re: #58 austin_blue

Of course! Any intelligent American should enter a country, pause and take stock, then be as benign as he or she can possibly be, until they learn that country’s rhythms and mores.

This is not rocket science. This is common sense.

I always feel bad due to my lingustic limitations abroad. I want to learn the native language or at least parts of it but I’m afraid I’ll butcher it so badly that I’ll offend more so I just stick to my native English. I mean if I know a phrase like please or thank you, I definitely do use it and I go out of my way to be respectful and eager to learn more.