[00:05.256]COMMUNICATION: NO PROBLEM? [00:08.580]Yesterday, [00:09.498]another student and I, [00:11.065]representing our university's student association, [00:14.651]went to the Capital International Airport to meet this year's international students. [00:21.326]They were coming to study at Beijing University. [00:24.340]We would take them first to their dormitories and then to the student canteen. [00:29.761]After half an hour of waiting for their flight to arrive, [00:33.803]I saw several young people enter the waiting area looking around curiously. [00:39.698]I stood for a minute watching them and then went to greet them. [00:44.336]The first person to arrive was Tony Garcia from Colombia, [00:48.375]closely followed by Julia Smith from Britain. [00:51.719]After I met them and then introduced them to each other, [00:55.052]I was very surprised. [00:57.320]Tony approached Julia, [00:59.118]touched her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek! She stepped back appearing surprised and put up her hands, [01:07.523]as if in defence. [01:10.758]I guessed that there was probably a major misunderstanding. [01:14.718]Then Akira Nagata from Japan came in smiling, [01:18.702]together with George Cook from Canada. [01:20.322]As they were introduced, [01:23.243]George reached his hand out to the Japanese student. [01:26.556]Just at that moment, [01:27.675]however, [01:28.537]Akira bowed so his nose touched George's moving hand. [01:32.793]They both apologized - another cultural mistake! [01:38.809]Ahmed Aziz, [01:40.264]another international student, [01:41.339]was from Jordan. [01:43.621]When we met yesterday, [01:45.147]he moved very close to me as I introduced myself. [01:48.870]I moved back a bit, [01:50.462]but he came closer to ask a question and then shook my hand. [01:54.740]When Darlene Coulon from France came dashing through the door, [01:58.658]she recognized Tony Garcia's smiling face. [02:02.072]They shook hands and then kissed each other twice on each cheek, [02:05.947]since that is the French custom when adults meet people they know. [02:10.221]Ahmed Aziz. [02:11.093], [02:11.552]on the contrary, [02:12.089]simply nodded at the girls. [02:14.622]Men from Middle Eastern and other Muslim countries will often stand quite close to other men to talk but will usually not touch women. [02:24.927]As I get to know more international friends, [02:27.305]I learn more about this cultural "body language". [02:31.394]Not all cultures greet each other the same way, [02:34.483]nor are they comfortable in the same way with touching or distance between people. [02:39.721]In the same way that people communicate with spoken language, [02:43.206]they also express their feelings using unspoken "language" through physical distance, [02:48.334]actions or posture. [02:50.707]English people, [02:51.397]for example, [02:52.219]do not usually stand very close to others or touch strangers as soon as they meet. [02:57.985]However, [02:58.497]people from places like Spain, [03:00.570]Italy or South American countries approach others closely and are more likely to touch them. [03:07.503]Most people around the world now greet each other by shaking hands, [03:12.005]but some cultures use other greetings as well, [03:14.932]such as the Japanese, [03:16.192]who prefer to bow. [03:18.298]These actions are not good or bad, [03:20.838]but are simply ways in which cultures have developed. [03:23.799]I have seen, [03:24.755]however, [03:25.259]that cultural customs for body language are very general - not all members of a culture behave in the same way. [03:32.328]In general, [03:32.889]though, [03:33.437]studying international customs can certainly help avoid difficulties in today's world of cultural crossroads! [03:40.277]