Laughing at a joke

I am not an english movie buff but I don't want to miss the legends. So very often I google out the "best hollywood movies to watch" and try to glue myself to that.
Accent is not really difficult to follow if we follow it scrupulously (initially).

I had my education from a catholic school where speaking in english was ineluctable. But during my graduation and postgraduation desi languages were a major mode of communication. I hardly remember a single day in my education where I concentrated on accent rather than the voluble vocab of english.

When I travelled abroad I felt the most difficult part was -laughing and reacting to a joke of a native. I really never understood them, so just smiled when others smiled. Later when I ruminated the joke I heard, I hardly found them as a laughing stock. Initially I felt that probably I am not getting their accent and I might not have a good sense of humour but after spending some time abroad I feel that I don't have sense of humour at all ... coz I dont feel like laughing at any of the jokes uttered. I feel that I should have done my homework back in India by reading dexter and flintstones regulary.