German Culture vs. Chinese Culture vs. Canadian Culture

My teenage son sent me this link, which graphically highlights some of the differences between German (blue) and Chinese (red) cultures.

As many of you know, I’ve lived in Germany now for over twenty-five years. Just before I came to live in Germany, I went on a six-week trip to China. This was at a time when tourists were allowed in, but the government did not encourage interaction between tourists and locals. Since tourists were relatively new phenomena, many Chinese would just come up and touch us or talk to us. The trip truly changed my life’s horizon and, to this day, it was one of my five favourite trips.

I don’t know whether the points of the Chinese (red) culture are correct, but the German (blue) ones are spot on. Can any one say whether they think the Chinese ones are good?

Looking at the German points I realise that there are a few that I’ve adopted over the years.

Opinions (German (blue) vs. Chinese (red)):



One being, that I’ve adopted the German way of just saying things straight. It gets me in trouble with my family all the time. I’ve learnt that opinions as being words. If I express my opinions honestly, clearly, and without qualifiers, then my opinions are just opinions.

I’ve been thinking about what some of the differences would be if this were a depiction of German and Canadian cultures, or German and American cultures. Here are a few that I’ve come up with:

The boss (German (blue) vs. Chinese (red)):

Canadian boss: the boss is the same size as the other employees, but a slightly different colour.

Sunday on city streets (German (blue) vs. Chinese (red)):

Canadian Sunday in the city: some trees, people throwing Frisbees, and a dog or two.

Handling problems (German (blue) vs. Chinese (red)):

Canadians handling problems: I’d draw a pretty scenic picture to cover up the problem.

Parties (German (blue) vs. Chinese (red)):

Canadian party: If I was to remember what parties were like when I was younger, people were always dancing.

Is there anything I missed? Can you suggest others?