世界各地國(guó)與國(guó)、民族與民族之間由于風(fēng)俗習(xí)慣和文化背景大相徑庭，差距甚遠(yuǎn)，如果不加以溝通，必然會(huì)產(chǎn)生矛盾和摩擦，甚至戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)。因此，只有通過(guò)交流、溝通才能達(dá)到相互理解、友好交往、和諧共處、共同進(jìn)步的目的。

碰鼻禮

2002年，我剛開始練口語(yǔ)時(shí)，很想找外國(guó)人交流，哪怕和外國(guó)人相互聽懂一兩句話，簡(jiǎn)直像炎熱夏天喝涼茶那般舒心和快樂(lè)。因此，每當(dāng)星期天上午，一早就趕到杭州六公園外語(yǔ)角“解饞”。那天也特別，就是見不到外國(guó)人，直到11點(diǎn)，有一對(duì)笑容可掬的外國(guó)中年夫婦，從湖邊過(guò)來(lái)，我立即搶上前去，相互禮節(jié)性交談后，便問(wèn)：你們是哪個(gè)國(guó)家來(lái)的?回答是新西蘭。新西蘭，我暗喜自己剛看過(guò)雜志上的一篇報(bào)道，接著問(wèn)道：

“你們住在新西蘭南島還是北島?”

“北島，住在羅圖魯阿?！?/p>

“嗬!這可是個(gè)著名的風(fēng)景名勝區(qū)，有‘彩虹泉農(nóng)莊’，有數(shù)以千計(jì)的間歇泉、噴氣孔、沸騰泥塘等地?zé)峋坝^和維芒谷火山奇景?！?/p>

那女士一聽我對(duì)他們的家鄉(xiāng)了解如此詳細(xì)，好似萬(wàn)里迢迢見到了老鄉(xiāng)，便問(wèn)我：

“Have you ever been to Rotorua?”(你去過(guò)羅圖魯阿?)

“沒(méi)有，我是從雜志上看到的。毛利人有種碰鼻禮的風(fēng)俗，是嗎?”

“是的。”說(shuō)著，她伸過(guò)頭來(lái)，把手搭在我的肩上，真的要向我行碰鼻禮了，這突如其來(lái)的舉動(dòng)，使我因而緊張起來(lái)。不過(guò)，我還是馬上鎮(zhèn)定了情緒，告誡自己，眼前這是與外國(guó)少數(shù)民族交流，可馬虎不得，于是畢恭畢敬、十分友善地也伸過(guò)頭去，與毛利人對(duì)準(zhǔn)鼻子行碰鼻禮。可周圍的人全不知毛利人的習(xí)俗，頓時(shí)哈哈大笑起來(lái)，這笑聲使我尷尬極了，從杭州人的習(xí)俗來(lái)看此舉的確不雅。當(dāng)?shù)诙嗡爝^(guò)頭來(lái)再要和我行碰鼻禮時(shí)，我屈從周圍人的無(wú)知而只好作罷。

不過(guò)，我從對(duì)話中得知，他們?cè)跁?huì)見外來(lái)客人時(shí)，不握手、不鼓掌、不擁抱、不接吻，而是行碰鼻禮，他們認(rèn)為人的靈氣在頭部，通過(guò)突出的鼻子可以與別人心靈溝通。碰一下鼻子，表示相互通靈通神；碰兩下，表示同呼吸共生存；碰三下，情誼越深。這使我想起了我國(guó)古書上記載鼻針一事。鼻針是我國(guó)針灸醫(yī)學(xué)中的一脈，中醫(yī)認(rèn)為鼻在人體中占有很重要的位置，為人之本始也。難怪古人尊之為“鼻祖”，這同毛利人對(duì)鼻的認(rèn)識(shí)有相似之處。

餐桌上的尷尬

浙江科技學(xué)院美籍教師格倫先生很熱愛中國(guó)太極拳，托人找太極拳老師，而我很想找個(gè)外籍英語(yǔ)老師做朋友。我們終于在外語(yǔ)角相識(shí)了，并商定每周六與周日在孤山空地上由我教他太極拳，他也有計(jì)劃地教我學(xué)英語(yǔ)，就這樣彼此親近了起來(lái)。

有個(gè)星期日，我約格倫夫婦來(lái)我家做客，熱情、直率的格倫當(dāng)即答應(yīng)并于當(dāng)日下午2時(shí)半就來(lái)到我家。我家招待外國(guó)朋友是頭一回，心中無(wú)底，生怕鬧出笑話和誤會(huì)。現(xiàn)在客人已登門，來(lái)不及打聽這方面的知識(shí)，只好見機(jī)行事了。我先請(qǐng)他們到客廳喝茶，拿了兩本旅游雜志給他們消遣，我和妻子便進(jìn)廚房準(zhǔn)備飯菜。

