Expatriate Debrief While in Berlin, I Visited
While in Berlin, I visited a large art museum where, as in most parts of Europe, I was surrounded by people from all over the world. Docents guided small groups of people through the museum, talking about the art in the native language of the groups of people. A group of Japanese people were guided by a quiet, polite, and diminutive middle-aged woman. I don't understand Japanese so I couldn't effectively eavesdrop—but it wouldn't have mattered if I did because she was so soft spoken—her group members pressed close around her—that I wouldn't have been able to hear what she said without closing the physical gap in an obvious manner. The group of Spanish-speaking visitors enthusiastically gave eye contact to those around them, gave way to others as they moved about the room, and often linked arms or touched the hands of people in their group. A large, loud-spoken woman stood well away from the German-speaking group. Her group members spread out in front of whatever work of art they were admiring, such that, they took up three times the space they needed to accomplish their viewing and their discussion. The German docent seemed unaware that there were other visitors in the room, her guttural phrases bouncing off the uncarpeted floors and the bare ceilings, in an intrusive staccato.
This is not an exaggeration, nor is it meant to be stereotypical. National personality is regularly manifested, even in these days of a fast, flat world.