Thinking about cultural misunderstandings these days, this story of a German colleague freshly arrived in China came back to mind. I wrote “88” [1] on our chat conversation, as it is common to use when saying goodbye in China.

I didn’t know that, in German, “88” is used by neo-nazis for “HH” [2], and means “Hail Hitler”.

If you think someone is rude towards you, especially in a multicultural environment, always ask “why?” first, you might be surprised.