According to my Self Audit Survey and Cultural Context Inventory, I am a very low context person. This appears to clash a fair bit with the cultural context score of the country I am traveling to. Japan is fairly high context, but not in the same way that many other high context countries are.

I am confident that I can navigate the treacherous waters of cultural differences, despite the very different scores my host country and I have.  I know how to watch how others behave and act accordingly (I was a socially awkward kid growing up, and I had to learn how to mimic normal people). I can always ask questions if something doesn't make sense, so I will be able to learn when I make a mistake and correct it.

I am a fairly direct person, which is something I will have to curb while I am in Japan. This is not to say that I get to the point very fast; I'm not that sort of direct. I'm closer to blunt, I'd say. I may take a while to say something, but it is much more brutally honest than many cultures would prefer. This trait will probably be the most difficult to curb, and I'll undoubtedly make comments that are a little too close to home for home people. Thus, my greatest strength will probably be my ability to apologize when I make a mistake.