Cross-Cultural Miscommunication

Anytime one is a foreigner dwelling in a foreign land, one is bound to encounter miscommunications (see Blog, supra). Whether based on diverse languages or customs, they can either be disastrous or hilarious. I've attempted to compile some of my favorites here.

1. In a winery, my father, after having guzzled instead of tasted about 5 or 6 glasses of wine, attempted to ask the bilingual winery employee the following question in Spanish: "Where is your family from?" However my father, who is unable to speak a complete sentence in Spanish without also throwing in French, Italian, Russian and/or German actually asked:

"From where are your genitals.?"

2. Greg and I spent several days aghast after hearing from our English friends that kids in England like to eat "jelly and ice cream" together. Blech!!!!! Several days later we learned that "jelly" in England means "Jello." They assured us that English children do not eat "jam and ice cream" together.

3. A waitress, in response to my father's attempts to put Spanish, Italian, Russian and French all in one sentence: "El habla castellano, pero no entiendo." (He speaks Spanish, but I do not understand him).

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