A collection of three excerpted stories is provided in this paper about cross-cultural communication. The paper presents excerpts from papers written as assignments by teacher/students in a course about first and second language development. In the paper's first excerpt, Angela Jordahl tells about her involvement with Kurdish students in a cross-cultural experience that moved them from the school to a beauty salon in "A Hair Cutting Experience." The paper's second excerpted author, Karen Nordvall, who teaches English as a second language in Bismarck, North Dakota, at an adult learning center, describes "A Visit to a Ukrainian Family" motivated by the need to assess the relationship between home and school on behalf of a child. In the paper's third excerpt, "A Conference Presentation in Mexico," Jackie Wilcox, the director of the secondary Bilingual Education Program at Solen-Cannonball on the Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota, relates a story of planned and unplanned professional development while attending a science education conference in Oaxtepec, Mexico. (CR)