爆笑QA问答：作为一个外国人，你在另一个国家最尴尬的时刻是什么时候？

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.

作为一个外国人，我在其他几个国家有过很多尴尬的时刻。但最让我感到尴尬的，是我在目前居住的挪威的两个；
1、“我以为是口香糖，却不小心吸毒了。”
有一次，我和几个人在一家酒吧里。我们桌子上的一个女孩，向坐在桌子旁的每个人提供一种名为snus的东西，除了我，因为她知道我不喜欢吸烟、抽卷烟或任何毒品。
我天真地以为它是口香糖，因为它看起来和口香糖一模一样，它装在一个看起来像口香糖盒子的盒子里。
我想知道她为什么把它给坐在桌子上的其他人，而不给我。
然后，我问她要了一个。
她说：“里面有一点烟草，你可以吗？”
我想，是的，是的，这肯定是某种无害的口香糖。
然后，她告诉我需要把它涂在牙龈上，我照做了。
不到10分钟，我注意到我的视力变得模糊，有人在和我说话，但我无法集中注意力听他们说什么，我的头疼得很厉害，我真的很头晕。我还感到非常恶心。我对发生的事情感到困惑和不安，几乎要哭了。
然后，我告诉那里的人，出于某种原因，我感觉不太好。然后他们猜测是因为 snus ，他们让我立即吐出来。然后，他们给了我很多冰水，几分钟后我就好了。
原创翻译：龙腾网 https://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处

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.

这就是snus的样子。对我来说，它们第一眼看上去很像口香糖。
后来有人告诉我，一支snus中的烟草含量等于十支香烟中烟草的量。为了防止空气污染，挪威人使用的snus比香烟还多。在挪威，几乎每个人都使用它。

“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、“用手触摸食物。”
在印度，用手吃饭和用手触摸食物是一种常见的做法。
但在挪威，他们认为用手触摸食物是不卫生的，尤其是如果食物是放在每个人都需要去拿食物的公共托盘中，而且你的手还没有洗。
有一次我去了一家面包店，我没有用钳子取出烤饼和糕点，而是用手。
然后，当时面包店的工作人员跑过来对我说：“请不要用手碰那些，用这些。”
然后，他递给我放在托盘旁边的钳子，当时我没有看到。
但是，这不是第一次发生在我身上了。这种情况已经发生过很多次了。
我经常忘记我不是在印度，然后用手去拿食物，结果却遭到人们的斥责。
但是，现在的我还是仍然经常不记得不能用手去触碰那些不是我的、供公众食用的食物。
我还遇到了一些尴尬的时刻。我计划有一天写一本关于它们的书。

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. ;-)

美式英语震撼了我们！
早在2007年，那是我第一次访问美国。
我们三个人，是同一家公司的，一起旅行，住在同一家酒店。所以我们合租了一辆出租车。我们以前都没出过印度。
我们在机场外叫了一辆出租车。显然他不明白我们想去哪里。所以我们展示了打印出来的地址和电话号码。于是他打电话到旅馆问路。
为了装行李，我的一个朋友要求司机打开“Dickie”！
司机说：什么鬼东西！！！
我突然想起，我们应该说：“后备箱”！！
当我们说后备箱时，他松了一口气。
原创翻译：龙腾网 https://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处

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! :)

到达酒店后，我们花了一些时间才意识到他在等“小费”。最后，我们交了包括小费在内的所有钱。
更让我们尴尬的是，我问他：“我们可以拿到账单吗？”
他再次感到困惑，并问我们——“你想让我退还所有这些钱，而不向你收取任何费用吗？？”
然后，我们意识到我们应该说“收据”。
在美国，“账单”是“纸币”的同义词，而在印度，账单不过是一张收据。
还有很多困惑，但这些是史诗般的！
原创翻译：龙腾网 https://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处

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。
直到第二天早上醒来，我才意识到这一点，全身瘫痪，疼痛难忍。
咬我的蚊子携带登革热。
我不能动，不能吃东西，在床上躺了几天。最后，在我的体重大幅减轻，头发大部分掉了之后，我的两个朋友把我抱到了当地的一家医院的门口，两名保安在那里与我们对峙。
其中一名保安问我怎么了，我的朋友回答说：“他是美国人，患有登革热。”。
保安随后回应道：“我们不会让这个美国人住院。如果一个巴西人在美国，美国人不会治疗一个巴西人，所以，我们不会帮助这个美国人”。
我同时感到尴尬、愤怒和沮丧。
几天后，我飞回了美国。如果不是因为那件事，我还会住在那里。

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. -_-

在伦敦，我在一家百货公司的残疾人厕所里，厕所的天花板上挂着一根黑色尼龙绳。我还以为这是给残疾人用的冲洗器。
然而，当我拉下它时，它触发了警报，3名店员冲进了我所在的厕所，而我的裤子还在脚踝上 -_-

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

当我第一次去美国（旧金山）旅行时……23个小时的疲惫旅程使我反应迟钝。
我从机场出来，一位出租车司机接了我，把我的行李放到了后座上。我默默地走到前排座位上，闭上眼睛。
出租车司机装好行李后，走到前面问我：你是要自己开车吗？
我很惊讶，他为什么要这么问我，然后，我发现我居然坐在了驾驶座上。
我很尴尬，出租车司机后来告诉我，所有印度和英国的乘客，都会习惯性的坐在左侧，这很常见。
PS：正如许多人所指出的，这可能不是很尴尬，但我坐下来之前，都没有注意到方向盘，我觉得很尴尬。

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.

