Confusing hand signals

In some countries, the way you express certain ideas are very different to other ones. It took me months to shake off the Filipino way of expressing that you want to get the menu or bill in a restaurant, but even to this day if I want to really emphasize that something is “full”, I do a very Brazilian open-close hand movements with all my fingers together. It’s unconscious at this stage.

After almost six entire months in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong, I couldn’t help but count in a very Chinese way on my fingers. To this day, six feels more natural to make a “telephone” shape with one hand, than to start using a second one.

“Delicious” feels more natural to drill my index finger into my chin, rather than to rub my tummy (something else I picked up from the Italians), and if you stop me in the street and ask for directions (in any language), rather than show “walk” as two fingers of a hand moving, thanks to learning sign language, I use both hands in a forward-backward wave motion.

21. Never wearing shoes in houses

This tradition is so prominent everywhere that I can’t even think any more what countries don’t do it! So many European and Asian and South American countries leave their shoes at the entrance – while in the house (yours or someone else’s) you go around in your socks or bare feet.

As such, when in America and visiting a friend, if I take off my shoes at their door I always get the weirdest look from them.

22. Applauding whenever my plane lands

This very odd custom is one you’ll find popular between many countries, that us Northerners (EU/America) find very odd. I generally wouldn’t initiate it, but if as much as one other person begins clapping, then I join along and give the plane a huge round of applause as soon as we touch down!

People get cynical about flying a lot, but I still think that it’s a pretty amazing thing and an advance in technology we take for granted too much. I love how Louis CK discusses it in this video (from the 4:00 point). So yeah, a big round of applause to the wonders of science getting me somewhere in a few hours that would have been a journey of several months just a few centuries ago!

Date: 2015-02-16; view: 863