Editorials & Other Articles

I found it much easier once I knew how to behave in public. A few common practices went a long way towards not being viewed as some outsider.

I also found it easier to get along in awkward situations when I was clear on not knowing what the proper course of action was, instead of insisting on my own way. That takes a certain amount of self-awareness and self-criticism to see that it was me and not them--after all, I was the outsider in their country. When in Rome ...

Just showing I was attempting to learn the language beyond what was absolutely necessary helped a lot among those most likely to hold my "Americanicity" against me for then-current or historical perceived (or real) wrongs.

Of course, if something violated a truly deeply held cultural or values-based norm, there was a problem.