you are the nail. In a Youtube video, Dr. May Hongmei Gao comments on how the Home Depot enterprise misread Chinese culture. This venture was a hugely costly mistake. Is it merely the lack of a DIY culture that caused …
Yvonne Wolf was born in Taiwan and educated in the U.S. and Europe. She has extensive experience living and working internationally (Denmark and Japan). She is fluent in English, Mandarin, and Danish, and has studied Japanese, Spanish, and Greek. Between work and personal travel, she has visited more than 20 countries and well-traveled within the U.S. and Canada. She has worked with organizations and business executives focusing on communication strategies working with Chinese and East Asian partners. Among her many skills is mediating across cultural misunderstandings.
The Ratio of Business to Government Sector is Not Proportional
In contrast, China’s government sector is much greater than its business sector. Like our diplomats, Chinese officials are trained in Chinese etiquette as well as American/Western etiquette. When our two countries meet in the market place so to speak, the …
Thanksgiving in October?
Offices, banks, and schools are closed. You will have a hard time getting an answer via email this week. According to Travel China Guide, the top 3 tips are: 1. avoid traveling to China during this period, 2. if you …
Did You Hear the Glasses Clink?
Champagne glassware is preferred in weddings and formal occasions. Etiquette books probably don’t explain how the clinking of the glasses or coldness of the glass is crucial in adding joy to the event. This multi-sensory experience is taught from social …
How Firm is Your Handshake?
Now imagine yourself in a Chinese setting where handshakes are rather new. Your typically firm handshake for folks who are learning this Western style of greeting will very likely feel crushingly strong. No matter how many Youtube videos the Chinese …
How the Typewriter Revolution Skipped China
When the typewriter was introduced to the Chinese, it was received with mixed emotions. It made communication advance miraculously faster, but it was incompatible with a non-alphabet, logographic based language. The Chinese typewriter became an invention to be wrestled with …
What color means STOP for you?
Could the interpretation of traffic lights be culturally different? The meaning of the traffic lights was not determined purely on a whimsical Red Guard decision. Culturally speaking, red for the Chinese has been the color of joy, vibrancy, celebration for …
Do You Wear a Swimming Cap to Swim?
Swimming, like jogging, may be considered a low cost sport or pastime in the US. It requires little gear and city pools, lakes, and beaches are accessible, low cost recreation areas. In China, swimming pools are costly to run and …
Can Homebuying be Based on a Cultural Reason?
Recently I heard from a seasoned real estate broker that only 18-20% of homebuyers listed schools being the number one factor of their homebuying search. If we focus on the data of the Chinese population in the US, the percentage …
Can Friendliness be Mandated?
To assist strangers who are in need sounds like the proper action for anyone to take. Yet, if you think about it, in a country where there’s no cultural tradition of the Good Samaritan story, such unabashed intrusion on someone …