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really interesting article ! thanks for the translation. it's pretty fascinating to compare different cultural standards. a friend of mine once told me about the different notions of "personal space" ; i may be getting the details* wrong, but in japan it's considered polite to remain about a meter away from the person you are speaking to, whereas in italy people like to stand much closer. so one day he observed the conversation between an italian and a japanese in a reception ; the italian was standing too close, so the japanese took a discrete step away. and then the italian unconsciously closed the distance, leaving the japanese to retreat further at the next occasion. and then the italian would again reduce the gap, so in the end they were chasing each other around the room. in the course of their conversation made at least two full laps. it's the cross-cultural conversational waltz.
*details i may have remembered incorrectly include approximate distances and specific nationalities. only the general underlying idea is certain. also the incident, which really happened, but i couldn't say where or when or who was involved.
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