Ok, that’s better than “I am a Weiner”, which may be more apropos to Vienna but far more risible…

I think most of what we call cultural differences can be summarized in differences in communication styles.  I seem to frequently trip over them as I cross cultural divides, both in my personal and professional lives.

Today we crossed over to Austria in search for hidden Mozart treasures in Vienna.  On the train ride over we met a young Spanish couple thoroughly confused at the Czech-English instructions being doled out by the attendants.  After the usual “where have you been and where are you going” we decided to tag along since they had a better thought out plan with regards to accomodation.  The clever reader may infer “cheaper price per night” and would stand uncorrected :).

We arrived in Vienna, and after much fumbling about, arrived a few stops outside the city center.  Our new found friends had reserved an actual hotel room for 40 euros, which clearly beat our 40 euros for a hostel (and this with breakfast included!).

I asked for a room, and the clerk said 90 euros.  I looked back puzzled and inquired as to why my friends had booked for only 40 euros.  He said, “internet booking 40 euros.  Here 90 euros”.  Trying to be clever, I replied… “do you have wifi?”.  “Yes, here is wifi password.”  “Can I book online?”.  “Yes, here is site to get cheaper price”.

Unfortunately everything was booked, and Yano was upset as to why we couldn’t get the cheaper price.  So we looked around on google maps and decided to meander over to the city center and at least get something more centric.  Right before leaving, I politely asked the gentleman “I can’t find the cheaper price on the internet.  Can you help me?”  He browsed the aforementioned website for a while and replied “Oh, I see.  Internet booking all booked up.  Sorry.”.

All of a sudden I clicked my German communication translator and decided to give it one more try… “Would it be possible to get your internet price but book in person?”.  He stared back nonchalantly and replied “of course, no problem.  That will be 40 euros.”

It may seem funny, but I still get tripped when dealing with eastern European engineers, because I feel I haven’t perfected the art of asking the right questions in a language that is equally understandable to both parties.  You see, it’s not that the man was being difficult, it’s that I clearly didn’t know how to ask the right questions.  I’ve been bitten (no pun intended) by this many times, and I’ve obviously not gotten the hang of it.  But at least now I try not to get frustrated, cause I know it’s mostly my fault.

And in the Germans’ defense, they’re not alone on this.  There’s an entire profession of people that think and communicate similarly… they’re called engineers (and all of their affiliates) :-).