Overseas operations for U.S. government personnel have steadily increased in frequency, spawning a growing emphasis on cultural awareness. Although appropriate behavior in a foreign context is often understated, skillful cross-cultural interactions have significant potential in diffusing, solving, and avoiding problems, as well as promoting healthy and co-operative relationships with local populations. Prior in-country immersion is rarely feasible, and therefore adequate alternatives are needed. A model immersive cultural learning environment integrates Second Life and traditional web content, optimizing the affordances of presence and web content for a robust cultural learning experience. Utilizing principals of situated cognition, authentic learning, and contextualized learning, the immersive cultural learning environment shows promise in meeting the need for cultural awareness training in an authentic, learner-centered environment.