Foreign Cultures and Customs

Cultural confusion: Beautiful Dutch girl gets complimented by sincere African man and disaster strikes.

An ordinary day in the mysterious Caucasian land called Armenia (where I expatted for six years) — a day I toiled away at writing a romance novel. An ordinary day without a world crisis but featuring a dead body and a bit of dancing and drinking in the end.

After years of living as an expat in the US, I still have trouble subduing my inner Dutch girl with her opinions and judgments and directness. So if you’re an American, you’ll want to stop reading, because here’s my list of 7 American things I don’t do . . .

A loud barrage of furious words slammed me in the back. It was shocking! The language being unknown to me, I did not understand what precisely was being hurled at me. However, since the vitriol originated from the toilet lady’s oral cavity, the message was clear.

How to have a cheek-kissing orgy? Move to France, invite the neighbors. But be warned: hugging is taboo.