爆笑QA問答：作為一個外國人，你在另一個國家最尷尬的時刻是什么時候？

Harini Iyer
I have had many embarassing moments as a foreigner in several other countries. But here are two of the most embarassing ones in Norway where I currently live.
“I accidentally did drugs, thinking it was chewing gum.”
I was once at a pub with a few people. One girl on our table there was offering this one thing called snus to everyone seated at the table, except me because she knew that I am not into smoking, tobacco or any kind of drugs. I innocently thought it was chewing gum because it looked exactly like chewing gum, it came in a box that looked like a chewing gum box. I was wondering why she was offering it to all the others seated on the table but not me. Then I asked her for one She said, “It contains a bit of tobacco is that fine ?” I was like yes yes, convinced that it was harmless chewing gum. Then she told me that I needed to put it on my gums and I did that. Within 10 minutes, I noticed that my vision was getting blurry, someone was talking to me but I couldn't focus on what they were saying, my head was aching so badly and I was getting really really dizzy. I felt very nauseous as well. I was so confused and upset about what was happening and I was almost about to cry. Then, I told the people there that I wasn't feeling good for some reason. Then they guessed it was because of the snus and they asked me to spit it out immeadiately. Then they gave me loads of ice water and I was fine within a few minutes after that.

作為一個外國人，我在其他幾個國家有過很多尷尬的時刻。但最讓我感到尷尬的，是我在目前居住的挪威的兩個；
1、“我以為是口香糖，卻不小心吸毒了?！?br /> 有一次，我和幾個人在一家酒吧里。我們桌子上的一個女孩，向坐在桌子旁的每個人提供一種名為snus的東西，除了我，因為她知道我不喜歡吸煙、抽卷煙或任何毒品。
我天真地以為它是口香糖，因為它看起來和口香糖一模一樣，它裝在一個看起來像口香糖盒子的盒子里。
我想知道她為什么把它給坐在桌子上的其他人，而不給我。
然后，我問她要了一個。
她說：“里面有一點煙草，你可以嗎？”
我想，是的，是的，這肯定是某種無害的口香糖。
然后，她告訴我需要把它涂在牙齦上，我照做了。
不到10分鐘，我注意到我的視力變得模糊，有人在和我說話，但我無法集中注意力聽他們說什么，我的頭疼得很厲害，我真的很頭暈。我還感到非常惡心。我對發(fā)生的事情感到困惑和不安，幾乎要哭了。
然后，我告訴那里的人，出于某種原因，我感覺不太好。然后他們猜測是因為 snus ，他們讓我立即吐出來。然后，他們給了我很多冰水，幾分鐘后我就好了。

This is how snus looks like. To me they looked like chewing gum on first sight.
I was told later that the amount of tobacco in one snus is equal to the amount of tobacco in ten cigarettes. To prevent air pollution, people in Norway use snus more than cigarettes. Almost everyone uses it here in Norway.

這就是snus的樣子。對我來說，它們第一眼看上去很像口香糖。
后來有人告訴我，一支snus中的煙草含量等于十支香煙中煙草的量。為了防止空氣污染，挪威人使用的snus比香煙還多。在挪威，幾乎每個人都使用它。

“Touching food with hand.”
In India, it is a common practice to eat with hands and to touch the food with your hands. But in Norway, they consider it unhygienic to touch food with your hands especially if it is out of a tray from which everyone takes food and if your hands are unwashed.
I once went to a bakery and instead of using the tongs to take out scones and pastries, I used my hands. Then the staff member manning the bakery at that time came running to me and said “Please don't touch those with your hands, use these” and he handed me the tongs that were placed right next to the tray and I didn't see those.
But, this wasn't the first time this happened to me. This has happened with me many times. I frequently forget that I am not in India and take food with my hands, only to get told off by people.
But, now I more often than not remember not to touch food that is not mine yet and is for public consumption.
There are several more embarassing moments that I encountered. I plan to write a book about them one day.

