While on a train ride to Germany a miscommunication error while connecting two adjacent rooms led to screaming German stewards. Startled and terrified I tried my best to interpret her flailing hand signals and attempt to comply with her requests.Frustrated and confused with the language barrier it seemed as if nothing would silence the steward. Time passes and violent and jagged words were streaming out of her mouth as she pointed at the door that connected the adjacent first-class cabins. Her discontentment fueled my anxiety and jolted me back to my seat in an attempt to satisfy her. I felt useless. As the steward fled the room throwing her arms in the air my annoyance began to cease. Several minutes pass without disruption until the steward returns—this time not alone. She traces her pointy fingertips around the table indicting her fury that it was misplaced.
Finally understanding her dissatisfaction I began to situate the table back into place. To an outsider one would have thought I had brought a forbidden item onto the train with all the commotion. My fantasy of being offered a snack, bottle of water, or extra pillow by the steward is only a dream on this train. In America, the courteous stewards attempt to suit your every essential need, despite the extent of your request.
Similar situations of cultural differences have occurred with my friends. While traveling back from Croatia some students were gathered in the hallways and making a lot of noise. The language barrier was difficult for them to interpret what the train stewards were saying and eventually turned the situation into turmoil with even more commotion.
The prevalence of cultural differences around the world has led me to embrace other cultures and learn from their lifestyles.
My upbringing taught me to be open to others and to learn from the way they interact. I would definitely recommend using hand motions to be able to understand someone when there is a language barrier and maybe the situation would be handled differently and with a lot less screaming.
Emily,
ReplyDeleteA screaming language barrier incident is a good choice for this writing assignment! And you nicely compared this incident to how you are treated in the U.S. during travel.
Your writing here, however, is a bit confusing and the first photo adds more questions.
Re-read that first sentence - you wrote that the incident involved screaming German stewards (plural) So the reader at that point doesn't know if they were yelling at each other, or you, initially.
Then, it's also unclear:
What was this table's purpose and why did you move it?
Was this the first encounter with this steward?
Were you the only one involved? I seem to remember you telling me that Andre was here, too, with advice.
A technical issue... this sentence has a dependent clause at the beginning, but no sentence subject:
Frustrated and confused with the language barrier it seemed as if nothing would silence the steward.