OSF10 Textbook

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Asking directly for favors is closest to my own experience. I appreciate directness and do not like being expected to read minds. But I think culture is better understood as the way different families within different classes live, as countries are just too big. Different families have different values, and sometimes it's easy to confuse what is normal to me as being 'Australian', when another Australian will have a completely different experience. $XVWUDOLDQ PDOH YLGHRJUDSKHU OLYHV LQ -DSDQ 6 I was brought up in the West part of France, and unconsciously, I think I tend to give hints when I'm having a problem. My closest family members tend to ask favors directly, above all when it's something practical. But, when it's a much more personal matter, I think that in France, people would tend to talk about their problems, hoping to get offered some help. )UHQFK IHPDOH WHDFKHU OLYHV LQ -DSDQ 7 I think that in France, friends are usually eager to offer their help or advice if they feel they can; it's a way to show that you care, a mark of friendship. However, unsolicited advice is also common in France. You share a problem, and then some friends or people can have a tendency to give too much advice, to the point of being annoying. This type of personal intrusion is something I have never experienced in Japan. )UHQFK PDOH SURIHVVRU OLYHV LQ -DSDQ 8 From my experience in Japan, I think people consider it a virtue to intuit the help that their friends need, and just go ahead and do it without actually consulting them! I have been “helped by a friend” many times where the help wasn’t actually what I wanted. I have learnt not to mention any problems I may be having, even to rather close friends. From what I recall from my youth in Belgium, after hearing about problems I was having, friends would OFFER their help. That’s a huge difference. When I returned to Belgium after some years in Japan, I noticed that there is actually a funny little dance that occurs in those cases. After the friend offers their help, NY NX HTRRTS YT ƳWXY turn it down it, saying something like “No, that would be too much trouble for you”. So then the friend insists, “Don’t worry about it, it’s really no UWTGQJRƐ FSI YMNX HTSYNSZJX ZSYNQ ƳSFQQ^ YMJ TKKJWJI MJQU NX FHHJUYJI . During this back and forth, the problem and its solution have actually been thought about by both people, so it’s really rare to be helped in a way that doesn’t match your actual needs. For me, this feels straightforward and respectful. %HOJLDQ IHPDOH WHDFKHU OLYHV LQ -DSDQ 9

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Write a paragraph on the topic of asking and receiving favors. Include your opinions and reactions to the cultural patterns you found in these survey responses.

EXPRESSION

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