Humorous Miscommunication

I have experienced many instances where there has been verbal miscommunication. Although, the majority of Germans here do speak English which I was surprised by. This is something that I find fascinating about Europe in general. In most of the major cities waiters, people that work behind the counter, etc. speak basic level English. It’s extremely impressive that so many of the people that I have interacted with can speak English. This is especially true for the nightlife here, everyone that I have interacted with has been able to speak basic level English.

A funny time I experienced miscommunication with someone was when the chef at the restaurant was trying to ask me “where I was from” and I answered America and he kept making these hand gestures and sounds at me like he wanted more information. I then continued to explain that we were a group from Boston, MA studying. He kept looking at me like I was crazy for giving him these responses. He kept saying “no!” and moving his hands forward as if he wanted more information. I told him that I was studying at Northeastern University and that we were taking a course on Gender and Sexuality. I wasn’t giving him the answers that he wanted in any way so he got more specific. This interaction didn’t seem to be going anywhere because he spoke such little English that I felt the both of starting to get frustrated. He then pointed at his skin and I go “ohhhhh” as I started laughing. I said, “my dad is from Ecuador” and he goes “YES!” We both started laughing. He was asking me where I was from in a different way that I assumed he was asking me where I was from. He wanted to know the origins of my ethnicity. We both kept laughing at each other and he then said “Spanish?” and I said “yes!” He goes, “oh wow.” Our conversation about Ecuador was extremely short and if he had asked me further questions both of us would have gotten even more confused.