I define friendly as someone who smiles at people, says hello to strangers, will stop to help anyone who looks like they need it whether they need directions or help changing a flat tire. A person who will strike up a conversation waiting in line. You know, someone who is friendly to everyone all the time unless there is history between them which negates it. Friendly.Based on this, I find Koreans to be decidedly unfriendly and cold. If they know you, you are family, went to school with you, grew up next to you.....they are friendly enough. If you are a stranger you're a ghost. This was explained to me by a few co-teachers. I don't consider that being friendly. I consider it being selectively friendly, which in my opinion is not friendly. There's no grey area to me. You are or you are not, friendly.
“Manners” and “rudeness” are defined by culture. They are not absolute, universal attributes.Being of mixed Anglo/Franco background, I can tell you that the French think the English are rude because they never say what they really mean, and the English think the French are rude because they are so direct.When to smile, what fork to use, or how deeply one bows are all culturally determined. The Queen of Canada gets a bow from the neck, but a customer at a high end Gangnam department store can get a deep bow from the waist. Koreans would be shocked at how poorly we treat the Queen!
In which culture is it polite to push on the subway/lift before letting people off first again?
Korea, apparently.The locals tolerate it.
I once commented to my co-teacher (she was a really nice person), about how weird I found it that in school teachers were super friendly to me at school but once you put foot outside the building they underwent a personality change and acted like you didn't exist.
Yes but what about gang violence in America?
Opposite of rude is polite, not friendly.
“Manners” and “rudeness” are defined by culture. They are not absolute, universal attributes. When to smile, what fork to use, or how deeply one bows are all culturally determined. The Queen of Canada gets a bow from the neck
I define friendly as someone who smiles at people, says hello to strangers, will stop to help anyone who looks like they need it whether they need directions or help changing a flat tire. A person who will strike up a conversation waiting in line. You know, someone who is friendly to everyone all the time unless there is history between them which negates it. Friendly.
But politeness and rudeness are universal values that can be detected no matter the culture.
Sigh its not even the end of the first page and you've derailed the thread into the irrelevant topic of gang violence? get a grip..
Look at how people here interpreted Saffers speaking Afrikaans amongst each other. Some people are extremely bothered by it and see it as rude and unfriendly, others see it as no big deal or even find it interesting (count me in the latter group- I grew up around immigrants, foreign language conversations don't call me to fall to pieces. They don't exist to entertain me).