Asian Female on Asian Female Bashing

Reprinted without permission – original post here: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=15063&post=139082&uid=2214375888#/topic.php?uid=2214375888&topic=15063

“Asian Female

I don’t understand this group anymore. It’s beyond ridiculous with the amount of AAF bashing. It almost seems as if all the major issues of AA Media went out the door when IR became a topic. Sure, there is discussions about other issues but it’s so focused on the IR and issues surround AAF sexuality. Just calling out one issue about AA in the media is not going to help anything. The issue needs to be address as a WHOLE. There is rarely holistic views on the portrayal of AA in the media in relation to race, culture, history, minority, majority powers where is the discussions about those things and how it affects AA in THE MEDIA?? I’m sorry if people feel that I am attacking this group but I am not. I merely pointing out and voicing how I feel that this group is faltering away from the main issues at hand.

I don’t get why everyone just resorts to calling AAF whores and etc. And who are you to be talking NKAO like that? Just because she may or may not be Hmong her cousin gang bangs? You’re no better than the ignorant people of the world that believe all Asians are good at math and have tiny pee pees. Yeah, I said it. It’s just crap on a lot of these boards. I used to see so many good posts about so many different issues that affect AAF but lately I’m just heart broken at how sad this became.

It’s not even a extreme militant stance like the educated Black Panthers, it’s almost as if it is a bunch of 5 year olds that resort to name calling and random self analyzed statistic that they use as backing to call AAF whores. (this doesn’t apply to everyone, you know who you are)

On top of it why would your Asian sisters want to be a part of this board? You don’t even invite the ones that you said “turn their backs” on being AA to address these issues you just lurk around and call them names behind their backs. It’s so productive, I clearly see it working. *sarcasm* Well, it’s not.. in fact it’s counterproductive. If someone was to come here and try to find some people to speak on a board about AA issues in the media, they would turn away in an instant at how appalling this group has become.

And then when you meet your Asian American sisters that have fallen from the path just remember your hands are not unclean in the way you treat them back. And so what if your Asian sister do choose to date a white guy. If she so happens to date a white guy that can’t respect her for who is she as a person while fantasizing about her little geisha ways, maybe you should try to help her see her worth. (educate her, lecture her, FOR PETE SAKE DRAW CIRCLES IN CRAYON IF IT GETS THE MESSAGE THROUGH BUT DON’T CALL HER A WHORE) And if she finds a white guy that loves her down to her core, isn’t ignorant in the issues of AAs, and respects what she has to offer beyond an Asian fantasy of “Me Love You Long Time” and see her as A HUMAN BEING WITH A SOUL (which also seems to be a hard feat in this forum), is that so wrong? Love is Love.

Gosh, Dammit. If you’re going to talk down on someone for their dating ethics PLEASE sound some what educated. Maybe, I’m just a little frustrated or just ignorant to assume that everyone here has the skills to analyze and critically think about social/racial/etc. issues in various facets and dynamic ways.

This isn’t addressed to everyone. You’ll know who you are and where you stand. But consider this group one less supporter. I’m going else where to find people that are truly inclusive and holistic about the issues on being an AA. It’s difficult enough being AA with the media reflecting us in a certain light, but it’s even worst when the people that you expect to understand you seems to punish you even more.

mind you that I’ve been in this group for about 2-3 years. I’ve just never posted anything since I thought most of the discussions were really educating to read as is. It just makes me sad that for the tons of people that bring up good points and issues, a handful is just messing this up for everyone else. There is a reason why all the girls are disappearing. And it’s going to be hard when the girls that care about these issues turn their backs because of the way you guys treat them.

You can’t expect respect when you don’t give it. For the ones that want to lead and to educate, you need to be an even better example THAN EVERYONE ELSE on ALL accounts or else your credibility is gone. No one will ever listen to you. Look at the all the greats in civil and humanitarian efforts, they knew what they had to do. You want people to listen, you should listen back too.

It’s late, my head hurts, and I can go on and on..but it’s pointless… I hope at least one person understands what I am trying to convey in a fit of disappointment.”

“My main point as my head is clearing from being up at 5 am.
You can’t be a proponent of gay marriages, if you don’t believe in interracial marriages.
You can’t be a feminist, if you don’t believe that men should have rights either.
You can’t be a advocating civil rights while you are at home telling your grandmother to shut up because she’s old isn’t entitled to her opinions anymore.
And that means you can’t be bashing your Asian sisters, if you want to change the world for AA.”

