According to Dr. Geert Hofstede, "Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster." Figuring Foreigners Out outlined some of the key cultural differences that could cause potential conflicts.
The first difference is the different notions of personal identities: individualism versus collectivism. The article states that an individualist society stresses independence and self-reliance, and a collectivist society treasures harmony and the interdependence in a group. Chinese Culture is a more collectivist culture, as we heavily emphasize the well being of others among your group or your family over your own. In contrast, American culture values individualism. Family members aren't as close to each other, and independence is more common after the age of 18, whereas the child can remain living in their parent's household even after marriage in many Asian Culture.
The second difference is power distance. Cultures with high power distance respects age difference and power ranks. The Chinese culture has a high power distance and the American culture has a lower power distance. One culture shock for me when I first encountered the U.S. culture was when referring to an elder person. have grown up in a very traditional Chinese culture that taught me to respect the elders, so it was very difficult for me to refer to my teacher by their first name, which is very common in the western culture. In the Japanese and Korean Culture, younger employees have to bow to their older coworkers and speak to them with formal speech rather than how one would speak to their friends. (It is also very interesting that in Korea you can only refer to friends of your age as (친구 a direct translation of friend), and call other friends who are older than you as “brother” (형/오빠) or "sister" (누나/언니). This could cause significant conflict because an action that may seem reasonable in Western culture could be really disrespectful in another culture.
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I feel the same way. In the past, we always used to call teachers by their last names at school, which made me feel that it would be disrespectful to call teachers by their first names when I came to America. At the same time, when I work in Passport cafe, we often have regular employees working with us. At the beginning, I tried to avoid calling them by their names, but later I got used to it, and I now think this way can pull the distance between each other.
I would be curious if you prefer an environment with higher or lower power distance, having lived in both.
I used to be surprised when people spoke to their parents by first name, even in re-married households in which one adult is a step-parent. Mom, mother and mama (as my brother and I still say) seem natural to me. So do titles like professor and doctor. These titles as forms of address may be on the way out, and it is not necessarily a matter of great importance. We adapt. There is a movement toward a more egalitarian society and this shift away from titles is a manifestation of it. It is notable that across the Middle East, when republics were declared titles such as bey or pasha were among the first things to be abolished. It is also notable that titles awarded by the monarchy in England are meant to show meritocratic status instead of membership of a hereditary nobility. I think these titles, professor, doctor, or mother, can punctuate one's life, especially in our culture of choice. If one chooses to be any of these things, then that person might want to be known for it.