2、“用手觸摸食物。”
在印度，用手吃飯和用手觸摸食物是一種常見的做法。
但在挪威，他們認為用手觸摸食物是不衛(wèi)生的，尤其是如果食物是放在每個人都需要去拿食物的公共托盤中，而且你的手還沒有洗。
有一次我去了一家面包店，我沒有用鉗子取出烤餅和糕點，而是用手。
然后，當時面包店的工作人員跑過來對我說：“請不要用手碰那些，用這些?！?br /> 然后，他遞給我放在托盤旁邊的鉗子，當時我沒有看到。
但是，這不是第一次發(fā)生在我身上了。這種情況已經(jīng)發(fā)生過很多次了。
我經(jīng)常忘記我不是在印度，然后用手去拿食物，結(jié)果卻遭到人們的斥責。
但是，現(xiàn)在的我還是仍然經(jīng)常不記得不能用手去觸碰那些不是我的、供公眾食用的食物。
我還遇到了一些尷尬的時刻。我計劃有一天寫一本關(guān)于它們的書。

Sachin Powar
American English struck us! :)
Back in 2007, it was my first visit to USA.
We were 3 guys from same company traveling together and staying at the same hotel. So we shared a cab. None of us had been outside India before.
We got a cab outside airport. Obviously he could not understand where we wanted to go. So we showed the printout with address and phone number. So he called up hotel and got directions.
To load the luggage, one of my friends requested the driver to open the "Dickie"!
The driver was like - WTF!!! :D
I recalled that, indeed we should say "trunk"!! He was relieved when we mentioned trunk. ;-)

美式英語震撼了我們！
早在2007年，那是我第一次訪問美國。
我們?nèi)齻€人，是同一家公司的，一起旅行，住在同一家酒店。所以我們合租了一輛出租車。我們以前都沒出過印度。
我們在機場外叫了一輛出租車。顯然他不明白我們想去哪里。所以我們展示了打印出來的地址和電話號碼。于是他打電話到旅館問路。
為了裝行李，我的一個朋友要求司機打開“Dickie”！
司機說：什么鬼東西?。?！
我突然想起，我們應該說：“后備箱”?。?br /> 當我們說后備箱時，他松了一口氣。

Upon reaching hotel, we also took few moments to realize that he is expecting 'tip'. Finally we handed over the cash including tip.
Further to our embarrassment, I asked him 'Can we please have the bill?'
He was puzzled again and asked us - 'You want me to return all of this money and not charge you anything???'
Then we realized that we should mention 'receipt'.
'Bill' is synonymous with 'currency note' in US while in India, bill is nothing but a receipt :)
Lot of further confusions but these were epic! :)

到達酒店后，我們花了一些時間才意識到他在等“小費”。最后，我們交了包括小費在內(nèi)的所有錢。
更讓我們尷尬的是，我問他：“我們可以拿到賬單嗎？”
他再次感到困惑，并問我們——“你想讓我退還所有這些錢，而不向你收取任何費用嗎？？”
然后，我們意識到我們應該說“收據(jù)”。
在美國，“賬單”是“紙幣”的同義詞，而在印度，賬單不過是一張收據(jù)。
還有很多困惑，但這些是史詩般的！

James Compton
I got bit by a mosquito in Brazil.
I didn’t know it until I woke up the next morning paralyzed and in extreme pain.
The mosquito that bit me was carrying dengue fever.
I could not move, could not eat, and I laid in bed for a few days. Finally, after losing a lot of weight, and most of my hair, two friends of mine carried me in their arms to the doorstep of a local hospital where two security guards confronted us.
One of the guards asked what was wrong with me, which my friend replied, “He’s an American and has dengue fever”. The guard then responded, “We are not letting this American in the hospital. If a Brazilian was in the United States, the Americans would not treat a Brazilian, so we are not going to help this American”.
I was embarrassed, angry, and depressed all at the same time. I flew back to the U.S a few days later. If not for that incident, I’d still be living there.

