![\"Screen](\"http:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/01\/screen-shot-2013-01-29-at-8-51-08-pm.png?w=277&h=186&fit=277%2C186&resize=277%2C186\")
<\/a>It is not always that easy though.\u00a0 Every once and awhile you get a cashier that decides to have a chat with you.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t know the local language so well, then situations like this can become a challenge for you.\u00a0 Sure you know the word for \u201creceipt\u201d and \u201cthanks\u201d, but when the cashier strays from those simple words, things can get a little bit uncomfortable.\u00a0 How embarrassing when you can\u2019t understand what is going on?\u00a0 How even MORE embarrassing it is when there are many people (locals) standing in line waiting for their turn and rolling their eyes at you?<\/p>\nEven if you do know the local language, it is not always an easy thing to speak up in public.\u00a0 One colleague of mine just mentioned to me that even after 20 some years of living and working in her host country, she specifically plans the right time to go to her local bakery.\u00a0 She prefers to go during a time when there are less people there; when they are not so busy.\u00a0 Even know she is highly proficient in the local language, she is still uncomfortable at times yelling out her order when everyone around maybe judging her on her pronunciation, etc.\u00a0 It is not always fun to let all the locals know that you are not<\/em> from their country\/not<\/em> a native speaker.\u00a0 Whether the other people in the bakery even care or notice, this is a very common feeling to have when living abroad.<\/p>\n Unfortunately you can\u2019t live you life in your host country trying to avoid all linguistic encounters with the locals.\u00a0 You must eventually go through a check-out line and you will eventually have a cashier trying to tell you things. Not all linguistic encounters with the cashier (while living abroad) though end up in embarrassment for you.\u00a0 Some situations might end up being quite funny.\u00a0 They might be quite memorable for you and a good experience; giving you a good story to share with your other expat friends.\u00a0 One time in Spain, I was checking-out at a grocery store.\u00a0 As the cashier was ringing up the items I was going to purchase, she motioned towards a one liter bottle of Fanta.\u00a0 I thought she was trying to get me to buy it.\u00a0 In turn, I told her no.\u00a0 But the cashier kept on trying to give the bottle of Fanta to me.\u00a0 Finally, I realized that she was trying to just give it to me for free as it was a special promotion (it was a new flavor of Fanta\u2026pineapple!).\u00a0 I told her \u201cOH, es libre!\u201d\u00a0 Of course, some people around me and the cashier laughed a bit at me. The word libre<\/em> does me free, but it is the word free that you would use like when you unlock a cage of a zoo animal and letting them be free. I should have used the word gratis<\/em>.<\/p>\n This comical situation is what happens all to often to expats.\u00a0 You are in a situation that you weren\u2019t prepared for ahead of time.\u00a0 Because of the unpreparedness, you get nervous.\u00a0 And because you are nervous, your brain does not think too clearly to either try and understand what was being said to you or get the words that you know in the local language out in the correct manner.\u00a0 It is all part of living abroad I guess.\u00a0 How boring and monotonous to go through a check out line in your own home country, when you can go through multiple check-out lines in your host country and experience the unexpected?<\/p>\n If you have a culture-related story to share about your experience living abroad, send us a message here<\/a> and we will see about getting your story as a guest author on our International School Community blog<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How much do you need to say when you are going through the check-out line?\u00a0 Not much usually. Just get your items through the scanner, swipe your credit card, bag your goods up in a reusable bag that you brought and then you get on your way. It is not always that easy though.\u00a0 Every […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[1551,40,42,187,186,614,530,989,1552,46,1553,60],"class_list":["post-1613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discussion-topics","tag-check-out-lines","tag-culture-shock","tag-expat-life","tag-international-school-educator","tag-international-school-teacher","tag-life-abroad","tag-life-as-an-expat","tag-life-of-an-international-school-teacher","tag-linguistic-encounters","tag-living-abroad","tag-shopping","tag-teaching-abroad"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2flVT-q1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":483,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/discussion-topic-things-i-an-international-school-teacher-have-not-done-in-a-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":1613,"position":0},"title":"Discussion Topic: Things I (an international school teacher) Have Not Done in a Year","author":"ISCommunity","date":"February 28, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"After living abroad for so many years, I have forgotten all the things that you don\u2019t do anymore.\u00a0 We used to have a different life, didn\u2019t we?\u00a0 But now that you are living abroad, many of your routines have changed. Being that these changes have now become your new routines,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Discussion Topics"","block_context":{"text":"Discussion Topics","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/discussion-topics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/02\/screen-shot-2012-02-28-at-6-58-54-pm.png?