East vs. WestWhats the difference?Illustrations by Yang Liu from East meets West book www.yangliudesign.com

Way to think

Way of life

Punctuality

Connections

Anger

Queuing

In the restaurant

Standard of beauty

Way to solveproblems

Seniors daily life

Shower time

Boss

The child

Cultural Differences** but of course there are obvious exceptions

West (US / Europe)East (China / East Asia)LogicLinear (direct associations)Spiral (roundabout)CommunicationDirect, verbalIndirect, impliedIdentityIndividual, independentGroup orientatedAgreement / DisagreementArgumentative, verbalHard to say no, non-verbalPunctualityStart and end on timeAppointments flexibleRespectSuccess, achievementSeniority, wisdomBusiness RelationshipEconomics come firstRelationship comes firstDecision MakingDistributed, proactiveManager has final sayTime HorizonShort term (per quarter)Long term (years ahead)Risk / SpendingRisk-takers, spendRisk-avoiders, save

Intercultural Competence

Communicate EffectivelySpeak slowly, maintain eye contactUse objective, accurate languageRephrase sentences where necessaryListen carefully and patientlyAdapt your conversation styleDont talk down to othersClarify what will happen next

Deal With It Know your neighbor Be open and tolerant Ask lots of questions

When in Rome, do as the Romans do

What differences have you experienced?*West: Linear (direct associations)East: Spiral (roundabout and subtle)

*West: Individualistic, independent, values freedomEast: Group orientated, values harmony and stability

*West: Start and end on timeEast: Appointment times flexible

Dont be late (rude). Call in advance if you cant make it.

*West: Small number of close connectionsEast: Highly connected web

*West: Argumentative, verbalEast: Difficult to say no, non-verbal

Show your feelings up front people prefer to hear your problem before it becomes bigger

*West: Manors important (be polite)East: Each for his/her own

**West: like dark skinEast: like white skin

*******How well you can adopt and communicate with other cultures

Intercultural competenceis the ability of successfulcommunicationwith people of othercultures.Being equally comfortable in two or more cultures

A person who is interculturally competent captures and understands, ininteractionwith people from foreign cultures, their specific concepts inperception, thinking, feeling and acting.

*Culture is communication and communication is culture**