Communication

This is a travel to learn assignment that I did but also thought was a good story from my weekend in Venice!

My experience in Venice this weekend was a perfect example of the difference in communication between Americans and Italians. Vi, Sam, and I asked ten people for directions to the Hard Rock Café before finding it two hours later. We can blame ourselves for lack of preparation because we had no map (with Hard Rock Café on it) and weren’t sure where it was, only that is was close to San Marco. I choose to blame the Italians for our long adventure in the rain because they all had a high context style of communication. Had one of the first people we asked told us that we had to take more than one left or right to make it to Hard Rock Café, we may have arrived earlier. Instead, each person said “to the left” or “to the right” giving us false hopes that perhaps it was only one right or one left away. Now I’m not sure if they were attempting to point us in a precise direction with their arm gestures, but I somehow feel they may not have cared at all. Some were direct and helpful, while others seemed to not care and told us to go to the left or right. It was the direct and non circular communication which the last woman we asked used that got us to the restaurant. She first turned to face the direction we should leave the store in, then proceeded to tell us the first right then a left and another right in clear Italian with motions in case we had not understood. After finally getting to lunch I was able to realize I had just experienced multiple styles of communication from direct to indirect and from linear to circular.

More to come soon about the week thus far. I can guarantee is has been less stressful, but less exciting at the same time! :)