Short video about cultural differences in greetings between Asian and western countries

Friendships

Western people always call people they met as friends, so the definition of friends is more in a general sense. Such as working friends, playing friends, school friends and drinking friends. But in Asian countries, friends will not be classed into categories. Friendships in Western countries such as the US, have different levels of appreciation shown by people in relation to how much they enjoy spending time with that person. However a more Eastern friendship sometimes will be treated as a responsibility. They generally treat most people with the same level of respect but at the same time if finding they dislike someone, they will try not to meet them again. Furthermore the concept of borrowing money can be an awkward thing to talk about in Western countries. Borrowing money from friends is common in China while it is not as common or an easy topic to talk about in Western countries.

Reference: Sandbox 2015; Asia population, culture and economy. Available at; http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/world/asia-population-culture-economy.html

Change

Change is constantly occurring and is a very important part of life however some cultures are very willing to change and accepting of it, whereas other cultures encourage the preservation of tradition.  

Asian countries such as China, Japan and South Korea are all eager to change and thrive at any opportunity to create a better tomorrow. Whereas Western culture encourages people to respect the way things are done and have been done for many years. 

Hence Asian cultures are more future and goal oriented, resulti ng in more change, whereas Western cultures live in the now which results in less change.

Reference: Sandbox 2015; Asia population, culture and economy. Available at; http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/world/asia-population-culture-economy.html

Marriage

Wherever in the world you reside, marriage is always one of the most special and precious parts of an individuals life. It represents a promise, that is supported by a collection of memories and built up on a foundation made of trust and love. In Western countries such as the US and Australia, the process can sometimes be a little different too that of Asian countries. In some Asian countries such as China, traditionally many married couples will not have met each other until their wedding day. Of course too many Western societies this particular idea may seem very alien, as usually in countries like the US getting too the level of marriage takes a few more steps. In saying this, many Asian families wish to take a more Western approach too marriage by choosing their partners. At the end of the day, no matter the cultural differences, we should strive to respect and allow people to do what makes them happy.

Reference: Kerrie Main 2013; Chinese family values. Available at : http://family.lovetoknow.com/chinese-family-values

Gender Roles

Many Asian countries such as China have adopted a myriad of Western influences in relation to gender roles and how the concept of respect operates in a family environment. In saying this Asian countries continue too instil certain aspects of traditional gender roles. In modern times in Western society, the idea that the male should go out too work whilst the female takes care of the home and family is slowly fading away due to the pressures of growing view for equality between genders. Although this is the way that some Western countries see the issue, in some Asian cultures it is quite an acceptable thing and it isn't seen as a problem.

Reference: Kerrie Main 2013; Chinese family values. Available at : http://family.lovetoknow.com/chinese-family-values

Desires and impulses  

Individuals are often faced with decisions whether to do something they desire, or to oppress the urge and make the “right choice.” Due to cultural influences some countries are more likely to indulge in their desire whereas others are more likely to exercise restraint.

 An example of an indulgent country is the United States of America and due to popular culture, they are well known for drug addiction and lavish lifestyles.  Similarly, Canadians also place a great emphasis on leisure time highlighting their impulsive behaviours.

Contrastingly, eastern cultures such as the in China, people feel more controlled by societies expectations, hinting at the presence of pessimism and cynicism. 

Reference: Arthur Hu; Introduction to basic Asian values. Available at; http://www.asianweek.com/2012/04/28/introduction-to-basic-asian-values/

Competitiveness 

Refers to societies competitiveness and the importance they place on achievement and success. On the other hand, less competitive countries would place greater importance on improving their quality of life. Most western countries share a similar level of competiveness where Asian countries fluctuate between highly competitive and not so much. 

Japan, for example, has an extraordinarily competitive culture where competition between groups or societies is encouraged. Countries such as China and India also have competitive cultures that place great emphasis on earning wealth and other materialistic values. This may be due the large populations that dwell in these countries, encouraging individuals to stand out. Similarly, countries such as America and Canada also strive to achieve exceptional results in areas such as work and sports. On the other hand, less competitive Eastern countries such as Thailand are not as worried about being the best, but are more focused on achieving a healthy balance between work and leisure. 


Reference; Arthur Hu; Introduction to basic Asian values. Available at: http://www.asianweek.com/2012/04/28/introduction-to-basic-asian-values/

Thinking Patterns

After long term cultural accumulation, thinking mode has obvious differences between western and eastern and it exerts a significant influence on human social lives. The east culture favors comprehensive thinking, i.e. uniting various parts of the object as one entity. English and American cultures favor analysis thinking, i.e. decomposing one complete object into various composing parts and aspects from idea. The east culture emphasises unification and gives priority to the entity of thinking, and the west culture emphasises opposition and gives priority to the part of thinking. In the negotiation process, occidentals generally incline to divide the main content of negotiation into various parts and consider and analyze them one by one, and finally obtain the conclusion. Whereas oriental emphasises the negotiation pattern first principle then detail and they like to set up one basic principle frame first and then discuss recapitulative proceedings.

