2025 Manxuan’s Blog

Asking for a favor is never just about the favor–it's about refusal, reciprocity, and subtle hints. According to extra materials, people in a Japanese society rarely say "no" directly when someone asks for help. Tbh, it's the same in China. We grow up hearing, "Save face for others," which basically means: don't slam a door in someone's face with an explicit "no".  Reading the room is quite a good quality–sometimes too much. Some people care so much about not hurting others' feelings that they end up stepping on their own. Luckily, this doesn't happen to me often.  Personally, I prefer dropping hints rather than blurting out what I need. Maybe it's cultural, because we feel awkward imagining we might interrupt others' peace.  By the way, when we do ask for favors, we usually put our palms together🙏, just like this, instead of bowing like Japanese or doing nothing specific like people in western countries. Besides, as I am ...

When I first saw the topic of "parenting", I honestly found it rather dull. But our different opinions to those survey questions quickly changed my mind. They made me realize that what I see as normal might be unacceptable to someone else. The question " What is acceptable for a five-year-old child " was the most interesting. From my experience, especially during holidays, trains and public places are packed with noisy and restless children. It drives me crazy every time. Still, I get it: children naturally have something to share, yell, and explore (good for them). The real issue is whether their parents step in. As adults, parents should guide their kids, who are unaware of social rules and manners, the right and proper way to react and behave. Anyway, I think good parenting shapes a child's mental and physical growth more than we think. And finally, we touched on the last dimension of Hofstede. The indulgence and restraint dimension reminded me of Sigmund Fre...