我在巴西被蚊子咬了。
直到第二天早上醒來，我才意識到這一點，全身癱瘓，疼痛難忍。
咬我的蚊子攜帶登革熱。
我不能動，不能吃東西，在床上躺了幾天。最后，在我的體重大幅減輕，頭發(fā)大部分掉了之后，我的兩個朋友把我抱到了當?shù)氐囊患裔t(yī)院的門口，兩名保安在那里與我們對峙。
其中一名保安問我怎么了，我的朋友回答說：“他是美國人，患有登革熱?！薄?br /> 保安隨后回應道：“我們不會讓這個美國人住院。如果一個巴西人在美國，美國人不會治療一個巴西人，所以，我們不會幫助這個美國人”。
我同時感到尷尬、憤怒和沮喪。
幾天后，我飛回了美國。如果不是因為那件事，我還會住在那里。

Allen Song
In London, I was at a disabled toilet room in a department store, the toilet had a black nylon rope hanging down from the ceiling. I thought it was a flusher for the disabled. When I pulled it however, it set off the alarms and I had 3 store associates rush the toilet I was in, while my pants were still around my ankles. -_-

在倫敦，我在一家百貨公司的殘疾人廁所里，廁所的天花板上掛著一根黑色尼龍繩。我還以為這是給殘疾人用的沖洗器。
然而，當我拉下它時，它觸發(fā)了警報，3名店員沖進了我所在的廁所，而我的褲子還在腳踝上 -_-
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處

Chinni Mahesh
Originally Answered: What is your most embarrassing moment as a foreigner in another country?
When I traveled for the first time to US (San Fransisco).. the tiresome journey of 23 hours made me jet-lagged.
I came out of the airport and a cabbie stopped by and loaded my luggage in the back seat. I silently went to the front seat and closed my eyes.
Once cabbie was done loading the luggage, he came to the front and asked if I wanted to drive the car? I was surprised why he wants me to drive only to find out I was actually sitting in the driver seat.
I was embarrassed , cabbie later told me that it was common for all Indian and England passengers that they sit in the left side of the car.
P.S: As many pointed this may not be very embarrassing, but I did not even check the steering before sitting and I felt it embarrassing

當我第一次去美國（舊金山）旅行時……23個小時的疲憊旅程使我反應遲鈍。
我從機場出來，一位出租車司機接了我，把我的行李放到了后座上。我默默地走到前排座位上，閉上眼睛。
出租車司機裝好行李后，走到前面問我：你是要自己開車嗎？
我很驚訝，他為什么要這么問我，然后，我發(fā)現(xiàn)我居然坐在了駕駛座上。
我很尷尬，出租車司機后來告訴我，所有印度和英國的乘客，都會習慣性的坐在左側(cè)，這很常見。
PS：正如許多人所指出的，這可能不是很尷尬，但我坐下來之前，都沒有注意到方向盤，我覺得很尷尬。

Anup Mohan
I was taking a train from Shenzhen to Beijing, in China.
My friend booked the ticket for me. The train journey was supposed to be for about 24 hours, since it was a slow train.
I was the only foreigner in the entire car/coach and was getting a lot of attention anyway.
I was sitting on the seat for about 2 hours. Then, A guy approaches me. Based on his hand movements, he was asking me to stand up. I said, ‘this is my seat’ and he starts laughing.
Then, I stood up (extremely confidently) and gave him my train ticket.
And he starts laughing really bad, gradually each and every person in the coach/car was looking at me and laughing. They were laughing so bad that it was the most embarrassing moment.
The guy who was asking to stand up pointed the date on the ticket to me. After looking at it for 5–10 seconds, I realized that my booking was for the next day and my friend booked a wrong ticket for me.
The next 22 hours were horrible for me. I couldn’t speak Chinese and had to stand the entire journey for 22 hours.

