跨越文化差异 留学党不可不知的他国礼节

2014年11月05日10:39 来源：小站整理

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Common sense goes a long way when it comes to learning a country’s proper etiquette. But even the savviest, most observant travellers can make the occasional cultural stumble if they are not careful.

学习一个国家的日常礼仪通常需要花费一段时间。即使是最见多识广、善于观察的旅行者，也会偶尔因为不了解文化差异而做出不当的行为。

Sam Bruce, a co-founder of the travel site Much Better Adventures, grew up in Hong Kong—yet did not realise until he was much older that in Hong Kong, people should always hand over business cards with two hands. “I had a rather awkward moment where I casually slid my name card face-down across the table to someone at the end of a meeting, when at the very same moment they delivered theirs, bowing, with both hands,” he explained. “What I had done was a big no-no and highly disrespectful.”

旅游网站Much Better Adventures的共同创始人山姆·布鲁斯，从小在香港长大，直到长大后才意识到在香港，人们应该用双手递交名片。“会议结束后，当我随意把自己的名片朝下，从桌子上滑过去时；对方却弯腰，双手送上他们的名片。那时，我简直尴尬死了。”他解释道，“我当时的做法是个大禁忌，而且非常无礼。”

To discover more of these unexpected missteps, we sought out the advice of users on question and answer site Quora, asking “What should I absolutely not do when visiting your country?” Here are the etiquette rules that surprised us the most.

为了发现更多意想不到的过失，我们在问答网站Quora上搜索用户的建议，并在上面提问“在访问贵国时，我们绝对禁止做的事情是什么？”下面是最令人我们吃惊的礼仪规则。

The number trap
数字陷阱

In some cultures, giving the wrong amount of an item can be worse than no present at all. “Do not give an even numbers of flowers as a gift. That’s for dead folks,” said Muscovite Katherine Makhalova. “A proper bouquet will have one, three, five or seven flowers.” Odd numbers of flowers are given for happy occasions in Russia, while bouquets of two, four, six, 12 or 24 stems are often brought to funerals.

在某些文化中，送出错误数量的礼物甚至比没带礼物还要糟糕。“不要送偶数枝的花作为礼物。这是送给死人的。”俄国人凯瑟琳Makhalova说。一束花最好是1、3、5、7这样的奇数。在俄罗斯奇数枝的花是在欢乐的场合用，而2、4、6、12或者24根茎组成的花束往往是带去葬礼的。

Even outside of Russia, knowing which digits are lucky—or unlucky—may be important. “Numbers matter more than you might think,” explained Terri Morrison, speaker and author of the Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands series of etiquette books. “In China, the word for ‘four’ sounds very similar to the word for ‘death’, so it is a good idea to avoid giving anything in fours.”

甚至在俄罗斯以外，了解哪些数字代表幸运或者不幸是很重要的。“数字比你想象的更重要，”《接吻、鞠躬、握手》系列礼仪丛书的作者和演讲者特里•莫里森解释说。“在中国，‘四’这个字听起来很类似于‘死’这个字，所以最好避免一切带四的东西。”

Similarly, in Japan, the traditional wedding gift of cash should not be given in bills divisible by two: that signifies the marriage could end in divorce. A gift of 20,000 yen, for example, should be given with one 10,000 yen and two 5,000 yen notes —but not two bills of 10,000 yen.

同样，在日本，传统的结婚现金礼物不应该分成两张钞票：这意味着婚姻将以离婚告终。一个价值20000日元的礼，比如，应该分成一个10000日元和两个5000日元，而不是两个10000日元的钞票。

Hands off
请勿触摸

Many Quora respondents from southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand and Malaysia, reminded readers to be careful where they touch another person. “Never touch anyone’s head or pass anything from above the head,” said Neha Kariyaniya, a resident of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. “It is considered to be the most sacred body part.” Such touch is inappropriate even in informal situations—and also applies to small children, as tempting as rubbing their hair might be for visitors from other cultures.

Quora上有许多来自东南亚国家，如泰国和马来西亚的受访者，提醒读者在触摸对方时要小心。“永远不要摸别人的头或者从头顶递东西，”居住在马来西亚吉隆坡的Neha Kariyaniya说。“头部是最神圣的部位。”甚至在一些非正式场合这样的触摸也是不合适的，也不能这样对待小孩,，自其他不同文化的游客触摸小孩子头发被看做是一种引诱。

“This is also very true in Thailand where the head is considered the seat of the soul,” said Morrison. The belief stems primarily from Buddhism, the religion that informs the everyday life of many Thai.

“在泰国也是这样，头被认为是灵魂所在之处”莫里森说。这种信仰主要来源佛教，佛教里会讲述很多关于泰国的日常生活情况。

Keep to yourself
保守秘密

Quora users from across Western Europe pleaded for visitors to avoid striking up conversations with strangers. “Don’t talk to a stranger, except about how bad something is or about the weather,” said Londoner Thomas Goodwin. “Someone made eye contact with me on the Underground once,” joked fellow Londoner Paul Johnson. “Now they don’t have eyes.”

