One day I was driving home and a fellow was walking down the street wearing a white unbifurcated garment that was so striking that I wanted to ask him what it was called and where he got it. It looked like a Saudi Galabyya, but I'd never seen one cut like it before.

I didn't think, "skirt" or "dress", I just thought, "Wow, that's amazing! I wonder what it's called and where I can get one."

If I saw the guy in the above picture someplace in public, I'd ask him what his garment was called. It looks much like a sarong, but I wouldn't make that assumption.

But it seems that most of us Americans are culturally provincial.

I went to college with a young woman who met someone from another country. She didn't know that people from other countries don't speak English. She thought he didn't know how to talk.