Is there an Asian language? An Asian culture?

What do you think?

Is this a myth?  Or a curse?  Are they really doing well?

What do you think?

Do all Asians that live in Asia use chopsticks?  Do all people of Asian heritage use chopsticks?  What do you think?

If I give you three pictures.  One shows a rooster, one has a cow, and the third one is a picture of grassland.  Which two would you group together?

There is no right or wrong answer, but the answer reveals how one thinks?

What is your answer?

In the US, many of us shake hands on a daily basis.  If you don’t take notice of how others shake hands, you may want to start paying attention to how you shake others’ hands.

When you give a palm-to-palm, one-two-three, and up-and-down firm handshake, you presents a positive image because this is the US cultural norm in professional handshakes.  When this occurs, the other person makes a mental note: “What a strong firm handshake!  Trustworthy.”

Now what if you give an unusual firm handshake?  In fact, it is so firm that  you can sense from the other person’s facial expression that reads, “Hey.  Go easy.”  Do you promptly apologize, but soon forget about it?   Or do you wonder whether the other person may think of your behavior as offensive and interpret that very firm handshake as aggressive; hence becomes hesitant to do business with you?

Finally  what about giving a soft-to-the-touch handshake?   Have you thought that such “dead fish handshake” may come across as detached? Or worse, someone with a weak personality.

How we shake hands depends, in part, on where we grew up.  If you grow up in Asia or South America, you tend to give a less than strong  handshake  because you were told that it is aggressive to give a strong shake hands.  Yet a less than firm handshake is not valued in this country.  What are you going to do next time when you shake someone’s hand?

Let me know what you think!