Quora上来自西欧的用户恳求游客避免和陌生人主动交谈。“别跟陌生人说话，除非是谈论糟糕的事情或者天气，”伦敦人托马斯·古德温说。“曾经有人跟我在地铁里对视，”伦敦人保罗·约翰逊开玩笑说道。“现在他们再也不对视了。”

Other British users also commented on this one, saying that while talking to strangers is not always a negative, it should absolutely be avoided when using the Underground, London’s metro. “Avoiding eye contact is the only way to preserve your sense of personal space,” said Londoner Shefaly Yogendra.

其他英国用户对此评论说，虽然与陌生人交谈并不总是不好的，但绝对避免在伦敦地铁上交谈。“避免目光接触是保护你私人空间的唯一方法。”伦敦人Shefaly Yogendra说道。

In addition, the business-oriented nature of some of bigger cities in Northern and Western Europe often emphasises saving time—and avoiding unnecessary chatter. “Business means business in these countries, and any other topic of conversation is a distraction ,” said Morrison.

此外，由于西欧和北欧一些大城市商业主导的性质，经常强调节约时间，避免不必要的喋喋不休。“在这些国家谈业务就是谈业务，任何其他话题都是偏离主题”莫里森说。

Just go with it
随波逐流

When it comes to humour, people in some countries warned visitors to roll with the punches . Yucatan resident Alejandro Suarez said Mexico is a place where visitors should feel accepted – not offended – if they are being insulted . “We'll mock, ridicule, insult, pick on and put down just for the fun of it, on a regular basis!” Suarez said. “The best and most warm family dinners are the ones where everyone is laughing their heads off at making fun of someone at the table.”

当谈及幽默时，某些国家的人们会警告游客大事化小。尤卡坦半岛居民Alejandro苏亚雷斯说在墨西哥这个地方，如果当游客正在被侮辱时，应该感到受人欢迎——而非冒犯 “我们嘲笑，讥笑，侮辱，挑剔，贬低，只是为了消遣，很平常而已！”苏亚雷斯说。“最好最温暖的家庭聚餐是，在餐桌上每个人取笑别人时都会笑得前俯后仰。”

This kind of humour is fairly common across Latin American cultures, Morrison said. Still, she warned visitors to tread lightly when returning the jabs. “Jokes just do not translate well,” she said. “It’s best to avoid them.” One man she interviewed for her books bombed a business meeting when he told a joke in an elevator in Germany. Instead of coming across as funny, he came across as not being serious in a formal situation.

这种幽默在拉丁美洲文化里相当普遍，莫里森说。不过她警告游客做出回应时需小心。“笑话不好翻译，”她说“最好避免它们。”她曾在书中写到她曾经采访的一个人，用德语在电梯里开了玩笑，结果搞砸了一个商务会议。他不是不经意间搞笑，而是在正式场合表现的不严肃。

Keep it down
低声说话

Morrison said she was surprised that Quora users didn’t advise against speaking in elevated tones . “A loud tone of voice, particularly in a one-on-one conversation, can be tactless in many cultures,” she said. “In France, it’s truly gauche .”

莫里森说，她很惊讶Quora用户不反对大声说话。“大声说话，尤其是一对一的谈话时，在很多文化中被认为十分愚蠢，”她说。“在法国，这非常愚蠢。”

She mentioned that the French use different volumes for different situations. “In a café, you cannot overhear a discussion at the nearest table, even if it is only two or three feet away,” she said. She recommended always mimicing your conversation partner’s volume and adjusting upwards only when needed.

她说，法国人在不同情况下使用不同的声调说话。“在咖啡馆，你听不到离你最近的桌子上的谈话，即使只有两到三英尺远。”她说。她建议最好和你谈话对象的音调保持一致，并且在需要的时候适当提高音调。

Keeping your voice down isn’t just polite: it may even be safer. According to Morrison, in the 1990s, hidden microphones were discovered in Air France’s first class cabin . Though it was never determined whether the recordings were for espionage or another purpose, the incident was a reminder that, in today’s highly-monitored world, anyone could be listening at any time. “Conversations were, and may be [still], monitored by more than your travelling companions on flights, in hotels and in offices around the world,” said Morrison. A little discretion and self-awareness goes a long way when it comes to safety and privacy on the road.

低声说话不仅仅是礼貌：它甚至可能更安全。莫里森表示，90年代，在法国航空公司的头等舱上发现了隐形麦克风。虽然从未确定录音是否是间谍用的或其他目的，但这一事件提醒我们，在当今被高度监控的世界上，任何人都可能随时被监听。“谈话，可能（仍然），被你在航班、酒店和在世界各地的办公室里的同伴监听。”莫里森说。在谈及旅途上的安全和隐私问题，谨慎和自我保护意识还有很长的路要走。