[Solvency]

It's their culture of saving face. The solution is extremely simple.

You tell the person "I was told I had to pay this <X fee> to release my package but I don't know who or where I pay" while waving the cash around cluelessly. The person will 100% then offer to take it and "handle it from there" under the stupid guise of plausibility.

[bethekind]

Asian culture never ceases to confuse me. Nothing is ever straightforward.

I tried giving a gift to some, as thanks for letting me sleep on their couch. They told me no no no. I asked my friends about it, they told me it's about face.

Omg, I get that honor is a big thing, but it makes normal interactions way more complicated.

[EdwardDiego]

Every culture has things like this.

"You'll have to pop in next time you're in the area!" does NOT mean "turn up at my house unannounced". Even if it sounds like it.

Or "How are you going?" is not a prompt to actually tell them how you're going.

[rayval]

Yes when I first moved to the US, people would greet me with "How ya doing?" and I thought they really did want to know. It took a while to understand that it was just a way of saying hello.

I'm told that, in China, a way to greet someone is to say: "Have you eaten yet?" 你吃了吗

You are not supposed to provide a detailed answer such as: "Yes I ate a breakfast sandwich this morning at 8 am".

Instead you simply say "I ate" (吃了) or "Nope" (没呢)

[lucasban]

Working in Singapore, I encounter this often (but in English). It took me a few months before I realised that I did not need to provide a detailed answer.

[ipqk]

Well, maybe start by not thinking that there's a singular "Asian culture".

[Log_out_]

There are concepts though shared by the area. Piety. Face culture. Ancestry worship. Conservative values.

Some areas may have it to a lesser extent (China were the cultural revolution steam rolled everything and only left superstition) but the concepts shared remain the same,the expression of the pattern varies widely.

[RufusJacksons]

This. I bribed my way out of many traffic tickets in Southeast Asia by suggesting that because I’m so busy, I’ll pay the cop directly and then he can pay the ticket on my behalf. Worked every time except once, where the guy was a real stickler

[aniforprez]

I will try this next time. Thanks for the tip