Japanese Convos

I thought the article we read about the silence in Japanese language was very interesting.  Initially I thought it didn't seem that different from the conversations American speakers have.  In other words, I feel like American's use body language once in a while, but now that we read this article, I have been paying attention and I think that it is extremely rare for American speakers to be silent.  Silence is usually awkward and filled with a face that represents "this is awkward, what should we say now."  After talking with another girl in our class who has witnessed Japanese conversations, she said that they honestly use silence very often and it seems somewhat awkward to American's listening because it makes you wonder why no one is speaking when in reality they are using body language, smiles, nods, etc.. to converse.  Just thought I would share my thoughts on that article. :)