我當時在中國，坐火車從深圳到北京。（譯注：6年前）
我的朋友幫我訂了票。火車要開24小時左右，因為火車開得很慢。
我是整個車廂里唯一的外國人，受到了很多關(guān)注。
我在座位上坐了大約兩個小時。然后，一個家伙走近我。根據(jù)他的手部動作，我明白他是要我站起來。
我說，“這是我的座位”，他開始大笑起來。
然后，我（非常自信地）站起來，把我的火車票給他看。
他開始笑得更厲害了，漸漸地，車里的每個人都看著我笑。他們笑得很厲害，這是最尷尬的時刻。
那個要求我站起來的人，把票上的日期指給我看?？戳?-10秒后，我意識到我訂的是第二天的票，我的朋友給我訂錯了票。
接下來的22個小時，對我來說太可怕了。我不會說中文，不得不一直忍著站了22個小時。

Nick Nolder
My most embarrassing time was asking half of the people in downtown Beijing to kiss me.
I was studying Mandarin at a language school in Beijing. We were given the task of asking people throughout the city a series of questions. The Chinese word for 'to ask' is the same as 'kiss', only using a different tone. Well needless to say I was using the wrong tone.
So, after 3 hours of asking countless strangers to kiss me, my teachers finally corrected me to great embarrassment.

我最尷尬的一次，是在北京市中心，對一半的人要求他們的親吻。
我在北京的一所語言學校學習普通話。我們得到一個任務，去市中心，對那里的人們問一系列問題。
“問”的中文單詞與“吻”相同，只是語調(diào)不同。不用說，我用錯了語調(diào)。
所以，在3個小時里，我要求了無數(shù)陌生人的親吻后，我的老師才終于糾正了我的尷尬。

Anne Haefele
August 2001 I was studying abroad in Germany and would often complain in German how hot I was. I would say "Oh, Mann! Ich bin so heiss!" Turns out, I was exclaiming how horny I was instead of how warm I was due to the weather. I was completely embarrassed.

2001年8月，我在德國留學，經(jīng)常用德語抱怨我有多熱。
我會說：“哦，Mann！Ich bin so heiss！”
結(jié)果這句話的意思是：我在感嘆我有多饑渴，而不是因為天氣的原因我有多熱。我真的很尷尬。

Hannah Han
The following instances happened during my first trip to the US from Australia, while I was visiting graduate schools and taking some time out being touristy.
I checked out of a hotel and realized that I had forgotten something inside, so I went to the hotel clerk to ask to reenter the room.
Me: I forgot my thongs in the room.
Him: Thongs (eyes wide open)?!
Me: Yes, thongs. Can you give me the key so I can go get them?
He is still staring. The other clerk is now looking uncomfortable also.
Him: Here you are (in a low voice).
I wondered why he acted so strange. So, I checked the meaning of thongs, just in case. To my dismay, thongs, which means flip-flops in Australia, means g-strings in the US.

下面這個例子發(fā)生在我從澳大利亞第一次去美國的時候，當時我正在參觀研究生院，并抽出一些時間去旅游。
我從一家酒店退房，發(fā)現(xiàn)自己有東西忘在里面了，于是我去找酒店職員要求重新進入房間。
我：我把丁字褲忘在房間里了。
他：丁字褲（睜大眼睛）？！
我：是的，丁字褲。你能把鑰匙給我，讓我去拿一下嗎？
他仍然盯著看。另一個職員的眼神，我現(xiàn)在想起來仍然感覺不舒服。
他：給你（低聲）。
我想知道他為什么表現(xiàn)得這么奇怪。所以，以防萬一，我檢查了thongs（丁字褲）的含義。
令我沮喪的是，thongs 在澳大利亞的意思是人字拖，而在美國的意思是丁字褲。

Antonio Conejos
I was traveling alone in Barcelona and had dinner in a trendy tapas place, the kind which is crowded and lively. Knowing that tapas are small I ordered a bunch of different items.
A couple of minutes pass and my first order arrives, the waiter places a plate with a large (perhaps the largest) individual mushroom I had ever seen. The thing is I have no idea if this is my first order since I had ordered off of the Spanish menu and while I thought at the time I knew what I was doing the appearance of this large mushroom threw that assumption into doubt.
Still trying to look like I knew what I was doing I sliced the mushroom up and took a big bite out of it, to the laughter and horror of everyone, diners and staff, present.
The waiter quickly came back and took the mushroom away from me. Turns out the mushroom was only for display, and had been on display already for several months. It had been put in front of me not for me to eat but because I was at the bar and they really put stuff out for display there. I found all of this out from another diner who spoke English and who translated what the waiter was saying.
Everyone got a good chuckle out of it, not in a mean way, more in a surprised what-are-you-doing laugh.
The waiters were very nice after and I even got free dessert at the end of the meal.

