Now here is something that I'm actually getting pretty good at! Not only have I been around the world and lived a month with a Japanese family, I now live 2 blocks south of Harlem and attend Columbia University which sometimes resembles Capital Normal University.
First of all, you have to introduce yourself. If you shake hands, for goodness sake just shake the guy/gals hand. There is no harm in a little bit of cultural exchange. Second of all, ask that person something about their country. If you've been to their country, tell them that and they will pretty much love you forever. And finally, be adventurous and try to eat some of the same stuff they eat. Not only will they feel more comfortable, they will respect you for trying out their culture. It's really that easy.
With that being said, if you try all of these things and you've made no progress, just give up. I mean, you can try some other stuff, but this is what really works so why even bother.
One foreigner I've been lucky enough to meet is my roommate, Mr. Tim Fang. He's probably the nicest Chinese guy on the planet and a mad rice cooker. We're currently holding somewhere close to 35 lbs. of rice in our room, with about a liter and a half of Soy Sauce, and we're hoping that takes us all the way to midterms. For fun we like to practice English, talk data mining, or try and remember the Jordan Normal Form from our Linear Algebra days. Good times…
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