What should we do when we are confronted with other cultures?

When we are confronted with other cultures a very cliché answer would be that we are to be culturally conscious and respective. I once over heard a conversation in which it was stated that if “you think that what you are about to do might offend someone, then just don’t do it…” The idea being that if you are about to do something in a situation, or culture, that may come across as offending to the other individuals the best way to avoid stepping on anyone’s toes is simply not to move your feet. In other words thing before you act. Now this may work in some situations but by not moving your feet, you could actually be doing the opposite of your intentions. For example, lets say that you have just entered a new culture and are unsure if eye contact is encourage/expected or if it is seen as insulting. Here are several of the possible outcomes of the situation.
1.) So you decide that because you are unsure of the cultural expectancies and the connotation that comes with eye contact that you are not going to look anyone in the eyes. Someone talks to you and you refuse to look them in the eye by looking elsewhere as they speak to you. As it turns out, when being spoken to it is expected that you will maintain eye contact with the individual speaking to you. You have just expressed your ignorance of the culture, and possibly offended the individual.
2.) So instead of decided instead of trying to play it safe and not look someone in the eye when addressed, you are going to maintain eye contact with the individuals. So you are confronted and spoken to, you maintain eye contact with the individual(s) as throughout the conversation. Later you discover that eye contact is seen as disrespectful and is to avoided. You have once again expressed ignorance and possibly offended the individual.
So as evident in such a method where either you do something or in the interest of possibly avoiding such outcome you “play it safe” and do nothing. The chance of you offending someone or simply doing something that would be seen as “culturally unacceptable” still exists. So in short, the best method to utilize when confronting a new culture would be something like this.

The stepwise process:
1.) If possible do research on the culture(s) that you may experience and gather the do’s and don’ts for them.
2.) Get to the new culture
3.) Be respectful and as culturally conscious as possible
4.) Base your actions on principle such as “think before you act” and in general just be as respectful as possible
5.) If your not sure if something is acceptable or not, ask someone or if you cant ask, try and observe how others are behaving.
6.) You are going to make mistakes; the best way to learn is to do and to learn from your mistakes

As evident there is no clear and concise explanation for the proper method for encountering a new culture, but you can bet your going to make mistakes. So, don’t be afraid of doing that, just be respectful and just go for it…you will make it out alive…probably.