hmmm, I am not really quickly embarassed, and I find it rather easy to engage people in conversations, so I really don't have much to tell, except a few things happening in foreign countries.
Case 1) Back in school, when I was 16, we had an exchange with a school in Mauriac (beautiful Departement de Cantal, France). After an exhausting 21 sleepless hours in the bus, I was welocomed with what must have been the feast of the year for my host family: doves.
Too bad I can't eat fowl or gnaw meat from bones without getting seriously unwell. Even the sight of otherwise deliciusly grilled birds makes me nearly vomit. And so there was something in front of me that I can only describe as a mass grave of small birds, which made me almost barf on the table.
Thankfully I could pretend that I was travel sick from the long bus voyage, so it wasn't rally that much of a problem. I still feel sorry today though, as I guess it was a huge hassle to prepare such a meal, and I couldn't appreciate it.
Case 2) London, Oxford Street, two years later. Another exchange program with the Sir Frances Bardsley school for girls in Romfort. Again, I have to explain a little: My first name is Norbert, and in class, people called me "Nob", which has no other meaning whatsoever in german. Well, the thing is different in english speaking countries, and the girls (three of them, and not too shabby looking) told me so. Now I actually quite enjoyed the situation as it was obviosuly awkward for them.
My blushing moment was on day two or three there, as already said, in Oxford Street, where my best friend back then saw something interesting and started yelling my surname at the top of his voice to inform me...
Case 3) Well, everything in Finland. Honestly, you Suomilainen don't talk to people. Period. Heck, I've been to funerals in Austria which were more joyful than a standard bus ride in Tampere. Nobody's talking, not even to people they know, no eye contact, no greetings. How do fins get to know new people, as they all don't start conversations?