I’ve been waiting for someone to post something like this for a long time now. Thanks.

Anything *I* say is taken as trolling or ignorance, so fuck those douches.

The Mind of a Racist/Misogynist

My Friend wrote the following on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=14739&post=136976&uid=2214375888#post136976

Chairman (<– my addition) XXX replied to XXX post:

“[Therefore we are asking whites and blacks and hispanics to introduce Asian-American literature into class. Naturally the bestseller will be chosen. I'd like to know, because I don't, what other Asian-American authors are there that would make a better substitute?]

Eugene, there are actually tons of quality AA authors out there. The ones who make the mainstream are the ones who pander the most to White audiences, since the AA consumer base isn’t large or ethnocentric enough to create its own small market.

This is the same reason why despite the fact there are actually several talented AA comedians out there, the only ones who make it to mainstream TV or film are people like Esther Ku.”

Dude needs to get laid. And yes, I’ve already told him that before but his only defense is to call me a naive, ignorant, whitewashed, sellout, Asian Uncle Tom.

Usually all in the same sentence.

What I like is that he’ll always claim there are tons of quality AA authors, actors, actresses, etc. yet when you ask him to name them, he’ll name like one or two that already ARE established “names”.

And, of course, any Asian female who’s made a name for themselves is automatically a sellout. Any Asian who isn’t IN YOUR FACE THAT HE’S ASIAN is a sellout.

Frankly, I suspect that the biggest self-haters are people like Chairman Lin, because nobody can ever reach their standards of “Asianness”. Another interesting thing is that guys like him (and yes, people like him tend to be 99% male) will bitch and moan about how racist Western media is yet when you bring up instances–with proof–of racist Eastern media, it’s immediately dismissed as–you guessed it–Western bias. Oh, and then you’ll get called a whitewashed sellout too.

Can’t forget about that one.

Now, I don’t know.. I volunteer my time to help out with various AA/APA groups here in NYC. You ask these folks what they do in their free time away from their keyboards to help out with their local AA/APA groups and they never reply.

But damn, if you mention interracial relationships on the internet it’s like you just smacked a beehive with a stick. Now I’ve never dated anyone that wasn’t Asian.. and I grew up in a Jewish town, being one of only maybe 5 or 6 Asians until my junior year of high school. These days, I hear the schools in my town are something close to about 25-30% Asian, with my high school touching the 40% mark. So nobody–especially some chump online–can EVER tell me I don’t know what it feels like to get hated on because of the color of my skin.. and by JEWS no less! Oh, the irony.

But what do I know? I guess easier to be an Armchair Activist than it is to actually go out and support local AA/APA groups, go see something produced by a AA repertory theatre, volunteer to tutor kids from low-income immigrant familes, etc. etc. etc.

Yeah. Bitching on the internet. Real activism there.

Japanophiles Ruin Wikipedia

Has anyone else noticed that many Japan related sites on wikipedia are littered with anime references when such references aren’t at all appropriate?

I remember when I used to edit wikipedia a lot, i stumbled on this page called Kawaii. The subject of the article was about all the cutesy things there are in Japan, from sanrio stuff, to cute depictions of smiling dogshit on signs telling people not to leave the dogshit when walking their dog.

The article was called Kawaii. There were references to things being Kawaii, and that they had varying degrees of kawaii-ness. The word kawaii was littered throughout the article, and after a huge edit war, the page was placed with a new title called cuteness in Japanese culture. All references to the word Kawaii were then placed in a seperate article, and every time they had used kawaii to describe something in the article, I had it changed to cute.

The edit war was about how the word was becoming popular in American culture now and almost everyone knew its meaning. The otakus ruin everything. The status of the page now is that kawaii redirects there and the word kawaii is still defined and explained on a page that is supposed to be about cutesy things in Japan, not the word kawaii.

Another article that I found the Otakus overrrunning was the one on Ramen. After all the important information about what ramen is and how to make it and different types, there was a list of over 100 items in which ramen appeared in various manga, video-games, and anime.

Literally this meant stuff like:
“#22: In Ranma 1/2 episode 37, Shampoo and Genma went around the corner for a bowl of ramen. The hot soup forced Genma to revert to human form but this was spoiled when he inadvertently spilled cold water on himself during an earthquake” (that was entirely made up… but it is the gist of items on the article.)