我当时在中国，坐火车从深圳到北京。（译注：6年前）
我的朋友帮我订了票。火车要开24小时左右，因为火车开得很慢。
我是整个车厢里唯一的外国人，受到了很多关注。
我在座位上坐了大约两个小时。然后，一个家伙走近我。根据他的手部动作，我明白他是要我站起来。
我说，“这是我的座位”，他开始大笑起来。
然后，我（非常自信地）站起来，把我的火车票给他看。
他开始笑得更厉害了，渐渐地，车里的每个人都看着我笑。他们笑得很厉害，这是最尴尬的时刻。
那个要求我站起来的人，把票上的日期指给我看。看了5-10秒后，我意识到我订的是第二天的票，我的朋友给我订错了票。
接下来的22个小时，对我来说太可怕了。我不会说中文，不得不一直忍着站了22个小时。
原创翻译：龙腾网 https://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处

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.

我最尴尬的一次，是在北京市中心，对一半的人要求他们的亲吻。
我在北京的一所语言学校学习普通话。我们得到一个任务，去市中心，对那里的人们问一系列问题。
“问”的中文单词与“吻”相同，只是语调不同。不用说，我用错了语调。
所以，在3个小时里，我要求了无数陌生人的亲吻后，我的老师才终于纠正了我的尴尬。

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，我在德国留学，经常用德语抱怨我有多热。
我会说：“哦，Mann！Ich bin so heiss！”
结果这句话的意思是：我在感叹我有多饥渴，而不是因为天气的原因我有多热。我真的很尴尬。
原创翻译：龙腾网 https://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处

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.

下面这个例子发生在我从澳大利亚第一次去美国的时候，当时我正在参观研究生院，并抽出一些时间去旅游。
我从一家酒店退房，发现自己有东西忘在里面了，于是我去找酒店职员要求重新进入房间。
我：我把丁字裤忘在房间里了。
他：丁字裤（睁大眼睛）？！
我：是的，丁字裤。你能把钥匙给我，让我去拿一下吗？
他仍然盯着看。另一个职员的眼神，我现在想起来仍然感觉不舒服。
他：给你（低声）。
我想知道他为什么表现得这么奇怪。所以，以防万一，我检查了thongs（丁字裤）的含义。
令我沮丧的是，thongs 在澳大利亚的意思是人字拖，而在美国的意思是丁字裤。

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.

我独自一人在巴塞罗那旅行，在一家时尚的小吃店里吃晚饭，那里既拥挤又热闹。
我知道小吃都很小，所以，我点了一堆不同的东西。
几分钟后，我的第一份订单到了，服务员放了一个盘子，里面有一个大的（也许是我见过的最大的）蘑菇。
问题是，我不知道这是否是我从西班牙菜单上点的第一份菜，虽然我当时以为我知道自己点的是什么，但这种大蘑菇的出现，让我对这一假设产生了怀疑。
我仍然试图让自己看起来像知道自己在做什么，我把蘑菇切成薄片，咬了一大口。
在场的所有人，食客和工作人员都震惊了，然后笑了起来。
服务员很快回来，把蘑菇从我身边拿走了。
原来蘑菇只是用来展示的，而且已经展示了好几个月了。
它被放在我面前，不是用来给我吃的，而是因为我坐在吧台旁，他们把东西放在那里展示。
我从另一位会说英语的食客那里知道了这一切，他翻译了服务员的话。
每个人都从中得到了一次开怀的大笑，而不是刻薄的嘲笑，他们更多的是惊讶：你到底在做什么！！！
之后服务员态度依然友善，甚至在我用餐结束时，送了我一份免费的甜点。

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.

我在法国的里尔散步，最后走进了一个公园。
一个坐在车里的男人停下来看着我。我感到困惑，朝他走去，我以为他是想找我问个路。事实证明，他居然是想用钱让我提供性服务，他认为我会感兴趣。
“天啊……法国人都疯了！”
我摇摇头走开了。我当时就离开了公园。
然后，在离公园几条街远的地方，我站在路边等着过马路。
一个坐在车里的男人再次停下来，对我说：“你好”。
我想：“所有的法国人都怎么了？”
我再次摇头，他开车离开了。
我感到很沮丧，把这件事告诉了我的法国朋友，他笑得很厉害，因为我走在红灯区。是的，那天我是个“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…

经过一整晚的飞行，我刚刚抵达圣保罗。
我的朋友来机场接我，带我去一家餐馆吃早餐。
我去上厕所，我忘记了一件我很清楚的事情，在巴西，厕纸是要扔进垃圾桶的，而不能扔进厕所。因为这个纸不一定能被冲走。
我离开厕所后，一位女服务员走进洗手间打扫卫生。
在我走到餐桌前，她走了出来，用餐厅里每个人都能听到的声音宣布，“他把厕纸扔进了厕所”。
我悄悄地缩了缩，假装听不懂葡萄牙语，然后继续吃早餐……