ITP - 107: Cultural Gestures That Get Teachers in Trouble Abroad

Greg:
Welcome to the International Teacher Podcast with your host Matt the Family Guy, Kent the Cat Guy, Jacqueline from JP Mint, and Greg the Single Guy, bringing you episodes from around the world about the best-kept secret in education.

Kent:
You got it. International teaching.

Greg:
Welcome to the show.

Greg:
I don't know. It's Greg. You're a little more...

Kent:
Hey, I can't do it either. You want to do it, Kent?

Greg:
No, no, you do it, Greg, because you haven't been around.

Kent:
He's been around, but he doesn't even know what we're called anymore.

Greg:
Wait a minute, with the ITP, the Single Guy, TP, and I'm the single guy.

Greg:
All right, and we have an audience, I think, on YouTube, hopefully, but most of them are on podcasting, right?

Greg:
So yeah, this is Greg. I think Kent just told me it's me. And I have Jacqueline and I have Kent on the line. Hi guys, how you doing?

JP:
Hi.

Kent:
Awesome.

Greg:
The three of us together, it's a hodgepodge. There's no written material at all, thank God, and we are not organized enough to really come up with this.

Kent:
Do we ever have written material? Just throwing that out there.

Greg:
No, the audience knows we don't. We never do unless David and Audrey are on, and God bless them.

Greg:
They're very organized and it's much different than ours. They have everything written out almost.

Greg:
Listen, let's just plug that real fast. If you pop over to Educators Going Global, you can hear one of their latest episodes. Greg Lemoyne is featured, talking about his book.

Greg:
The goal is to sell one more book. We're going to stay on the air until that book is purchased.

Kent:
You bring that up, but I was noticing that people are not watching YouTube as much as they are listening to us, which I love.

Kent:
But there are some benefits. You can watch people like JP Mint put her finger on her nose, and you can't see that on the podcast.

Greg:
You can only see that on the video. The problem is, and I do have to do a disclaimer here, Kent, if you choose to watch us, Kent and I cannot do anything about our faces.

Greg:
We are made for radio, not for video.

Kent:
If you pop over to YouTube, you'll see how handsome I am. I'm pretty sure the audience imagines me as the handsome one between Greg and me.

Greg:
Today is the day to check out YouTube because we're going to do cultural gestures from around the world that are not OK in certain countries.

Greg:
If you're still listening, you can use your imagination, but we will not be describing the gestures. So you should pop over to YouTube right now.

Greg:
In all seriousness, let's get started.

Greg:
The first thing that comes to mind, when my parents are mad at me, they go like, Gregory, come here, using the index finger.

Greg:
But overseas, you see a lot of people put their palm down and motion like this to call someone over.

Kent:
Interestingly, in Korea, this is also used for dogs, so you've got to be careful.

Kent:
With the noise, you're calling a dog.

Greg:
So just be careful. Sometimes noises with gestures matter.

JP:
I have one. My first time overseas in Istanbul, I was teaching middle school and I was doing this hand gesture while talking.

JP:
The kids all looked shocked. I realized later it was a very rude gesture in Turkey.

JP:
Fortunately, one student explained to the class that I didn't know what I was doing.

JP:
That was one of the first times I realized how easily gestures can be misunderstood.

Kent:
I was at the souk in Sanaa, Yemen. I was moving my arms around and accidentally elbowed a woman in the head.

Kent:
My instinct was to apologize and rub her head, but that made things much worse.

Kent:
In that culture, you shouldn't touch women at all.

Greg:
Right, and sometimes women will decline a handshake by placing their hand on their chest.

Greg:
It's just a cultural norm about contact.

Kent:
Apparently rubbing her head was not the right move.

Greg:
Have you got another one?

Greg:
In Egypt, I saw drivers hit their elbow as a gesture, which I later learned means you're cheap.

Greg:
I had no idea what it meant at the time.

Greg:
There are also gestures where people move their fingers together to signal wait or slow down.