Reference: Eric Horowitz,  2012; Why do East-asians and Westerners think differently? Available at: http://www.peerreviewedbymyneurons.com/2012/04/06/why-do-east-asians-and-westerners-think-differently/

Festivals, Celebrations and Holidays  

Asian countries celebrate a number of different and colourful celebrations that are not regularly seen in Western countries. For example, China has unique celebrations including the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Moon Festival and National Day. As we move further west, countries like India celebrate things like Diwali and Holi, as well as some Islamic celebrations such as Eid-ul Fitr. Although Western countries like the US, Australia and countries in Europe have their own holidays many people in these countries celebrate festivals from Asian culture and vice versa. Personally I love that we can embrace and enjoy all these different celebrations from cultures all around the globe. I believe that learning and respecting cultural differences allow us too come together as a human race.



Reference: Kidzworld 2015; Asian culture. Available at: http://www.kidzworld.com/article/5001-asian-culture-and-traditions

Time Sensitivity 

Crossing cultures for business can be frustrating when it interferes with getting the job done. Most Western are very time sensitive when it comes to meetings and deadlines. If the meeting was to commence at 2:00, then all parties are to be present at that time. The Asian do not view time as an absolute but more as a suggestion. Concern is not expressed for a meeting starting late or ending at a different time. The same can be applied to deadlines. If a report is due on Friday, an American(western) would be waiting for that report to be received before end of business day. The Chinese(Asian) would not worry if it showed up several days later.

Reference: Sandbox 2015; Asia population, culture and economy. Available at; http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/world/asia-population-culture-economy.html

Growing Old 

Physical signs of human aging tend to be regarded with distaste, and aging is often depicted in a negative light in popular culture, if it is even depicted at all. In Asian cultures, most country like Korean, Japan. Younger members of the family have a duty to care for the aging members of the family. And even outside the family unit, Koreans(Asian) are socialized to respect and show deference to older individuals as well as authority figures. It's also customary in Korean to have a big celebration to mark an individual's 60th and 70th birthdays.

Reference: Arthur Hu; Introduction to basic Asian values. Available at; http://www.asianweek.com/2012/04/28/introduction-to-basic-asian-values/

Business Relationships 

Chinese(Asian) business people want to develop relationships with the people they buy and sell to. While Americans(western) aren't opposed to strong relationships, the value of the transaction comes first. However, for Chinese, relationships are generally more important. For this reason, Chinese businesspeople often want to get to know the person they're doing business with and tend to prefer face-to-face interactions. While this can slow down the pace of business, trust is at a premium in the Chinese business culture. Don't be surprised if a business partner asks you about your personal life or even your finances. This is a sign of interest, not indication of rudeness or disrespect.

Reference: Sandbox 2015; Asia population, culture and economy. Available at; http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/world/asia-population-culture-economy.html

Education

The culture and tradition of the society shapes the development of Western and Eastern (i.e. Asian) education philosophies. When comparing student involvement within classroom activities, Westerners stress on active learning on their learners, whereas the Easterners prefer passive learning. In the teaching process, the roles of students are recognised in Western education philosophy by giving them the rights and respects. Students are given the opportunity and freedom to take charge of their own learning process. And teachers play their role as a facilitator than the knowledge producer in guiding students to discover and develop their abilities and potentials. In contrast, Eastern education philosophy holds on to the concept of teaching. Students in a way receive knowledge in a rigid way as they only seem to learn and study straightly from the teachers. In the Western education philosophy, students learn by understanding since westerners believe that the best education is mean to form the society to become a cultural nation in regard of their education and education aim. Therefore, they will critically evaluate rather than just memorizing. Nevertheless, in Eastern education the students practice the concept of memorizing, as this philosophy focuses mainly on book learning and memorization within the teaching and learning process.

Reference: Hassan, A & Jamaludin, NS 2012, Approaches & values in two gigantic educational philosophies: East and West, Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,

Individualism 

Individualism refers to independence and self-reliance and the extent to which a society functions like this, can reflect the values of their culture. Asian culture is much more group and team oriented where as in countries such the United Stated and Australia, there is much larger focus on independent work.

For example, in a westernized work place is highly individualistic where employees must work hard and show initiative in order to progress and will act so purely out of self interest. Contrastingly, the collectivism in Asian society encourages employees to commit to the business itself and your relationships with others greatly influence how quickly you will be promoted.

