I am really interested in your opinions to how to still appreciate culture but also stay between lines and do not try to falsely assimilate or appropriate cultural and mostly religious ways What are your bad or good experiences in connection with the topic?
Religion is the one and only dicey subject that is tipping over the boiling point over small issues. So if you want to stay polite, try avoiding debates and discussions that involve religion. Don't take any stand as to which religion you prefer over which, and the like, you get my point? Also, when you visit a temple, make sure you're wearing "decent" clothes, that is, your body is covered in all the right places. To be safe, carry a shrug or a stole with you. Apart from this, just follow the regular human to human polite manners and you should be good to go! Just be wary when it comes to religious matters.
The best universal advice given to me was to always dress conservatively (with your legs covered and such). Also if in doubt learn how to mimic, if you're a woman do what the women in that country do. When in Rome, right? For example if they wear very few make-up then you should too out of respect. Another thing I've learned is to never speak out of bounds and steer away from topics like sex, religion and gender unless ofcourse you're a journalist or you're there for a special project or whatnot. Basically, being polite is about respecting what's been established in another country.
I agree with Hiraeth and GammaRay in regards to the topics to steer away from, the use of conservative clothing and the imitation of the customs. People will really respect you for trying to adapt to the culture during your stay at a foreign country. My advise is that you also study the law of the country you are visiting, prior to the visit. Since cultures can be so different, you might want to know if you are breaking the law somewhere. There are laws that are common sense, but there are others that we simply would not understand or even know about unless we are informed about them, and we could be seriously offending others with our behavior and not even know it.
