#cultural-differences

Are Japanese People Really Peaceful?

Why “Japanese People Don’t Do X” Is the Wrong Question

Japan: A Different Kind of Rational Civilization

― Why it feels familiar, but behaves differently ―

Europeans Love Mocking America Until They Visit

After a month in the U.S., she discovered that Americans, taco trucks, and everyday life looked nothing like the version she’d seen online.

Welcome to: Between.

Essays from the space between languages, cultures, and lives

How to Attract Women in Costa Rica & Win Their Hearts

Capture Her Attention

WAIT… THAT’S NORMAL?

Funny Tales of Cultural Differences and What We Can Learn from Them

Why Koreans Always Move to the End Seats on the Subway

I’ve lived in Korea my entire life — and I never thought twice about it. Until foreigners did.

What the Checklist Misses

I remember being struck, once, by a small but quietly unsettling difference. Not in a classroom, and not from a textbook: just from…

Do we in this part of the world appreciate what is Western more than what is ours?

I doubt it. How many of us are really proud of what ours is? Only a few know what truth and beauty really mean.

The Illusion of Choice: Why “Do You Speak English?” Fails in Japan

“Do you speak English?” is a question. But in Japan, it often functions as a declaration.

Why People Feel So Different Depending on Where They Live

Is the Rainbow Really Seven Colors?

On Newton’s Sneaky Indigo and the Dragons That Once Crossed Korean Skies

Cultural Influence on Business Decision Making

Business decision-making is rarely a purely rational process driven solely by logic or data. Instead, it is deeply embedded in the cultural…

Being direct worked great in Chicago.

The communication style that made me effective in the US almost cost me everything when I started working with teams across three…

When a Ball Changes a School

How my sincere effort accidentally reshaped an entire girls’ high school

Designing Across Cultures

How UX designers working in global teams must navigate cultural differences and why user behavior is never as universal as we think

Cultural Roots of Gender Inequality

How Korean Restaurants Actually Work.

Why First-Time Travelers Feel Lost — And What Koreans Expect Instead(Member-only Guide)

Why First-Time Travelers Get Confused in Korean Restaurants

Many first-time visitors to Korea say the same thing:

Is Korea easy for first-time travelers?

If you’re planning your first trip to South Korea, you might be asking yourself one simple question

Two People, Going In Opposite Directions

A bit of a different take on a fiction prompt

The Unexpected Guardian: How a Chinese Student Offered a Lonely German Man an Unimaginable Farewell

A Fragmented Life in a Foreign Land

Vietnamese words: said correctly, yet blank stares follow

In my early career as a Vietnamese language teacher, I never thought that my students would be teaching me new Vietnamese words. Guess…

Lost In Translation (But Found Anyway)

“Hi! Could you help me figure out which bus goes to..”

The Challenge of Translating Japanese

Translating between languages requires more than just swapping words from one language to another. A translator must grasp the full meaning…

American Woman’s Quest for Love in Pakistan Turns into Internet Sensation

A 33-year-old American woman’s journey to Karachi to marry her 19-year-old online boyfriend takes unexpected turns, capturing global…

Japan’s Tourism Boom and Its Frustration

3 Things Tourists Do That Drive The Japanese Mad