Hence western culture encourages people to look after themselves and their immediate family in order to succeed and receive merit for their hard work, whereas in eastern countries such as China and Thailand, people are encouraged to work as groups in order to act in the best interests of their organization and country. 

Reference: E Brindley, 2011; Individualism in Classical Chinese. Available at:http://www.iep.utm.edu/ind-chin/

Agriculture

The continent of Asia comprises around 4.4 billion people which is approximately 60% of the worlds population. A large proportion of Asia's income comes from agriculture. This is similar to the rest of the world and especially the Western world. The difference lies in the type of goods that are exported out from Asia in comparison too Western countries such as the USA and Australia. Countries like China and Vietnam heavily rely on their exports of rice and wheat. In comparison Australia's major exports in terms of agriculture are mostly animal products such as lamb, beef and pork. In saying this both economies are similar in the fact that their major crop export is wheat.

Reference: 2015; Asian agriculture. Available at: http://lifeofplant.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/asian-agriculture.html

Sport

Despite the difference in geographical location, people in Asia enjoy and participate in a lot of the sports that originated hundreds of years ago from Western societies. For example Cricket, which is originally a British sport is played by millions of people in sub-saharan Asia and is the most popular sport in the whole continent. Another example would be in Japan, where one of the most popular sports in the country is Baseball, originally an American sport. In saying this, Asian societies have invented many world renowned sports such as Martial arts, Taekwondo and Badminton. Sport is a universal language that everybody understands and this can be seen with closer analysis to Asian and Western culture.

Reference: Asia society; 2012; 10 Asian sports that would spice up the Olympics. Available at: http://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/multimedia-10-asian-sports-would-spice-olympics

Eating Habits

Different countries have different eating habits. The Chinese have a saying “Good things for breakfast. Eating a big meal for lunch but eating less at dinner.” Many Americans agree that one should start the day with a good breakfast, but their ideas about lunch and dinner are different.

Most Americans only give themselves a short time for lunch. So they eat a small lunch. After work they will have more time to eat a big dinner. Also a quiet dinner at home with all family talking about their day is a way to take a good rest after a long, hard day of work.

Eating at restaurant is also different. In , people like to talk and laugh while eating. Very often you can hear people talking and laughing loudly, and they are just having a good time. In it is not like this. They want a quiet place where they can eat a good meal. If someone is talking too loudly, the manager of the restaurant may come out and ask them to be quiet

Reference: Asian nation, 2014; Asian cuisine and foods. Available at: http://www.asian-nation.org/asian-food.shtml

Cuisine

In Western cooking, meat is used in huge proportions. If in Asian cooking, meat is only part and parcel of the meal, in Western cooking, meat is the main star. Think of steaks. Thick slabs of meat are the main star of the meal. But there still have other players on the plate, such as mashed potato and steamed vegetables, but the meat is the only reason why the plate is readied in the first place.

However many of us have brought up this question of, how do Asians eat so much but still not gain that much weight? There are several reasons to this. Firstly, Asians have a highly nutritious diet. Most of their foods contain nutritious ingredients and less sugared foods. That contributes to the lower risk of obese of health problems for Asians. 90 per cent of the world’s rice is produced in Asia due to their monsoons. Most Asians enjoy feasting on light meals including less heavy, greasy food and mostly home cooked, simple dishes

Clothing 

This post will focus on the comparison between western clothing and Asian clothing by showing the evolution processes. Clothing of Asian countries such as China, Japan, and Vietnam are given in detail. China plays an essential role in the Asian clothing evolution processes, therefore traditional Chinese clothing will be discussed as a typical example for Asian part when compares to western clothing culture. For western clothing style, it is also differ from country to country. For example, European styles tend to be more “dressy” whereas American styles are more casual. My part will also include the reason for widespread adoption of western clothing. 




Reference:James 2013, Fashion advice: how to dress avoid looking like an American tourist in Europe, The Savvy Backpacker. Available from: <http://thesavvybackpacker.com/how-to-dress-avoid-looking-l…/>

Blog Introduction

This blog will contain a number of posts on the topic of comparing and analysing the differences and similarities between Asian and Western Cultures. This archive of posts will be compiled together and used for the ISYS100 group assessment task. Our group members include:

• Melody Lu
• Khang Le
• Dana Bahrami
• Yingze zang
• Kirt Quar

Each group member will write up a number of posts in relation to our chosen subject and they will be posted onto the blog. This blog will try to encapsulate the colourful and unique differences between cultures and also highlight familiar similarities. The purpose of this blog is to help readers acknowledge and appreciate the diversity amongst different people around the world and furthermore to help readers embrace and learn more about these differences in culture.