The last and most heinous of Wapanese intrusions on wikipedia was the article for the Korean city of Busan in which they felt it necessary to state that in Japanese the name of the city was Fusan and can alternatively be called kamayama. Furthermore, calling it Busan would confuse Japanese speakers because they wouldn’t be able to diferentiate the name of the city, and the local name for Winnie the Pooh (known as Pooh-san to the Japanese).

They are everywhere on wikipedia, they haunt the article for Asian Fetish claiming that it doesn’t exist. They demand that all characters of Japanese origin have katakana pronunciations listed. They want to list every time anything shows up in manga or anime.

I’m so tired of these people!

Musings on why I hate Hipsters and what they can do about it if they care

Musings on why I hate Hipsters and what they can do about it if they care

A friend wrote the following based on the recent New York Times article and related blogs dealing with the impact of the Great Recession on hipsters in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NYC:

I was going to make this a response to [my friend's] excellent update on the financial happenings of hipsters. But instead, I’ve decided to vent my spleen here. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to respond.

Hipsters……oh Hipsters…..how I hate thee! Let me list the ways:
A. Conformity. Every hipster seems to look the same. Crappy clothes (that aren’t actually crappy they just are styled that way), chuck taylor shoes, clove cigarettes, etc. etc. I believe they called it Derelicte in Zoolander—homeless chic.
B. Cheapening anything of value. They search for the authentic and then when they think they’ve found the authentic they cheapen it by making it into a style that they desire to globalize. This is not unlike their wealthy Daddies with their Italian fashions and imported cars. Or their unemployed mommies trying to save some piece of the rainforest, doing yoga, and having the Dali Lama on their shelf.
C. An insult to the working class. Their drink is Pabst Blue Ribbon, yet so many of their parents and admitted futures are with management or “designer wall paper”—whatever the fuck that is. You ask them to work an 8 hour day and they leave in a huff. “I am too good for the 8 hour day.” Good enough to drink the working man’s beer but not good enough to do the workings man job. Scuttle off “puss-cakes,” as Clint Eastwood would say.
D. Handlebar moustaches. Shave that shit off. This isn’t the 1890s.
E. “Avant garde” bullshit sessions at the local coffee house don’t make you an intellectual. I am not saying you need to go to college to be smart, though it does help. Reading and *thinking* about what you just read is far more enlightening than sitting around a hookah talking about what you’ve read without actually understanding its meaning. Reading widely and making intelligent, thoughtful conversation beats any new fix you can make on Noam Chomsky. All the fixes have been made kid.
F. Arrogance. Just because you’re from NYC or Brooklyn doesn’t make you special. I’ve been around both for quite a time. And, considering the experiences of my own travel, they aren’t special. You think NYC is the world? Dip yourself into Hong Kong. You’ll feel like the bumpkins you make fun of except you’ll lack their tact, grace, or taste.
G. G stands for Get a fucking job! Deliver pizzas, wait tables, work as a mechanic, do something with your life other than live off of mommy and daddy’s wallet. Part of the reason you have no self-respect and must act arrogant and fake is because you’ve never worked a day in your life. Work! Even if it doesn’t cover the bills entirely. You might actually learn something about people beyond your tight little cohort.

How to Stop Being a Hipster and Get Real:
1. Shave and start taking care of yourself. Look the part of a decent, normal human being. Stop trying to be an artist if you’re not one. The Bohemian life is for people of true talent. If you’re a hipster you probably don’t have any.
2. Stop trying to make statements. Be your own person. Don’t be derelicte unless you think there is some value to it, which I think if you asked a real homeless person they’d say, “Shiiiit If I had the money you had I’d buy myself a nice coat and some nice clothes. I wouldn’t dress like this.”
3. If you feel guilty about your money, stop. You want to help laboring folk out? Ask your Daddy if there is another way that he could save those 20 jobs he has to cut. Don’t drink PBR and think, “I am so pro-Union.”
4. Contribute something to society.
5. Spend time with books and old people. Both will fill you with more wisdom than all the late night jam sessions at Hal’s coffee shop you can have in one lifetime.
6. Learn to enjoy the simple things in life. But don’t overdo it.
7. Have an interior life. That’s where those simple joys should go.

Finally, get the fuck off my lawn.

