http://www.artist-at-large.com/kimba/2009/08/17/the-art-of-travel-language/ random art and travel notes ... Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:49:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://www.artist-at-large.com/kimba/2009/08/17/the-art-of-travel-language/comment-page-1/#comment-702 Jeff iBagwan Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:00:20 +0000 http://www.artist-at-large.com/kimba/?p=353#comment-702 Hey there! One of my best conversations was in Roma at the airport. We were traveling with my mom and my in-laws and we were all flying buddy passes and we got bumped. Of course, that was the last flight out that day so we had to stay over night. We're in the middle of no where and we're at the mercy of any hotel. I went downstairs and there was a guy sitting at a hotel information booth. He was obviously off the clock and reading a newspaper with his feet up. It took me a while and he was very hesitant to extend a helping hand. We started talking about ourselves and ended up talking about everything and anything. He ended up calling a friend at another hotel, getting rooms for us, got the price reduced to almost nothing and escorted us by shuttle to our hotel. While we waited we chatted for close to a total of two hours. He barely spoke English and my Italian was passable but between French, Italian, English and Spanish we shared our entire lives with each other and became fast friends. I tried to offer him money and he was shocked and said he was doing it as a favor. He showed up the next morning with another shuttle and took us to the airport where he had already pre-checked us in and escorted us to our gate. All he would take was a hardy handshake, which just goes to show that people are just people and if you are nice and friendly people anywhere will accept and welcome you! Hey there! One of my best conversations was in Roma at the airport. We were traveling with my mom and my in-laws and we were all flying buddy passes and we got bumped. Of course, that was the last flight out that day so we had to stay over night. We’re in the middle of no where and we’re at the mercy of any hotel. I went downstairs and there was a guy sitting at a hotel information booth. He was obviously off the clock and reading a newspaper with his feet up. It took me a while and he was very hesitant to extend a helping hand. We started talking about ourselves and ended up talking about everything and anything. He ended up calling a friend at another hotel, getting rooms for us, got the price reduced to almost nothing and escorted us by shuttle to our hotel. While we waited we chatted for close to a total of two hours. He barely spoke English and my Italian was passable but between French, Italian, English and Spanish we shared our entire lives with each other and became fast friends. I tried to offer him money and he was shocked and said he was doing it as a favor. He showed up the next morning with another shuttle and took us to the airport where he had already pre-checked us in and escorted us to our gate. All he would take was a hardy handshake, which just goes to show that people are just people and if you are nice and friendly people anywhere will accept and welcome you!

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