The South American likes to stand much closer, which creates problems when a South American and a North American meet face to face. The South American who moves in to what is to him a proper talking distance may be considered “pushy" by the North American; and the North American may seem standoffish to the South American when he backs off to create a gap of the size that seems right to him. If Americans and Latins have misunderstandings about maintaining a sociable distance, Americans and Arabs are even less compatible in their space habits. Arabs thrive on close contact. The Mediterranean Arabs belong to a touch culture and, in conversation, they literally envelop the other person. They hold his hands, look into his eyes, and they bathe him in their breath. North Americans who have lived overseas have been highly distressed by cultural differences so subtle and so basic that their effects were felt for the most part at a preconscious level. Such distress is usually referred to as culture shock.