So, What's Your Sign?

Carol and Steve:  As we traveled throughout the world, one of the things that kept us all laughing was the signs.  Now, don’t get me wrong, we were very grateful for the large number of signs that included English or pictures or both.  But the number of times we stopped to giggle at the confusion a sign created, the drama it predicted, or the sheer goofiness it presented, was large enough to provide us with an entire blog post worth of goodies.

Bathrooms

Icons for bathrooms are pretty understandable wherever you go in the world, but we enjoyed the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) differences.

This sign is from Singapore.  While we appreciate that, for once, there is a man changing the baby’s diaper, we were concerned about the rest. It seems that only tiny people get wheelchairs, and that all wheelchair bound persons must use the men’s section, as there clearly is only one wall in this facility.  So if you are female or not tiny, or perhaps both, you better damn well be able to use your legs.

In Morocco, women going to the bathroom have to leave their arms outside, and the air dryers apparently operate from the floor up, Marilyn Monroe style.  Either that, or women’s rumps tend to be on the large side in Marakesh, because we certainly saw no hoop skirts during our visit.

In Malaysia, women may keep their arms, but they only get one leg.  Or, perhaps this is the toilet set aside for scarecrows.

In Switzerland you must have proper evening attire to use the restroom. Though Steve insists the woman is wearing nothing but shoes and is hiding behind a surfboard, or perhaps a tablecloth.

In Italy they have a good sense of humor about their bathroom signs.  This sign was from a restaurant in the Cinque Terre region.  Do you think the woman suspects anything?

And this beauty was in a parking garage near Lucca, Italy.

We saw the sign below at the airport in Tokyo. It’s clearly showing that it’s for women, it's handicapped accessible, and it has facilities to hold a child and to change diapers, but what do you think that middle symbol allows for? Giving birth? Pap smears?
 

Of course, they have some pretty advanced technology in Japan, as you can see by the sign below. So maybe the man in the sign above is assembling a robot friend or something. You never can tell.

Road Signs

Road signs were both a source of stress and amusement.  We often weren’t sure when we were driving if the road we were on was really meant for cars or if driving on it required a special permit. So when we saw a sign like this we’d frequently panic.  It turns out that this sign just means you can’t park.

Sometimes the signs had that familiar red slash through them but at other times a simple red border around the edge indicated that you were not supposed to do something.  This threatening sign appeared frequently.  We had no idea what we were supposed to be looking for. Perhaps they meant “Get excited!” or “Drive with gusto!”

Throughout Europe, you were often told when you were leaving a town by seeing the name of the town with a slash through it.

However in Monaco, they took this even further by helpfully letting us know that we were no longer in a tunnel.  And thank goodness they said something.  I may never have inhaled again!

For a while we thought the following signs meant we couldn’t walk down certain streets, but it turns out they just meant that the pedestrian only section had ended.  But it’s more fun to come up with our own interpretations and think of these as directives for ways you were or were not allowed act.

For instance, “no holding hands” and “no hands on hips”.  

You can draw your own conclusions about the purpose of the two signs below. They were on the same post but back to back.

Our favorite sign, which appeared constantly throughout Europe, we dubbed “no big hands”.

We liked the variety of pedestrian crossing signs throughout Europe.

I’m pretty sure that in the US, kids as young as these would not be walking alone.  These children from Croatia appear to be tangrams.

I think these kids are running away from home.

When we arrived in Morocco seeing this stop sign was our “we’re not in Kansas anymore” moment.

A couple of signs we never did figure out.

Lost in Translation:

Misspellings and poor translations were rampant in Costa Rica, Mexico and Asia and here are a few gems we came across.

Do you think they’re paying a license fee for these “aMgry” birds?

The time for a gentle sale has come and gone.

I’ve never tried “snorking”.  Steve says that perhaps our marriage would stay a bit fresher if I did.

As there was no construction going on nearby, we weren’t actually sure how we were being inconvenienced when we saw this sign, but we were glad to know they regretted it.

I guess they figure that if it’s all one word in German, it should be that way in English too.

But all you schmendriks have to go another way.

Why thank you, I do feel much better!

In Malaysia their definition of “Vegetarian” is a bit different than ours.  Perhaps the poultry isn’t allowed to eat beef before they cook it?

These were the snacks offered to us in our Cambodian hotel.  I might have tried them if they coated the fish in the peas.

Public Transportation

We used a LOT of public transportation on this trip.  Seating sections reserved for the elderly or disabled were common.  But the signs were always entertaining.

We first saw this sign in Austria and the kids said, “why is it always a mother with a child”.  I guess our kids weren’t the only ones who felt that way because soon after we saw this version of the sign.

Then of course we got asked “Why didn’t they switch it up on the last circle?”  Long conversations about seahorses ensued.

This sign from Malaysia was the only warning we saw about indecent behavior.  Carol likes that the kissing couple appears to be from the 1800’s.

We weren’t sure what this sign on trains in the Netherlands meant.  Perhaps it was encouraging people to strike up conversations?  But only one speech bubble?  So if and when you each speak, the words that come out of your mouths must be simultaneous and identical?  JINX!

In Singapore they have priority seating for monks.  Or perhaps mummies.

This sign from Malaysia was one of our favorites.  We don’t remember Carol’s belly glowing when she was pregnant.  And does the guy with a cane need an Italian restroom or something?

Signs in both Europe and Asia seemed far more dramatic than in the US. 

What’s up with the black and white guy?

The question is whether they will listen, isn't it?

Well at least there is no confusion here.

In this sign from Japan, everyone is happy until someone tries to pass on an escalator, then all hell breaks loose.  At the bottom of the sign, notice that the figure’s crotch is circled.  Your guess is as good as ours as to why.  Perhaps if you pass, you will contract a venereal disease as punishment?

This sign was at a villa we visited in Italy.  I guess they wanted to be sure that you didn’t steal any of their fruit.  Unless of course you were planning on re-gifting it to someone you weren’t too fond of.

Italy has taken a firm stance against killer front loaders. 

This sign was at an open air museum in Switzerland.  I have no idea who made my shoes.  Should I be worried?

We found this sign at a beautiful English garden.  We loved wandering around it, but I’m not sure you can label something “wilderness” with a clearly marked sign and then nicely detail it on a map, and have it still actually be “wilderness”.

Apparently, they like keeping it o'natural.

Who even does that?

So we’re pretty sure that at one time the hiker on this sign had a head, but just to be safe we did not go up to “Monte Subasio”.

Carol hasn’t taken any French since high school, but she's pretty sure the first line says “You are invited to touch nothing.”  She thinks she should use that phrase for things with her children. “You are invited to eat less candy,” or “You are invited to refrain from bickering.”

Well that’s all the signs we have pictures of, so we will leave you with this, “You are invited to stop reading.”  Way to make it all the way to the end!