I moved around a bit as a kid (divorced parents) and that is generally viewed as a negative experience. Looking back, I'm glad I did for reasons like this.
Most of the people I work with have little to no exposure to American culture outside of Montana, and are pretty myopic when it comes to relationships/religion, etc. Most people here couldn't care less about learning about the local Native Americans culture.
Living in Portland, OR and New Orleans, LA in predominantly minority communities really threw me into the fire culturally. I could have had culture shock and been overwhelmed but instead I rolled with the punches and embraced those unique cultures.
Now that I'm back in lilly white Billings, MT, I can see that I'm a better person for it.
Women from SE Asia in Portland, and Creole women in New Orleans are my personal favorites. Oddly enough, these are my favorite types of food as well...
