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he wonders why, exactly, he shouldhave to work so hard at be<strong>in</strong>g outgo<strong>in</strong>g.Don is Ch<strong>in</strong>ese-American, and recentlyhe worked a summer job <strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a. Hewas struck by how different the socialnorms were, and how much more <strong>com</strong>fortablehe felt. In Ch<strong>in</strong>a there wasmore emphasis on listen<strong>in</strong>g, on ask<strong>in</strong>gquestions rather than hold<strong>in</strong>g forth, onputt<strong>in</strong>g others’ needs first. In the UnitedStates, he feels, conversation is abouthow effective you are at turn<strong>in</strong>g yourexperiences <strong>in</strong>to stories, whereas aCh<strong>in</strong>ese person might be concernedwith tak<strong>in</strong>g up too much <strong>of</strong> the otherperson’s time with <strong>in</strong>consequential<strong>in</strong>formation.“<strong>That</strong> summer, I said to myself, ‘NowI know why these are my people,’ ” hesays.But that was Ch<strong>in</strong>a, this is Cambridge,Massachusetts. And if one148/929

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