Off Topic
A bigger problem that culture shock seems to be political hostility. Note that I was in South Korea during the W. Bush years and the hate was over-the-top, mainly fueled by Bush's stance against North Korea, but also due to more troubling things like the US Army running over Korean schoolgirls. Anyway, the disrespect given to 9/11 was the most shocking.
How should a foreigner deal with possible attacks on pride? Do you feel that Americans or others who complain too much overseas are being oversensitive and, well, "complainers"? I mean, they come from advanced first world nations with power, so why should the reaction of people of other nations, ones that probably have been cheated over the years, be something shocking?