[SeanLuke]

This isn't a very helpful observation. By Eastern European, I presume he means the former Soviet Bloc. It has nothing to do with ethnicity, language, or culture, and everything to do with the lingering effects on organizational and academic behavior imposed by communist and totalitarian regimes. From Romania to Lithuania, this impact can have a remarkable consistency.

[kergonath]

A lot of this advices are actually useful for some Western European people, at least France and Germany (and possibly Italy as well).