我獨自一人在巴塞羅那旅行，在一家時尚的小吃店里吃晚飯，那里既擁擠又熱鬧。
我知道小吃都很小，所以，我點了一堆不同的東西。
幾分鐘后，我的第一份訂單到了，服務員放了一個盤子，里面有一個大的（也許是我見過的最大的）蘑菇。
問題是，我不知道這是否是我從西班牙菜單上點的第一份菜，雖然我當時以為我知道自己點的是什么，但這種大蘑菇的出現(xiàn)，讓我對這一假設產(chǎn)生了懷疑。
我仍然試圖讓自己看起來像知道自己在做什么，我把蘑菇切成薄片，咬了一大口。
在場的所有人，食客和工作人員都震驚了，然后笑了起來。
服務員很快回來，把蘑菇從我身邊拿走了。
原來蘑菇只是用來展示的，而且已經(jīng)展示了好幾個月了。
它被放在我面前，不是用來給我吃的，而是因為我坐在吧臺旁，他們把東西放在那里展示。
我從另一位會說英語的食客那里知道了這一切，他翻譯了服務員的話。
每個人都從中得到了一次開懷的大笑，而不是刻薄的嘲笑，他們更多的是驚訝：你到底在做什么?。?！
之后服務員態(tài)度依然友善，甚至在我用餐結(jié)束時，送了我一份免費的甜點。
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處

Anonymous
I was walking around Lille, France and walked into a park eventually.
A man in his car stopped and just looked at me. Feeling puzzled, I walked toward him and thought he was just needed some direction guidance. Turned out he was offering money for sex and he thought I was interested.
"Geez...French guys are crazy!" I shook my head and walked away. Of course I left the park then.
So, few streets away the park, I was standing beside the road waiting to cross it. A man in a car stopped again and said “bonjour” to me. I was like " What's wrong with all the French guys?" I shook my head again and he drove away.
Feeling so frustrated, I told my French friend about it and he laughed so hard because I was walking in a red light district. Yup, I was a "prostitute" for that day.

我在法國的里爾散步，最后走進了一個公園。
一個坐在車里的男人停下來看著我。我感到困惑，朝他走去，我以為他是想找我問個路。事實證明，他居然是想用錢讓我提供性服務，他認為我會感興趣。
“天啊……法國人都瘋了！”
我搖搖頭走開了。我當時就離開了公園。
然后，在離公園幾條街遠的地方，我站在路邊等著過馬路。
一個坐在車里的男人再次停下來，對我說：“你好”。
我想：“所有的法國人都怎么了？”
我再次搖頭，他開車離開了。
我感到很沮喪，把這件事告訴了我的法國朋友，他笑得很厲害，因為我走在紅燈區(qū)。是的，那天我是個“妓女”。

Mark Horn
I had just arrived in Sao Paulo after an all night flight. My friend picked me up from the airport and took me to a restaurant for breakfast. I used the restroom, and forgot something I well knew, that in Brazil, toilet paper goes into the trash can, not into the toilet. The paper must not have flushed.
A waitress went into the restroom to clean after I left. Before I reached my table, she emerged and announced in a voice so loud that everyone in the restaurant could hear, ‘he threw toilet paper into the toilet’. I quietly cringed, pretended not to understand Portuguese, and ate my breakfast…

經(jīng)過一整晚的飛行，我剛剛抵達圣保羅。
我的朋友來機場接我，帶我去一家餐館吃早餐。
我去上廁所，我忘記了一件我很清楚的事情，在巴西，廁紙是要扔進垃圾桶的，而不能扔進廁所。因為這個紙不一定能被沖走。
我離開廁所后，一位女服務員走進洗手間打掃衛(wèi)生。
在我走到餐桌前，她走了出來，用餐廳里每個人都能聽到的聲音宣布，“他把廁紙扔進了廁所”。
我悄悄地縮了縮，假裝聽不懂葡萄牙語，然后繼續(xù)吃早餐……