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2619,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/new-survey-percentage-staff-expat-hired\/","url_meta":{"origin":1613,"position":1},"title":"New Survey: What percentage of your staff is expat hired?","author":"ISCommunity","date":"January 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A new survey has arrived! Topic:\u00a0\u00a0What percentage\u00a0of your staff is expat hired? International schools are definitely not all the same. \u00a0You might think that the international school you want to work at has mostly expat teachers, but that might not always be the case. Many international schools hire locally. \u00a0The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Surveys"","block_context":{"text":"Surveys","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/surveys\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/new_teachers.jpg?fit=640%2C425&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/new_teachers.jpg?fit=640%2C425&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/new_teachers.jpg?fit=640%2C425&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":284,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/educating-children-abroad-can-be-an-expensive-business-so-its-important-to-start-planning-early\/","url_meta":{"origin":1613,"position":2},"title":"Educating children abroad can be an expensive business, so it\u2019s important to start planning early","author":"ISCommunity","date":"October 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"International School Community would like to highlight another article from the Guardian.co.uk website.\u00a0 This time it is related to international schools and how expensive they are to some families. The title of the article by Dawn Cowie: Educating children abroad can be an expensive business, so it\u2019s important to start\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Discussion Topics"","block_context":{"text":"Discussion Topics","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/discussion-topics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static.guim.co.uk\/sys-images\/Guardian\/Pix\/commercial\/2011\/7\/20\/1311172585749\/Four-schoolgirls-walking-007.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3371,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/save-money-working-international-school-teacher-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":1613,"position":3},"title":"How NOT to save money when working as an international school teacher #3: Send money home every month (Mortgage, College Debt, etc.)","author":"ISCommunity","date":"May 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"We all hear about the big possibility of saving money while working at international schools, but the reality is that many of us don't save much of any money. \u00a0So, why aren't these international school teachers saving money? How NOT to save money when working as an international school teacher\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How NOT to Save Money"","block_context":{"text":"How NOT to Save Money","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/how-not-to-save-money\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC_9710.jpg?fit=1200%2C726&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC_9710.jpg?fit=1200%2C726&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC_9710.jpg?fit=1200%2C726&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC_9710.jpg?fit=1200%2C726&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC_9710.jpg?fit=1200%2C726&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":178,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/educators-overseas-helping-teachers-secure-a-job-teaching-abroad\/","url_meta":{"origin":1613,"position":4},"title":"Educators Overseas: Helping teachers secure a job teaching abroad.","author":"ISCommunity","date":"December 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"There are many ways to secure a teaching job at an international school.\u00a0 The website Educators Overseas also offers such a service.\u00a0 Here is what they have to say about their philosophy of helping candidates find the \u201cright fit\u201d in their search to teach abroad (taken from their website): Honesty\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Great Resource"","block_context":{"text":"Great Resource","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/great-resource\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/12\/screen-shot-2011-12-07-at-10-32-01-pm.png?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/12\/screen-shot-2011-12-07-at-10-32-01-pm.png?w=350&h=200&crop=1 1x, https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/12\/screen-shot-2011-12-07-at-10-32-01-pm.png?w=525&h=300&crop=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1759,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/discussion-topic-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1613,"position":5},"title":"Discussion Topic: The people are so nice here! (A thought while traveling) Is everybody in the world really that nice?","author":"ISCommunity","date":"March 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"While traveling to a new place, you are bound to have many encounters with the locals. \u00a0Being that you probably don't know everything there is to know about a country and its language and culture before your trip, it is always an exciting adventure exploring and interacting with the people\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Discussion Topics"","block_context":{"text":"Discussion Topics","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/discussion-topics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"DSC_9520","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/DSC_9520-300x184.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1613\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nOne time a cashier confused me by asking me whether I would like to charge more<\/em> on my debit card so that I could get cash back by him.\u00a0 That situation definitely threw me off-guard as not many cashiers are outwardly offering that service to their customers. I would guess that is more customer initiated.\u00a0 Another time a cashier was trying to give me shopping tips; if I would buy three of one of the items I was purchasing, then I was to get a small discount.\u00a0 Adding a bit of public service help to me, the woman just leaving the check-out counter told me in English that the discount wasn\u2019t that<\/em> amazing.![\"6337012304_3f3f9f685d_z\"](\"http:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/01\/6337012304_3f3f9f685d_z.jpg?w=300&h=200&fit=300%2C200&resize=300%2C200\")
<\/a><\/p>\n