下午5點(diǎn)半開始吃晚飯，第一道菜是清湯黃魚，格倫夫婦不斷地贊美“鮮、鮮、鮮”。第二道菜是蝦蛄，這肥鮮的蝦蛄，每只約15厘米長(zhǎng)，因它第二對(duì)胸肢長(zhǎng)得像長(zhǎng)柄的鉗子，背似“盔甲”，形如螳螂，故又名螳螂蝦。格倫夫婦來(lái)自美國(guó)中部科羅拉多州，那里多高山與峽谷，從未見過(guò)此物，便詫異地問(wèn)道：

“What is this?”（這是什么？）

“It is Shrimp.”（這是蝦。）

正當(dāng)我考慮介紹如何吃法時(shí)，格倫已夾了一只塞進(jìn)嘴里，刺得他哇哇叫痛，惹得大家哈哈大笑。我立即向他道歉，并邊介紹邊示范怎么剝殼蘸醋吃，這才使他們生平第一次嘗到蝦蛄的美味。第三道菜是每人一小碗湯圓，餡是芝麻，有點(diǎn)香甜。格倫又問(wèn)：

“What is this?”(這是什么？)

“It is dumpling.”（這是湯圓。）

因?yàn)橛⒄Z(yǔ)中湯圓與水餃?zhǔn)峭辉~，得進(jìn)一步說(shuō)明原料和制作方法的不同才能區(qū)別湯圓和水餃。格倫先生以前雖吃過(guò)一次水餃，但印象不深，誤認(rèn)為這也是水餃，便往湯圓里加醋，弄得我連聲道歉。□

When I meet Foreigners in Hangzhou

By Jiang Zhou

Communication is the only effective way to bridge the differences between different nations and peoples. Only through communication can people have friendly exchanges， harmonious coexistence and shared progress. I have this understanding from my meeting with foreigners in Hangzhou. The following two anecdotes partly explain where this understanding came from.

Nose-touching greeting

It was a Sunday morning at the English Corner at the Sixth Park on the West Lake in 2002. Around 11 o’clock， I spotted a middle-aged couple loitering along the lake and rushed over. After some small talk， I asked where they came from. New Zealand. The conversation began and went on smoothly. Somewhere in the conversation， I asked whether the Maori people indeed greeted each other by touching noses. She said yes and she put her head forward and put her hand on my shoulder. I understood she wanted to touch nose with me. The unexpected gesture made me nervous for a second. But I told myself calm down. I was in a cultural exchange moment with a foreigner who might be a Maori. So reverently and friendly， I put my head forward. Our noses touched. People burst into laughing， without any idea that it was a Maori greeting. I felt a bit awkward too， because the nose-touching looked somewhat indecent in the eye of local residents. So when she put her nose up for the second touching， I stepped back， hoping she wouldn’t see the awkwardness in my smile.

We went on to chat about the Hongi， the Maori word for this greeting. We Chinese have a similar respect to nose. In traditional Chinese medicine， nose is considered the starting part of life. And ancient Chinese coined a phrase and included the word nose in it describing the founding person or ancestor of a practice.

An embarrassing dinner

Glen， a teacher at Zhejiang University of Science and Technology， wanted to find a teacher of Taiji boxing. I wanted to study English under the guidance of a foreigner. Glen and I met at the English Corner one Sunday morning. After knowing each other better， we decided to exchange lessons.

Then one Sunday morning I invited Glen and his wife to come to dinner at my home.

The first course was yellow croaker in soup. Glen and his wife said it was delicious. The second course was mantis shrimp. The yummy creature was about 15 centimeters long， with a pair of enormous claws looking like mantis. Glen had never seen such a shrimp before， being from Colorado， a mountainous region of America. I was struggling for words to describe the proper way to eat the shrimp when Glen picked up one and put it into his mouth. Immediately the thorny part hurt his mouth. We all laughed. I apologized and found some words to explain. I said we needed to remove the shell and dip the meat in the seasoning juice before we ate it.

The third course was Tangyuan， glutinous rice balls， served in a small bowl. The rice balls were stuffed with sugar and sesame. “What’s this?” “This is dumpling.” Well， in some dictionaries， both Tangyuan and Jiaozi are called dumplings. Glen had had Jiaozi before. Mistakenly thinking it was the same thing called dumpling， he began to add some drops of vinegar to the soup. I apologized again and explained the difference. □