Most of us don’t enjoy having difficult conversations, period — but when they involve someone from our own culture, we can usually rely on some basic shared assumptions about what the interaction should look like. When we have a difficult conversation with someone from a different culture, however, our task becomes harder by an order of magnitude. Now, not only do we have to address a potentially thorny subject, but we must do so while gracefully maneuvering around a series of cultural trip wires.