Body Language- Tips for Different Countries

While searching for information on my next travel destination, I came across an interesting article that mentions common gestures in North America that can mean something completely different abroad. After searching some more, I learned that there are many signs or gestures that we often give people here that can be interpreted as being rude if you were to do it in another country.

It’s important to do some research when visiting another country. I think for many people who don’t travel frequently they expect things to be the same as they are at home, but the idea of travelling is to experience something you wouldn’t get a chance to otherwise. Remember when travelling that you are visiting someone else’s homey. You are the visitor and it is up to you to embrace their culture, not the other way around.

Below are some locations where common North American gestures may be easily misunderstood.

United Kingdom:  In the UK, giving the “peace sign” with the back of your hand facing the other person is interpreted as a rude gesture, similar to giving someone the middle finger in North America.

Greece: Showing your palms as if to say “stop” or “wait” as we do in North America has a completely different connotation in Greece at it is interpreted as a highly insulting gesture.

Thailand: While giving a thumbs-up here is a positive gesture, in Thailand the thumbs-up is a sign of disapproval or blame. Much like children stick out their tongues here, children in Thailand use this gesture when being silly.

Japan: In North America, people don’t normally pay much attention to how they hand something to someone. However, in Japan it is expect that a person makes an offering using both of their hands to show sincerity.

Fiji: In North America a typical handshake lasts only a few seconds and is normally a means of introduction. In Fiji, the handshake can last much longer and people can even stay with their hands together for the entire conversation. 

Tree House Lodge: Punta Uva, Costa Rica

Tree houses aren’t just for kids anymore, our next stop is the Tree House Lodge located in Punta Uva, Costa Rica. This unique house is one of four unique lodging experiences available in the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge. Guests have the option of staying in the Tree House, Beach House, Beach Suite or Garden House; all located only 300 meters from the Caribbean beach.

The Tree House is completely natural and eco-friendly made from recycled materials. No live trees are cut down for use in construction. The house has been built so as not to disturb any of the trees that were there before. The Tree House roof is made from all recycled materials and uses bamboo as part of the structure and as a decoration. The Tree House also uses solar power as electricity and to heat the four different houses in the refuge.

The Tree House is unique to other hotels or lodges as it kitchen and living room are all open and provide unblocked views of the jungle for guests to enjoy. Most of the upstairs rooms are screened in to prevent bugs from getting in, and all beds have mosquito nets. The rooms incorporate natural elements such as trees for both structural support and decoration. 

Neuschwanstein Castle, Hohenschwangau, Germany

Unless it was just me, I think that when we were younger most girls dreamed about one day living in a castle. This dream is largely because of Disney movies that presented us with images of beautiful castles where girls were princesses and lived happily ever after. So what better place to stop next than Neuschwantein Castle, a real-life castle that served as one of Walt Disney’s most magical inspirations.

The construction of Neuschwanstein Castle began in 1869 for King Ludwig II who designed it in homage to his favourite composer, Richard Wagner. The name Neuschwanstein translates directly to “new swan stone”, a name inspired by the character Swan Knight in one of Richard Wagner’s operas. The castle first opened to the public in 1886 after the king’s death and now over 1.3 million people visit each year.

This beautiful castle looks like something straight out of a fairytale, and for us that’s because it was the inspiration for some of the most popular castles we know. It is said that Walt Disney used this beautiful castle as the inspiration for the castle in the 1959 film Sleeping Beauty. The iconic Cinderella castle in Magic Kingdom is also said to be modeled after the castle in Sleeping Beauty, and therefore Neuschwanstein Castle served as Disney’s indirect inspiration for this well known tourist attraction in Walt Disney World.  Below are all three castles, which really do all look very similar.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle 

Cinderella Castle- Magic Kingdom

Neuschwanstein Castle

The famous castle has been shown in other films, but in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, there is a scene shot from above the castle that really helps showcase how incredible it is. 

First stop, ICEHOTEL Jukkasjärvi, Sweden

Although there are ice hotels across the world in Quebec, Norway, Romania and Finland I think the ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden is one of the most interesting as it was the first hotel to be created entirely out of snow and ice. At 5500 square meters, it is also the largest hotel made entirely of ice and snow in the world.

On the hotels website, you can read about the interesting way in which this hotel came to be. The hotel began as an art exhibit and in 1989 a Japanese ice artist was brought in to demonstrate the art of ice carving and create a 60 square meter igloo. Years later, visitors who had come to the exhibition found themselves with no nearby hotels to stay in and became the first “guests” of the ICEHOTEL when they stayed overnight in sleeping bags.

The ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden is open each winter between the months of December and April. Ice and snow blocks made from the nearby Torne River are all that is used to create this one of a kind hotel. Over 30,000 tons of snow and 10,000 tons of ice are collected each March from the river and are stored over the spring and summer until construction begins the net year.

The hotel has grown over the years and now offers both “cold” and “warm” rooms. The cold rooms are found in the original hotel, where guests stay in sleeping bags in rooms made entirely of ice. The warm rooms are for those who may not be brave enough to stay on ice and offers indoor traditional style rooms in a chalet.

Let’s just hope that they’re wrong about global warming so this hotel will be around long enough for me to visit. 

http://www.icehotel.com