Tolerance

What tools can we use to stay tolerant and stay empathic and open - minded? 

 There are several ways in  which you can be more tolerant. Because we can never avoid experiencing culture-chocks. We just have to just have to be better at handling them. Dr. Milton Bennett, co-founder of the Intercultural Development Research Institute, believes that the more experience a person has with cultural differences the more that person will develop intercultural competence. So it's just a matter of throwing yourself into things and not being afraid of experiencing new cultures. And the best way to acquire that attitude is, like Dr. Bennet says, to have much experience as possible. If we talk about  which sorts of physical tools we can use, diaries are good to have with you when traveling. Basically just writing down all the things you wonder about and culture - chocks you experience and try to reflect on it when getting home. 

What kind of questions can you ask in order to reach understanding of a known -unknown situation ?

I don't really think there are any certain types of questions you ask. The important thing, in connection to understanding the unknown, is just asking ANY question. it's more about how much you ask than what you ask. Ask as much as you can!!! An example would be asking about rituals.
An example of the unknown could be, that here in Denmark we don't kiss on the cheek when we greet each other, but in the middle east for instance they do and men do it as well. That would be a very unfamiliar situation for a danish man, having to kiss a man from syria, on the cheek. And to some it would maybe also be extremely uncomfortable.