Since you mention China specifically: I was in Beijing once. On my first day there I walked into a random restaurant and was given a vacuum-sealed package full of stuff I couldn't recognize. There were multiple spoons, a teapot (I think), a small plate... far from the chopsticks I was expecting. I eventually had to accept that I had no idea how to eat "Chinese style" and resigned myself to being "that guy" who eats straight out of the serving spoon.
I gained a new appreciation that day for what "different culture" truly means, and has made me more tolerant to those who break social rules without malice. I knew all of that before, but that moment really helped me grok the concept.
To put it in algorithmic terms (this is HN after all): one could be stuck in a local maximum and not known it, and making a small jump in a completely random direction might be exactly what's needed to get out of there.
I gained a new appreciation that day for what "different culture" truly means, and has made me more tolerant to those who break social rules without malice. I knew all of that before, but that moment really helped me grok the concept.
To put it in algorithmic terms (this is HN after all): one could be stuck in a local maximum and not known it, and making a small jump in a completely random direction might be exactly what's needed to get out of there.