> .... effectively all (insert nationality here) people are just like me, share most of the same values, and want the exact same things.

In broad strokes that tends to be true, but the details can surprise you. If you've ever worked in a cross-cultural situation with colleagues from other countries and cultures, you'd be shocked at what kind of cultural differences can sneak up on you and catch you by surprise. Differing attitudes towards how much respect to show to one's boss, or the way you should interact with a coworker when you meet them in the hallway, or whether you're culturally required to attend the wedding of your coworker's sister, or send an expensive present, or send a cheap "it's the thought that counts" present, or just send a card.

For example, I once read a blog by an American working in the Japanese auto industry. He talked about attending a meeting where the boss proposed an idea. There was a short pause, then his Japanese coworkers started speaking up: "Good idea, boss." "Yeah, good plan." "Good idea." The American left the meeting thinking that everyone was on board with the idea, and that they were going to do it. His Japanese colleague corrected him (in private), explaining "Didn't you notice the pause?" Sure enough, nobody implemented the idea (because they all knew that the boss had understood the message), it was never brought up again in the meeting (because the boss had, indeed, understood the message), and everyone got to save face, because nobody had had to contradict the boss.

People from other cultures generally want the same things you do. (With some exceptions that can be important). But how they go about it can vary wildly, and it's important if you're going to be working cross-culturally to get someone who understands the other culture to sit down with you and explain the important cultural-conflict points you're likely to run into.

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jstanley 19 hours ago | parent [-]

I mean sure but that sounds incredibly minor compared to whether or not the people from the other country want to kill you because you are from a different country.

And the point is that almost universally they don't.

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rmunn 16 hours ago | parent [-]

Yes, that's definitely a plus. Even if your countries' governments are officially hostile (or even at war), the people of those countries generally will get along with each other when they happen to meet. (Well, the civilians will). Exceptions do exist, but usually for religious fanaticism rather than political.

For example: my wife and I are Americans living overseas, in a country I won't disclose (on general principles) except to say that it's in a part of Asia where Iranian nationals are rare. About ten years ago we met an Iranian man who was getting the same master's degree that my wife was getting from a local university. We became friends, and although we don't see him and his wife nearly as often now that they've moved to another city, we saw them just a couple months ago when they were back in our (larger) city for a conference. And even though our two countries were officially at war with each other by that time, it didn't matter to our friendship. No awkwardness, no strain, just "Hi (name), I didn't know you were in town," and so on.

	▲	mc32 11 hours ago \| parent [-]
		At the height of the cold war, we had Russians in the US and it's not as though people went after them with pitchforks. We also had people like Bernie (not just him) visit the USSR and most weren't thrown in jail -some were, obviously, but the great majority were not. So I don't think that's exceptional because there is usually a defined context for hostile action to take place. Even when you have sworn enemies who have plotted against a nation (or similar entity), it's not like they immediately go on to execute their plan. They set a target and go after that --often times you get accounts of that person being at most detached but often "they seemed friendly, I never imagined..." Basically if you don't get in the way of their plans, there is no reason to have you as collateral as you are not significant to their goal.