N.W.A – Straight Outta Compton

You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge

Verse One: Ice Cube

Straight outta Compton crazy motherfucker named Ice Cube
From the gang called Niggaz With Attitudes
When I’m called off I got a sawed off
Squeeze the trigger and bodies are hauled off
You too boy if ya fuck with me
The police are gonna hafta come and get me
Off yo ass that’s how I’m goin out
For the punk motherfuckers that’s showin out
Niggaz start to mumble, they wanna rumble
Mix em and cook em in a pot like gumbo
Goin off on a motherfucker like that
with a gat that’s pointed at yo ass
So give it up smooth
Ain’t no tellin when I’m down for a jack move
Here’s a murder rap to keep yo dancin
with a crime record like Charles Manson
AK-47 is the tool
Don’t make me act the motherfuckin fool
Me you can go toe to toe, no maybe
I’m knockin niggaz out tha box, daily
yo weekly, monthly and yearly
until them dumb motherfuckers see clearly
that I’m down with the capital C-P-T
Boy you can’t fuck with me
So when I’m in your neighborhood, you better duck
Coz Ice Cube is crazy as fuck
As I leave, believe I’m stompin
but when I come back, boy, I’m comin straight outta Compton

Chorus:

[City of Compton, City of Compton]

[Eazy E] Yo Ren
[MC Ren] Whassup?
[Eazy E] Tell em where you from!

Verse Two: MC Ren

Straight outta Compton, another crazy ass nigga
More punks I smoke, yo, my rep gets bigger
I’m a bad motherfucker and you know this
But the pussy ass niggaz don’t show this
But I don’t give a fuck, I’ma make my snaps
If not from the records, from jackin the crops
Just like burglary, the definition is ‘jackin’
And when illegally armed it’s called ‘packin’
Shoot a motherfucker in a minute
I find a good piece o’ pussy, I go up in it
So if you’re at a show in the front row
I’m a call you a bitch or dirty-ass ho
You’ll probably get mad like a bitch is supposed to
But that shows me, slut, you’re composed to
a crazy muthafucker from tha street
Attitude legit cause I’m tearin up shit
MC Ren controls the automatic
For any dumb muthafucker that starts static
Not the right hand cause I’m the hand itself
every time I pull a AK off the shelf
The security is maximum and that’s a law
R-E-N spells Ren but I’m raw
See, coz I’m the motherfuckin villain
The definition is clear, you’re the witness of a killin
that’s takin place without a clue
And once you’re on the scope, your ass is through
Look, you might take it as a trip
but a nigga like Ren is on a gangsta tip
Straight outta Compton…

Chorus:

[City of Compton, City of Compton]

[Dr. Dre] Eazy is his name and the boy is comin…

Verse Three: Eazy-E

…straight outta Compton
is a brotha that’ll smother yo’ mother
and make ya sister think I love her
Dangerous motherfucker raises hell
And if I ever get caught I make bail
See, I don’t give a fuck, that’s the problem
I see a motherfuckin cop I don’t dodge him
But I’m smart, lay low, creep a while
And when I see a punk pass, I smile
To me it’s kinda funny, the attitude showin a nigga drivin
but don’t know where the fuck he’s going, just rollin
lookin for the one they call Eazy
But here’s a flash, they never seize me
Ruthless! Never seen like a shadow in the dark
except when I unload, see I’ll get over the hesitation
and hear the scream of the one who got the last penetration
Give a little gust of wind and I’m jettin
But leave a memory no one’ll be forgettin
So what about the bitch who got shot? Fuck her!
You think I give a damn about a bitch? I ain’t a sucker!
This is the autobiography of the E, and if you ever fuck with me
You’ll get taken by a stupid dope brotha who will smother
word to the motherfucker, straight outta Compton

Chorus:

[City of Compton, City of Compton]

[Damn that shit was dope!]

The New Batman

The new Batman is Nightwing (Dick Grayson) while the new Robin is Damien Wayne.  Tim Drake is now the Red Robin while Jason Todd is written out of the Bat-storylines for now.

Below is a screenshot of the second Batman:

Dick Grayson is the second Batman!  What a predictable change!

China Watch : SAIC Motors’ lessons in own-brand building

Yang Jian, Automotive News China, 6th May, 2009

At this year’s Shanghai auto show a multitude of young carmakers – from the largest own-brand automaker Chery Automobile Co to the small player Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co. - displayed their own-brand vehicles.

Many were copycats of international brands. This is a shame because, for the most part, the Chinese carmakers efforts to build brands will be in vain. For valuable lessons on how to build a respected brand, they would do well to look to their older brother in the domestic industry, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.

Lesson 1: For brand building, copying international brands is no good.

The first model SAIC built under the Roewe brand, the Roewe 750 mid-sized sedan, was developed on the platform of the Rover 75 it acquired from MG Rover in 2005.  Chinese consumers quickly realized SAIC’s car was, to a great extent, a copy of the original.

