I also found that the easiest women to find a spark with were the ones who already had experience being abroad for a period of time. They seemed more willing and able to make radical changes, and far more adaptable. I realize such people are very rare. Women who were English teachers or who have an advanced degree in philogy seem particularly strong and versed in western "culture".

Don't get me started on miscommunications. In English, the word "lie" gets mistranslated all the time, and it's a dangerous mis-translation. If you mean "lie", as in "to lay", it can be translated to "lie", as in "to not tell the truth". I've had to explain more than once that I wasn't calling someone her a liar, it was the translator's fault   I have had enough struggles with a translator to never want to use one again.