I also have a few friendly suggestions for my fellow foreigners that I hope to deliver at my multiculturalism seminar in October.
1. Please know that it is entirely unnecessary to inform the locals every single day about how much more sophisticated and refined everything is where you come from. They’ve heard it many times before and nothing but politeness prevents them from asking you why you are still here, in the place you consider the land of unrefined and low-cultured yokels.
2. Venting your grievances against the foreign policy of the United States with every American in sight is not a good idea either. A Midwestern college professor is unlikely to tell you anything about said policy that would put your mind at ease.
3. If you are desperate to introduce locals to your national cuisine, ask them over and cook for them. But interrupting every meal with lectures on how this is not even real Chinese / Mexican / Ukrainian, etc food is deeply obnoxious. Oh, and please remember that every foreigner’s quest to buy the correct ingredients to make food just like back home is of interest to no one.
4. Just try it out. You can pout, vent, or feel hugely superior to everything you encounter here, or you can give it a try. At the very least, you’ll get a new experience out of it.
5. I’m guessing nobody begged you on bended knee to come over. So it’s up to you to learn the local customs and adapt. And if nobody is collapsing with joy at the news of your arrival, it’s their right.
Clarissa's Blog 
I don’t think I have ever violated any of those five suggestions since I moved overseas.
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If you are desperate to introduce locals to your national cuisine, ask them over and cook for them. But interrupting every meal with lectures on how this is not even real Chinese / Mexican / Ukrainian, etc food is deeply obnoxious. Oh, and please remember that every foreigner’s quest to buy the correct ingredients to make food just like back home is of interest to no one.
Maybe other foreigners. And not even then always.
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All excellent points. Many foreigners (not even immigrants, but visitors, especially from Western Europe) are completely insufferable to Americans. I once witnessed a Spaniard lecture my American colleague for half an hour on the deficiencies of all things American and the superiority of all things Spanish (education system, fashion, etc.) I am amazed at how calm my American colleague remained throughout the obnoxious tirade.
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Maybe it’s the field, but my parents didn’t engage in this weird lectures to Americans. They’d reserve the back patting, if that, for their homogeneous circles of friends.
My parents aren’t academic so they didn’t engage in the “the life of the mind is superior back home.” Such tirades are overcompensation surely as slavish denunciation of everything left behind.
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Tip, you cheapskates! And in general, do not engage in weirdo behavior with the excuse ‘that’s how we do it in our country’. Guess what, motherfucker, you’re here now. If you wanna be weird, own it, don’t blame your country.
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