This paper presents research carried out to explore the implications of giving users a specific vocabulary to express their perceptions and opinions about opportunities to make contact with cultural diversity in human-computer interaction. This two-step study is part of a broader research project that aims at investigating users’ perceptions and reactions when interacting with cross-cultural systems. Our current findings point at the expressive power of the proposed vocabulary and the promising outcomes of using it in the interaction design cycle of cross-cultural systems.