The trouble is that most people without significant international skills don’t realize just how much their own baggage interfers with how they respond to generalizations.

And there is also the question of having the time to stop and take the time to respond properly. Even people with strong international skills can fall into the trap of responding to generalizations in a way that is inappropriate.

I’m always doubtful of those books that describe the etiquette of a country in a page or two, before moving on to the next country. But other books that spend time going into cultural details of a particular nation – like, say, The German Way have been quite helpful to me in the past. Obviously, you want to take everything with a grain of salt – and expect that a particular generalization may or may not apply to any particular individual you encounter – but as I’ve posted before, I don’t think that cultural generalizations are all bad.

And sometimes, even those little rules of etiquette that can be found in the type of books that Cindy is talking about are useful. For instance, the simple rule that it’s polite in Germany to eat with both hands on the table (or otherwise visible). Rules like that aren’t going to take you far with cultural differences (as I’ve just blogged about, actually), but following them doesn’t hurt either.
.-= Gori Girl´s last blog ..When in Rome, Do As the Romans Do… Sometimes =-.