A chat with a Hugarian in the tram

Last Saturday me and a friend met a stranger in the tram. He, an old man (78), who can't speak english, and us, who can't speak Hungarian. 

Sounds like it was a stressful and boring conversation? 

Not at all! 

To describe the situation and surrunding a little bit bettter, we were on our way back home from a day festival. He was standing in the tram 4 next to us, with his old speaker listening to music from the radio. Thats how we got into the converation. My friend came up to him and said: "Nice music man!"

He was staring at us like he had no clue what we were trying to tell him. But he still had a big and interested smile on his face. So we tried it again and used our hands while pointing on his speaker. With the nonverbal communication, for example the thumb up sign, it was so easy to understand each other, at least for a small talk. 

This was a beautiful heartwarming experience. He told us that he is still participating in city runs and used to be a really good athlet and the past, always running with his speakers, that's what he's famous for. 

He also showed us a picture of him, which he carries in his wallet all the time. A picture of him running with his speakers.

When we got out of the tram we were so happy. Meeting a stranger, with a huge age difference, a different culture, a big language barrier and totally different lifes and experiences. 

But in the end we had a nice chat, laughing and smiling a lot and sharing positive energy. 

This conversation made my friend really emotional, he said he reminds him of his grandfather, full of energy, an easy and out going person with an open mind. 

That showed me again, that adaption and successfull cross cultural communication is related to and depends a lot on your personality and your motivation to meet and get to know other people with diverse and different backgrounds. 

What a nice first experience with a lovely, old man since I arrived here in Budapest!