Recognized as such, the Roewe 750 has never truly won the heart of Chinese motorists. In the first quarter of this year, only 2,732 Roewe 750s were sold in China, according to Automotive Resources Asia, a unit of J.D. Power & Associates.

By contrast, SAIC’s second own-brand offering, the Roewe 550 compact car, was a completely new model. It was developed by the company’s R&D teams in Shanghai and England. With fine materials and a graceful styling, the car was launched at last year’s Beijing auto show to wide acclaim. Sales of the new model, which starts at 127,000 yuan ($18,621), are picking up. In the first quarter it shifted 11,774 units.

Lesson 2: Brand building is costly and therefore requires a focused approach.

Running two joint ventures with Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co., SAIC Motor is by far the most cash-rich automaker in China. Even so, it has long taken a cautious approach towards building the Roewe brand and to date the brand has only had two models: the Roewe 750 and the Roewe 550.

While domestic carmakers Chery and Geely used this year’s Shanghai auto show to display a total of more than 50 models under four sub-brands each, SAIC’s President, Hu Maoyuan, was talking about “integrating existing marketing and sales resources to boost brand recognition and sales volume.”

“From both a technology and financing point of view, SAIC stands the best chance of developing a premium brand,” says Duan Chengwu, Global Insight’s Asia Technical Research Analyst.

What chance do the other domestic Chinese automakers have of developing respected brands for themselves? Unless they adjust their existing product and branding strategy, I am truly pessimistic.

Quebec’s New Video Game Language Laws

Quebec’s New Video Game Language Laws
by Karen Sampson

New law forbids English video games if French-translation version exists, prompting some to question the motivation behind the “language police.”

Government gets their hands dirty
Government involvement in the private sector created a big stir in video game stores in Quebec earlier this year thanks to a new law that has come into effect banning English versions of certain video games. But opponents of the law, the stated purpose of which is to promote the French language, say it could put them out of business. Ronnie Rondeau, a local game store owner who own eight stores in the area, remarked that he feared the worst for his business. “If it really was going to make a difference,” he said in an interview in The Star, “I’d be for it, but only a small number of people want to play in French. The rest don’t care.”

The crowds will go elsewhere
Gamers are notorious for wanting new versions of games as soon as they are released, regardless of the language of the programming. Rondeau says that he even stocks several titles in Japanese because demand for the games was so high. But game designers frequently delay the releases of foreign language titles before they can debug the games for fear of future problems. In some cases the game may not be released in Quebec markets at all because the cost of translation isn’t worth it for game producers.

Even when games do get released in these limited markets programmers often take multiple extra weeks to release the new games, like the ever popular Rock Band video game. While sales in the United States were soaring over the Christmas holidays sales in Quebec were nonexistent because the game wasn’t released in French until six weeks later. Gamers simply looked elsewhere. With government involvement causing some businesses to panic, many have asked whether the Office Québécois de la langue Française, or Quebec’s French “language police” have gone too far.

The business of gaming
Gamers have always been known to be a very demanding crowd. Oftentimes games that are delayed even a few days cause the majority of the crowd to look elsewhere, across the border or on the internet, for other options. “I’m afraid it’s going to cost me my business,” Rondeau said. And even if he is able to scrap it out in the increasingly difficult market, “… money-wise, it’s going to hurt.”

About the author
Karen Sampson writes for Select courses. She welcomes your feedback at Karen.Sampson1120@gmail.com

The Chosun Dynasty was a period of “confucianization”

The Choson Dynasty is a period of “confucianization” according to Dr. Haboush’s article. Discuss three particular aspects of confucianization by linking it to a film, sections from Korea Old and New, or by contrasting it to the Koryo Dynasty (using Duncan’s article).

After overthrowing the Koryo Dynasty, Yi Songgye and his Neo-Confucian supporters founded the Chosun Dynasty, where a period of “Confucianization” began. The three particular aspects in Korea where confucianization occurred were in the government, in funerary practices, and in women’s rights.

First, the government was heavily influenced by confucianization. Unlike the Koryo Dynasty, which drew its legitimacy from Buddhism, geomancy and marriage, the Chosun dynasty drew their support from Neo-Confucianism. However, the bureaucratic pres-sures exerted on the monarchy during the Koryo Dynasty were strengthened during the Chosun period because all government decisions had to be debated and justified by Con-fucian rhetoric, which led to a rivalry between the throne and the bureaucracy based on who can best realize Confucian ideals. Moreover, the Censorate gained greater influence in the government with its power of investigating corruption and confirming state ap-pointments, which brought accountability to the state while crippling the decision-making process (Eckert, Lee, 110). These struggles between the bureaucracy and the throne led to four literati purges that involved Chosun kings either removing or executing literati who accused the state of corruption or tried to impose Neo-Confucian norms that threat-ened the monarchy (Eckert, Lee, 136-139).

