Foreign Cultures and Customs

To smile or not to smile? The world over, smiling is nice, right? It’s cheap. It’s easy. People like it. Well, no, sometimes they don’t.

Our phone number was very popular. Strangers called us all the time, but were irate when I answered. They didn’t want a peppy foreigner on the line. They wanted somebody else.

Bethlehem is a Biblical place. But I found it not quite as Biblical as I’d imagined when we got our car stuck in an alley.

Are we speaking English in Kenya? I was annoyed with the response I received when I offered tea to two rain-drenched African girls. Sheesh!

In Indonesia, my four-year-old expat daughter is outraged and in tears, suffering from a culture crisis. Is it funny?