While walking the crowded streets of Cork’s city center one day, a long time ago, I remember hearing someone yell “sorry” behind me over and over again. Assuming that person wasn’t speaking to me I simply kept walking. Why would he be? He hadn’t done anything to warrant an apology. After a few more steps this person’s voice became louder and louder until I turned around to receive a rather curt, “Sorry!” And then he stormed right by me. It finally hit me that he wasn’t apologizing at all, he just wanted me to move. To me, he meant, “excuse me.”
While traveling you experience tremendous differences in culture, but you also come across the smaller ones. The ones you’d never even guess would happen and almost seem insignificant, but in reality, can make a big impact on the way you communicate and interact with locals.
To prepare for our honeymoon, Mike and I hit up Barnes & Noble for good guidebooks. For Tunisia, I grabbed one of the Culture Smart! guidebooks – not because I thought it would supply me with “things to do” per se (we’ll be relying on Mike’s homemade Google Map for that), but because it looked like it would give me the kind of background I normally lack when going to a country I don’t know a whole lot about.
So far, it has. The book provides history, like the founding of Carthage, and it also gives you an overview of politics, religion and social norms.
While you can’t escape those little learning experiences like my incident in Cork, and to be honest I think those experiences are what help you grow to become a good traveler, it will be nice to feel somewhat, culturally equipped.
What’s the strangest cultural mishap you’ve experienced?
I can’t think of any cultural mishaps, but I do need to say that I’m totally jealous you’re going to Tunisia! Partially because it just sounds really cool, partially because it’s featured in LOST
I had some MAJOR cultural mishaps in Turkey that ended up involving me naked on a pedestal. So I’d definitely suggest learning some key phrases in the local language like, “where are my clothes?”
I think that I have probably had so many cultural mishaps in the fourteen years since I left my own country, that my mind has just blanked them all! Very envious of your Tunisia trip, I hope you have a fantastic time!
Tunisia sounds exotic! I’ve never been, but I heard it the culture and the lifestyle is pretty similar to Egypt.
That is totally smart of you to get a book on the culture. I am impressed with you informed traveler skills. And I am also envious of this amazing trip ahead.. I would love to go to Tunisia.
Best,
Hannah Katy
oh cork and the use of sorry! drove me crazy!
i love the guides that also have history and culture so you have a better idea, and the history just well because i love history!
good thing you had wedding things on saturday, because my day was crazy so we wouldn’t have been able to meet up!
[...] May Mike and I went to Barnes & Noble to purchase a travel guide or two to plan our honeymoon. For Spain, we relied on Fodor’s guide to Seville, Granada [...]