Another area of society that was affected by “Confucianization” affected were funer-ary practices, which were altered to suit Confucian norms. During the Koryo period, Koreans followed Buddhist funerary practices by cremating the dead, as depicted in “Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East?” until it was outlawed by the Chosun government in 1474 since it was against Confucian norms. In 1401, the Confucian funeral rites and ancestor worship were codified into law to discourage non-Confucian traditions and proliferated when it was adopted by the yangban. Koreans eventually accepted these rituals because ancestor worship was compatible with the Buddhist belief that ancestors’ souls needed continuous support by its descendants and because it was practiced by elites, which made Confucian funerary practices a status symbol.

A third area influenced by confucianization was women’s rights. According to native Korean tradition, daughters were considered full-fledged heirs, women can remarry and Koryo-era women have equal claim to property. However, under the Kyongguk Taejon, only sons from wives or concubines were considered ritual heirs, the ritual heirs gets one and a half times more property than his siblings, and children of remarried women were denied state positions. Additionally, the state not only created laws that restricted women to the domestic sphere, it glorified women who conformed to Confucian values and pro-moted literature that taught them to be submissive, diligent, frugal, and devoted to their in-laws. One of the most popular Confucian stories is “Chunhyang”, a morality play that was used to indoctrinate women to adhere to Confucian values by glorifying the heroine for upholding Confucian values under adversity and for attacking un-Confucian ideals.

In short, confucianization had significant impact on the state, on funerary practices, and on women’s rights. First, the bureaucracy was strengthened which empowered the literati at the expense of threatening the monarchy. Second, funerary practices had to be changed, which also altered Korean attitudes towards the dead. Last, women’s rights were gradually phased out as Confucianism gained greater prominence in society.

“Culture shock: If you don’t learn to bridge the gap, you may risk alienating potential business partners – Real Deal”

“Culture shock: If you don’t learn to bridge the gap, you may risk alienating potential business partners – Real Deal”

According to a July, 2003 article in Entrepreneur, “Culture shock: If you don’t learn to bridge the gap, you may risk alienating potential business partners – Real Deal,” negotiations are gaining increasing importance as the international, multinational and transnational business play a greater role in international business. This article describes the different cultural customs in each nationality and provides tips on how to improve negotiations.

The article describes the different cultures of Asians, Europeans, Africans, Hispanics and even Americans and their role in negotiations. Some examples given are that Japanese dislike direct confrontations, Koreans prefer teamwork, Nigerians prefer spoken negotiations, Indians prefer written agreements, while Hispanics heavily use body language to express themselves. Additionally, the article points out that Asian languages incorporate tones and body language while Spanish people are extremely individualistic. Compared to other cultures, it appears that Americans offend others with their impulsiveness and their need to quickly complete tasks.

Based on these cultural differences and their impact on business customs, negotiators are recommended to make an effort to learn about their partner’s culture to gain a position of advantage. This is especially true because many of these foreign negotiators do not speak English as their native language, which leads to native expressions getting lost in translation, so it is important that both sides attempt to build a mutual understanding to make negotiations work smoothly. Additionally, I agree with the suggestion of hiring a cultural consultant or translators to better understand foreign cultures because it would cut down time needed to research the many cultural nuances and it will give greater insights on how certain foreign negotiators operate.

Therefore, it is essential to better understand foreign customs since they can lead to successful negotiations. Because each culture and nationality have different approaches to negotiating, one must properly research their business customs to prevent misunderstandings and improve the ability to get demands met. As businesses become more globalized, it appears that so-called cultural consultants and translators are becoming more relevant in assisting businesses in international negotiations and have also forced negotiators to learn new ways of negotiating.

· Japanese – prefer information exchange over direct confrontation
· Russians – prefer direct confrontation, “compromise” is a loanword
· Spanish – extremely individualistic
· Koreans – prefer negotiating in a group setting
· Nigerians – prefer spoken word
· Indians – prefer written word
· Asian languages – high in context, should focus on inflections, body language
· Latin Americans – physically demonstrative
· Americans – impatient and obsessed with finishing tasks quickly