このページはフレーム対応ブラウザ用に作成されています。下のリンクは非フレーム使用ページですのでそちらをご覧ください。
この記事をプリントする
ホテルはどこだ?
外国を旅行するとさまざまな異文化体験をするが、その体験をどうとらえるかが問題だと筆者は言う。初めてイランを訪れたときのこと。観光中に迷子になった筆者は、現地の人にホテルへの道順を尋ねたのだが・・・。
Where's my hotel?
Traveling to different countries can bring you a wealth of experiences. The problem is learning how to interpret what you see. Appearances can be deceptive. Things aren't always what they seem. A good example was my first day of sightseeing in Iran.
I'd gone off to visit a famous mosque. It was far from my hotel, but I was young, adventurous and eager to explore. When I was ready to return to my hotel, I suddenly realized that I was lost.
Luckily, a friendly Iranian was standing nearby. I decided to ask him for directions. "Excuse me," I inquired. "Can you tell me how to get to this hotel?" He immediately pointed north and announced, "It's that way!" His quick reply and confident manner convinced me that he was right.
Off I went in the direction he indicated. But the farther I went, the more I began to doubt his advice. "This is wrong," I thought. "I'd better ask someone else." I approached a second friendly Iranian and asked for directions. He immediately pointed south and, in a voice full of confidence, said, "Go that way!" "Hmm," I thought. "That doesn't seem right, either. I need another opinion."
I asked a third person. Then a fourth. Then a fifth. In each case, the same thing happened. They all replied immediately and spoke confidently, but gave different answers and pointed in random directions. Strange!
Finally, I decided to ignore their advice and trust my own instincts. I began walking and got back to my hotel 20 minutes later.
I left Iran frustrated by the way I'd been misled. The people were so nice, but why had they lied to me? Were they teasing me because I was a foreigner? Did they hate Canadians? I had no idea.
Many years later, I became a university professor and began studying world countries and cultures. One day, I found a book about Iran. In Chapter 3, there was a section on asking for directions. I read on eagerly!
"Hospitality is very important in Iran," the book stated. "When a foreign visitor needs help and asks a question, it's rude to say that you don't know. Iranian culture requires that people give an answer immediately, even if it's wrong."
Thanks to that book, I finally understood what had happened all those years ago. My first impressions were wrong. The people I had met in Iran weren't trying to mislead me. They were trying to help me! I just didn't realize it.
There are two lessons we can learn from this story. The first is that you shouldn't jump to conclusions, especially in cross-cultural interactions. The second is that it's important to learn about other cultures. If I hadn't read that book, I would have continued to believe that Iranians are liars who enjoy teasing foreign visitors!
- a wealth of 〜
- 豊かな〜
- interpret
- 〜を解釈する
- Appearances can be deceptive.
- 見かけは当てにならない
- sightseeing
- 観光
- (had) gone off to 〜
- 〜に出掛けて行った
- mosque
- モスク
- adventurous
- 冒険好きな
- (was) eager to 〜
- 〜する気満々だった
- explore
- 探検する
- Luckily
- 幸運にも
- nearby
- 近くに
- directions
- 道順
- inquired
- 尋ねた
- immediately
- すぐに
- pointed
- 〜を指さした
- It's that way!
- あっちだ
- confident
- 自信ある
- manner
- 態度
- convinced 〜 that 〜
- 〜に〜だと確信させた
- Off I went
- 私は歩き始めた
- indicated
- 指し示した
- the farther I went, the more 〜
- 進めば進むほど〜
- (had) better 〜
- 〜した方がいい
- random
- でたらめの
- ignore
- 〜を無視する
- instincts
- 本能
- frustrated
- いら立って
- (had) been misled
- でたらめな道案内のせいで迷わされた
- teasing
- 〜をからかっていた
- read on
- 読み進んだ
- eagerly
- 熱心に
- Hospitality
- おもてなし
- rude
- 無礼な
- all those years ago
- ずっと昔に
- first impressions
- 第一印象
- lessons
- 教訓
- jump to conclusions
- 早合点する