Edward t.hall wrote that different culrures have different ideas of personal space for example colleagues having a conversation in east asia can feel uncomfortable it someone stands closer than about a metre however in north America and northern Europe moist people feel that a metre is too far away : a distance of 50-90cm is normal in the south of Europe and south America people often prefer to stand closer than this in arab countries personal distance can be 30 cm or less of course people sometimes need to stand very close together for example on crowded trains and buses when this happens some people listen to music or read a newspaper to make a different kind of personal space