Keep looking in Hong Kong - or should you?

When I went to a speaking course, the number one lesson hammered into me was to look at my audience because it creates a link between me and them and makes them feel at ease.

As it would so happen, just a week after finishing my training, I found myself in Hong Kong on a business trip. Sitting in a Dim-Sum parlour with a Chinese colleague of mine, I put my newly-acquired skills to the test and told him a story, never taking my eyes off him, but always keeping myself focused on his face and regarding him with a friendly smile. And fondly enough my expression was met with an ever widening smile.

It took me the better part of the meal to realise that the smile was just as forced as my eye-contact and that it was in reality an expression of extreme discomfort. In Hong Kong (and large parts of Asia), unwavering eye-contact is considered to be aggressive and a sign of distrust, my friend explained shooting only fleeting glances at me after I had told him about my training and why it was that I had thought it right to stare. Then we both laughed looking down at the table.


Look left and right on the Hong Kong Travel Guide.

I say tomato, you say tomahto (but we both say potato)

Hello all,

I've just been talking to a friend of mine from Holland who claimed that you could tell Brits and Americans apart by their greetings. I agree and disagree.

What he was referring to is the common idea that Americans say "How are you?" while the British ask "How do you do?" - only that it isn't true. Be it because of the influence of Hollywood films (now also occasionally referred to as movies in the UK) or some other reason, but many people in Britain tend to say "How are you?" just like their American counterparts. Only that they say it in a distinctly British way, with a clearly perceivable accent. The same is true for words like zebra crossing (often zeebra even in the UK nowadays) and tomahto (American tomato). That is not to say that the traditional British versions don't still exist - in fact they remain more popular - but you need to judge from the accent, not the words, if you want to find out who's American and who's the Brit.

Oh, and nobody ever says potahto - except in the song Let's Call the Whole Thing Off by George and Ira Gershwin, from 1937 from which I tool my title.

Cheers,
Ralph

Don't say it, read it - on the London Travel Guide.

An Istanbul Sneeze

Hello all,

it may only be me, but whenever I am in Istanbul (maybe half-a-dozen times by now) it rains. Last time I went, in October there was actually a flood warning. Now don't get me wrong: I love Istanbul - even in the rain. But the thing is, when it rains you may have to sneeze and blow your nose and that - it turns out - is sometimes not such a trivial matter in the biggest city in Turkey.
Sure, there is no problem if you have a hearty blow over your Köfte and the problem you might have sneezing over your neighbour's is the same you would have anywhere else (where there are Köfte and neighbours to sneeze on). The real trouble springs up when you're in a more classy environment - like the wedding I attended when there was a flood warning - people in expensive dresses and suits all around you. If you give in to your urge in those surroundings, your nose-blowing will likely be greeted with sniveling from the others. Blowing your nose in public, particularly when food is around is considered extremely bad style in the higher circles in Turkey. Correct procedure is to retire to the bathroom and succumb there - well away from the other guests - as I had to learn the hard way.
The moral is then, when in Istanbul or the rest of Turkey and feeling sick it's best to avoid parties - if you can't it's best to wear comfy shoes to be quick to the bathroom - if that doesn't work play the dumb foreigner card and put up with the reactions.

Cheers,
Ralph

Feel free to sneeze onto the Istanbul Travel Guide. It's on your computer after all...