Travel, I have discovered, has a language of its own. Over
our many years as bed and breakfast hosts we have welcomed visitors from over
50 countries. Most of these have spoken passable to excellent English. Some few
have not.
Yet, communication between guests and hosts, though
challenging at times, is always established.
One summer, several years ago, we were graced with the
presence of three couples from different countries who spoke very little
English and none of each other’s languages.
It all started when one of these non English-speaking guests
showed some curiosity over a creamer that Mary Helen had displayed in the
dining room china cabinet. Mary Helen proceeded to explain, first in words, and
– as she became aware that no one was understanding her - then in charade and
finally in pantomime - how she had acquired
this curious china piece.
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Before long the six guests, perhaps out of sympathy for their
hostess (who, though still undaunted, was becoming frustrated with her inability to
make herself understood), began also communicating in gestures and the most bizarre facial expressions - all amid gales of uncontrollable
laughter. After twenty minutes the story
was told. To this day, however, neither Mary Helen nor I is sure just how much
of it was understood.
My favourite vignette on this topic involves a German couple
who stayed with us for two nights. The second day, upon their return from
Algonquin Park , the husband, with eyes as big as saucers and obviously quite
delighted with himself, kept repeating .
“Wolf! Camera! … Wolf! Camera!”. We
surmised from this that the couple had encountered a wolf while on a trail hike
and managed to capture it on camera. Naturally, I was pleased for him and
impressed that he had successfully expressed himself with knowledge of only two
English words.
It was only some years later when I was recounting the
incident to two German guests (whose English was excellent) that I learned that
the words ‘wolf’ and ‘camera’ are identical in both English and German.
Yes. Lasting memories. We have many of them.
Looking for missing china pieces gives me a reason to check out china and gift shops like the one at Madonna House in Combermere.
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