communimacation

Tourists are everywhere these days. Even at "home" in Georgia I am a tourist myself, since my family moved here while I was still in high school and I've never really lived here. Something I find quite interesting is how people communicate with one another when there is a language barrier creating a mental challenge for understanding. I think it's kind of funny when one party uses extreme hand gestures and talks ridiculously slowly and loudly to communicate with another party of the same species but different culture. One time I was on the subway I witnessed an American girl trying to give advice to an Asian couple (who obviously did not speak English) about where to go sightseeing in San Francisco. I have to admit it was hilarious to watch because she was giving a histrionic performance as she was describing the many places to see and eat around the city. In some ways it appeared as if she were speaking down to children, but I know she wasn't trying to be disrespectful or anything. (I think). I just find it silly how we believe speaking louder with pauses between words will magically translate to a language more familiar to foreigners. The one universal gesture I've noticed is the hand-to-mouth movement indicating "food" or "hungry". This is a good thing because I know that I'll always be able to get some kind of wanted response when I do this in a foreign country. I'm sure there are a few other gestures that are pretty universal, but this one is obviously the most important of them all.