Irate Alien
I was so pleased to read your post. The cultural arrogance of so many people from Western backgrounds (I generalise - Europeans, N. Americans, Australians, etc.) towards those from Asian, Indonesian, Indo/Pakistan and African peoples is breathtaking. We are blind to the many difference that you describe. There are more cultural differences across the Indian sub-continent than across Europe, we tend to see Chinese people as all the same when there are so many differences between the different parts of China that we just don't see.
One of my pet dislikes at the moment is the way 'the West' demonises all Muslims as possible terrorists when clearly the vast majority of Muslims are as horrified as we are at what is happening in the name of Islam.
A little more cultural humility would go a long way.