Blog Assignment #3 - Nonverbal Communication

What differences in gestures, eye contact, and body space have you noticed between your own culture and what you have seen in the United States? Why do you think this is? What similarities in nonverbal communication have you seen between the two cultures?

We can communicate somewhat even if we are in one of the African tribes where the language is totally different from ours. That is because a big part of nonverbal communication is universal. Emotions such as happiness, fear, and sadness are good examples; nobody would smile when they are angry. Facial expressions can be used to disguise true feelings as the person, who is about get a ticket, does in the textbook. However, even this fake smile can be universal as well. I have seen many similarities in nonverbal communications so far. To be specific, talking to someone with a kind manner, a smiling face, and warm tone of voice means speaker is caring about the listener. I met someone talking to me in this way and I appreciate her kindness because I was able to feel her care for me, even though it was not my native language. Moreover, we know hugging and touching mean something positive showing affection. I would say, as far as universal emotions, facial expressions, and physical contact(although the extent of physical contact can differ.), there are more similarity than differences.
On the other hand, there are many differences in nonverbal communications. One of the differences in gestures is greeting manners, when Americans greet each other, they wave their hands, whereas Koreans bow each other to greet, unless they are close. There are big differences in eye contact and personal space too. In Korea, if you talk to someone who is order than you, you should avoid their eye contact especially when you are being scolded. In this situation, looking into the speaker’s eyes means your disobediences to him/her. In the U.S., Avoiding eye contact would give the speakers the impression that listener is not paying attention to his saying and he is not respecting the speaker. Regarding the space, it seems the personal space is very small or almost doesn’t exist in Korea. Once, my American friend asked me why Korean people stand so closely together when they are in the line. I never noticed it until she said that. Now I realized the “body bubble” is really small in Korea. Koreans would stand right behind you even while you are withdrawing money at the bank or ATM. Because the personal space is almost "0", they wouldn't think they intrude into someone’s personal space. Therefore, unlike Americans, they are not used to apologizing when they bumped into someone. Koreans may be perceived as rude by people who are not aware of this difference.