Week 7- Nonverbal Differences

Nonverbal messages retain different meanings in different cultures.  From experience, in my culture and as a family on how I grew up, putting your feet up on the couch and showing your heel was okay.  In Arab culture, my brother-in-laws, who are Jordanian,  it is considered disrespectful and belittling to show the bottom of one's feet.  In Arab culture, the sole of an individual's feet (or foot for that matter) is seen as the lowest point and dirtiest part of the body, and to show that or direct it towards another person is extremely rude.  In my family, we didn't see this nonverbal message perceived as disrespectful, because it was just a form of relaxation.  Of course, we do our best to be respectful towards every culture and would never intentionally disregard different cultures. I have also encountered another clash of nonverbal messages between cultures due to work experience.  My coworker, who is Chinese, takes orders from customers politely, but does not stare at the individual directly in their eyes.  Some customers of different cultures find this rude or annoying, yet my coworker was raised that giving direct eye contact is rude in his culture.  In this case, I do find it sad that nonverbal messages can clash between cultures due to ignorance and not being accepting or forgiving that maybe it is different for every culture.  Unfortunately, I have not traveled within this region or noticed regional differences.