JP:
I want to piggyback on that. In Turkey, that gesture means wait or slow down.

JP:
But in China, when I saw people doing a similar gesture, it actually meant love or appreciation.

JP:
I misunderstood it and thought I needed to slow down.

Greg:
That's a great example of how gestures change meaning across cultures.

Greg:
Another one is pointing. In Honduras, people don't point with their fingers, they use their lips.

Greg:
You ask where something is, and they subtly move their lips in that direction.

Kent:
That happens in the Philippines too.

Kent:
They use lip gestures to indicate direction.

Greg:
It's fascinating how different that is from what we're used to.

Kent:
I wonder if that comes from Spanish influence, like the conquistadors bringing it over.

JP:
Speaking of the Philippines, I’ve got one. A friend was working at a hotel there, and a VIP client came in with a white assistant.

JP:
The staff greeted the assistant very formally, but when they turned to the Filipino VIP, they just raised their eyebrows and smiled.

JP:
That gesture, an eyebrow raise with a smile, is a normal greeting locally, but it didn’t go over well with the VIP.

Kent:
That’s going to be my new greeting.

Greg:
For those listening, JP is practicing her eyebrow greeting right now.

Greg:
We are very mixed up on this episode.

Kent:
I’ve got one from the classroom. Students will sometimes do this gesture during discussions.

Kent:
It means they agree with each other.

Greg:
Yeah, it’s like a connection gesture. It means “I agree with you.”

Kent:
It took me a while to figure that out. I thought they were just cheering.

Greg:
There are also coded student gestures. Some mean water, some mean bathroom.

Greg:
But in some cultures, certain hand shapes can be very inappropriate.

Kent:
That’s why it’s important to understand context.

Greg:
For example, the OK sign in the US can be offensive elsewhere.

Kent:
A thumbs up is usually safer.

Greg:
Another one is the peace sign. If you turn it the wrong way in the UK, it’s offensive.

Greg:
Historically, it relates to archers showing they still had their fingers.

Kent:
That’s one you have to be careful with internationally.

JP:
Touching someone’s head is another big one.

JP:
In many Asian cultures, the head is sacred, so even a light tap can be offensive.

Greg:
And the feet are considered the lowest, so showing the bottom of your feet can also be rude.

Kent:
That’s why in many cultures you remove your shoes indoors.

Kent:
In Japan, you even have indoor slippers and separate bathroom slippers.

Greg:
That keeps things clean and respects cultural norms.

JP:
It’s one of those habits that sticks with you.

Greg:
Let’s take a quick break.

Greg:
You can find us at itpexpat.com or email us at [internationalteacherpodcast@gmail.com](mailto:internationalteacherpodcast@gmail.com).

Greg:
We also have a Facebook group and Instagram at ITP Expat.

Greg:
Thanks to our listeners from over 100 countries.

Greg:
Let’s get back to the show.

JP:
Slippers are sophisticated. After a long day, it feels great.

Kent:
And in Japan, bathroom slippers are a thing because the floors get wet.

Greg:
So don’t mix your slippers between rooms.

Kent:
That would be a cultural mistake.

Greg:
All right, what’s next?

Kent:
I think at the end of the day, intent really matters. If you make a mistake but you mean well, people will usually understand.

Greg:
Unless you rub someone’s head after hitting them.

Kent:
Yes, that might not go over well.

JP:
I think we’ve covered quite a range of gestures here.

Greg:
The key takeaway is to be cautious. Gestures can mean very different things in different cultures.

Greg:
If you’re unsure, observe first and learn from others.

Kent:
And if you make a mistake, apologize and move on.

JP:
Exactly. That’s part of the international experience.

Greg:
All right, let’s wrap it up.

Kent:
I’d like to thank my co-host JP Mint.

JP:
Thank you.

Kent:
And Greg Lemoyne as well.

Greg:
Thanks everyone.

Kent:
Thanks to all our listeners. We’ll see you next time.

[End of transcript]