to think this was rude but actually the reason they do this is because chewing your food loudly lets the cook know you are enjoying the meal. So in fact it is completely opposite from being rude it is paying a compliment.
I also enjoyed that you talked about your Mexican background and how you would interact. I would have never thought that it would be rude to pull away if someone was touching your arm.
I am English and in the English culture you aren't really supposed to shows signs of affection. My family does hug one another when we greet each other but that is because we have adapted to the American culture.
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