week 4 class reflection

During the class we discussed the cross cultural difference. There are a lot of differences between cultures. For the first part of discussion, Dr. Smidt talked about her experience. Her example was about ‘double dripping.’ I think that in Japan, ‘double dripping’ is not acceptable, too. Of course, there are individual differences. I reconfirmed that ‘double dripping’ is rude attitude in Asian countries.
Chris talked about personal distance. When I was undergraduate student, I read the article about personal distance. According to that article, there is the unique distance which depends on culture when the people talk in pair. For example, the distance between Japanese is about 1 meter. On the other hand, the distance between Americans is closer than that. That is about 50 cent-meter. Therefore, there might be trouble when an American and Japanese talk. Japanese may feel uncomfortable if the American uses his or her unique personal distance.
I think that it is very interesting to find out the cultural differences. However, sometimes it is dangerous because we tend to fall into stereotype. I think the balance is important.