Travel triangles: Intercultural reports

by francesco basso (Italy)

I didn't expect to find Macedonia

The story is: since I am an open minded, curious traveler in search for well being, natural life style and best practices of well living, I love knowing different cultures. But what surprised me is the fact that I often found myself learning about cultures from countries far away from the one were I was. Two episodes: I was in Macedonia and I went alone for a few hours excursion to canyon Matka, one of the most popular outdoor destinations in that country. After recovering from a bus ride in 'Macedonian style' - bus drivers drift and drive fast in blind curves -, I started walking the initially wide and comfortable path to find it, half an hour later, very narrow and sometimes slippery, without the end in sight! I was alone and feeling worried when I saw a boat far below in the river which I asked to, half with the language of gestures which we Italians are great at :-), which way to go and the people on the boat answered me: “you are in the middle of the path, half an hour from the start, half an hour from the end”. Guess my reaction… Mournfully going back to the starting point, I met the person that changed my day and mood! A middle aged Japanese man, talking English without Japanese accent, with whom I immediately started to talk. The subject of our talk? Japanese and Italian cultures, among the most different! I gained, in a very unexpected and unusual way - since I was careful not to slip into the river - a lot of information about the Japanese families, their habits, their working culture. But, above all, I had the occasion to reflect over our differences: They (Japanese) are tidy, silent, organised, workers, respectful towards others. We (Italians) are noisy, lazy, sleepy (in the South), sly (sometimes in a positive sense, sometimes not), unrespectful of others and of public things, we try to get the most doing the least :)( But also. Japanese devote their lives to their company, first, and have little or no spare time; we enjoy more our lives, dedicating much more free time to our families and enjoying the richness of our country: natural-historical landscapes, sun, food, culture and so on. The second lesson I have learned came from an Australian family. I was in Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia, a beautiful country located in the former Jugoslavia. I was melt in the culture of the place, wandering around the streets of the old city center, when I met two girls that resembled mother and sister (and that actually were mother and daughter). They greeted me saying: ‘Hello, where are you going?”. I became curious because they suddenly gave me confidence and showed interest in me in a way I didn't expect, since I come from Southern Italy, where women are not so expansive with strangers, especially men. I went on, walking with them; the mother started talking a lot about herself, about her country of origin, Tanzania (a wonderful island which, till that time, I only knew as a a place of fantasy where the fictional character Taz, from the Warner Bros cartoon series Taz-mania, was based in); her daughter, on the contrary, was really silent and shy, as her mother kept telling me... We went on and spent three hours talking about us (the only person attentive to the attractions of the museum was the daughter, of course! We had dinner, we went back home together and, at the end, I felt very well at the idea of having spent so much time with two perfect strangers that I never thought of meeting. To conclude, travelling is always a worthy experience, that opens your mind and gives you an unpredictable means to change your knowledge and point of view. So, keep travelling and enjoy it🙂 !