>smiling a universal human thing that worked everywhere as a sign of friendliness Smiling is always a sign of friendliness. It's just that some places you cann

>smiling a universal human thing that worked everywhere as a sign of friendliness Smiling is always a sign of friendliness. It's just that some places you cannot expect to smile at nothing and will end up looking silly. In those places even small talk is frowned upon unless you really want to be their friends. The author missed the most important part in this: In these countries you cannot be friendly and not be friends. In western countries it's polite to smile and be friendly to strangers but we do not expect them to become our friends >Many cultures nod their head for yes and shake for no. Some do the reverse. I am not sure if you are thinking of India and it's a general stereotype that Indians do it reverse but we nod for yes and shake for no like the rest of the world with two exceptions: It's rude to say no to seniors in most asian cultures so juniors always say yes AND we have a third head shake which means I agree/ You are correct/ I will do it/Subject to interpretation