‘Rubber time’, bottoms up and reading the silence: What’s doing business like in Asia?

Fiona Swee-Lin Price quietly watched her teacher, unsure if he needed urgent medical attention. “I once had a Japanese teacher who responded to a tricky grammar question by clasping his hands, closing his eyes and reflecting in silence for maybe 20 seconds,” she said. “By the time he opened his eyes and answered, his mostly Australian students were so agitated, we were scared he might have had a stroke.” Dr Price, a specialist in cross-cultural communication from Globalise Consulting, said most native English speakers saw a pause of more than three seconds in conversation as an “uncomfortable silence”, but that…