Hand Jive (Non verbal communications)

When we lived in Germany in the eighties, we quickly realized that hand gestures did not mean the same thing as they do at home. In a logical teutonic way, the auto club (ADAC) had an article in its monthly magazine that helped visitors and guest workers like myself determine just how strong their road rage was. They published a series of hand signs in order of the amount of fine levied if you are charged by the police. It was kind of funny in a roadside dispute to bring up that article in your mind and decide just how PO'd you were. Am I DM50 angry or should I go for DM100?

Have you ever noticed that airline stewards seem to have their fingers sewed together when they point out the emergency exits? Well' there's a reason. Almost any finger combination will be a serious insult in some society. Pointing with your index finger is not polite in Europe, is only for inanimate objects in Africa, and is a gross insult in most other countries.

The first awareness came from the ADAC book. I had noticed that people in our factory looked startled when I flashed our (circle + three finger) OK sign. According to the ADAC, I was either calling them assholes or homosexuals.

Good-by can be very difficult. We wave our entire forearm, while Europeans wave the hand from the wrist only. Often, they think our frantic waving means "Stop, comeback!". In Greece, you always seem to be called back just when you are leaving the driveway. It seems that their good bye wave is accomplished by extending their hand palm-up, and curling and uncurling all 4 fingers. We could only see it as "Gimme" or "Come back".

Counting can be an issue too. What we call "the Bird" means the number one in Indonesia. To compound the confusion, Europeans start a count with their thumb, so that when you signal a clerk for one, you are actually asking for two.

Even the V for Victory sign can get you in trouble. With your palm facing away from you, you're saying "Great". But, when your palm faces your face, you're saying "Up Yours".

As usual, Texans can get in more trouble than the rest of us. When they use the "Hook-em Horns" sign, a Brasilian hears "good luck". At a heavy metal concert, they're saying "Rock on". But in Africa you're saying "Up yours". Argentinians, Italians, and Romanians will think that they're saying that "your wife has a lover".

My caveat to you is to go to http://www.cntraveler.com/ and find their Etiquete 101 Article before going overseas. You won't be known as "the Ugly American", and you'll probably pay less and have better service.