T A B L E_T A L K Is it safe for women to travel alone? Swap success and horror stories in the Wanderlust area of Table Talk R E C E N T L Y On the road with the Smokejumpers: Part Three By The King Teen Sold out in San Diego, boffo in Bakersfield -- the band's odyssey ends on an up note (11/18/98) Orchid ice cream By Eric Hansen An aficionado journeys to Turkey to discover the birthplace of this aphrodisiac treat (11/17/98) Another Africa By Chinua Achebe Beyond the stereotypes and clichés, a photographer and writer journey into the heart of the continent (11/15/98) This week in travel Hostages at Club Med, strikes in Italy, a Paris renaissance, Mideast warnings and more news from the travel world (11/13/98) A fiume runs through it By Thom Elkjer An American on a fly-fishing pilgrimage learns that in Italy, it's who you know that counts (11/12/98) Browse the Wanderlust Road Warrior archives Wanderlust's Official Travel Book Partner S A L O N E M P O R I U M FREE! 12-ounce bag of Salon Blend with a purchase of $30 or more. While supplies last.		B O D Y   T A L K SOMETIMES WHAT OUR GESTURES SAY IS NOT WHAT WE MEAN. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TRAVELER ROGER AXTELL HAS LEARNED THAT THE HARD WAY. BY DAWN MacKEEN | At first, when Roger E. Axtell began watching how people in other countries moved their hands, bodies and lips, he did it for self-protection. He didn't want to offend anyone by unknowingly moving his hand the wrong way or -- heaven forbid -- telling the wrong joke. Now, after 30 years of international business travel, what Axtell has found is that humor, body language, customs and gestures -- what he calls style -- are just as important to the success of a business deal as the actual terms themselves. The wrong move, whether a seemingly innocuous thumb's-up gesture or a two-finger peace sign, can blow it all. Axtell's initial observations, scribbled down on pieces of paper, have grown into nine books on what to do and what not to do when conducting business on foreign soil. Salon spoke with Axtell about his new book, "Do's and Taboos of Humor Around the World," and asked him about those innocent gestures we make all the time -- and just what they mean in other cultures. What are some survival jokes or gestures -- the basics that an international traveler can get by with overseas? The basic survival gesture is the one that is absolutely universal and rarely misunderstood -- the smile. But even though it is so ubiquitous, there are some little nuances across the globe: The Russians are known for not smiling on the streets; the French accuse Americans of smiling too much; the Japanese do not smile under formal circumstances, like if they have their picture taken for their driver's license or a Christmas photo; in Malaysia and Indonesia, they smile or even giggle when they are embarrassed or when they're nervous. A friend of mine had a Malaysian housekeeper and he got word that his mother back in the States had passed away. When the maid heard this, she smiled, almost giggled. A week later, he got the double tragic news that his father had died. She actually laughed out loud. When he asked her about it, he learned that Malaysians do this to cover terrible embarrassment. What gestures have the most meaning from country to country? The OK gesture is the single best-known gesture in the United States -- with a 98 percent recognition rate -- according to a survey from the Bradley Game Company. But in other cultures it means something entirely different -- like in the south of France, where it means zero or worthless. I took a hotel room one time and the concierge said to me, "How's your room, Monsieur?" I gave him the OK sign -- but what I was saying was that it was worthless. In Japan, the same gesture is a symbol for a coin or money. So you could theoretically have a discussion with a Japanese businessman and say, "OK, let's sign the contract." And he could think to himself, "Oh my goodness, he's making the sign for money. Does he want some money under the table?" The most notable cases of misunderstanding concerning the OK sign are Brazil, Germany and Russia -- where it refers to the anus or the vagina. Are there any blunders that stick out in your mind? When Richard Nixon visited Brazil in the 1950s, he got off the airplane and did two OK signs, which is very offensive. In 1991, when George Bush visited Australia, he did the V for victory sign in the window of his limo -- but unfortunately, his hand was the wrong way around. In all the British Commonwealth countries, this is the bird, it means "up yours." So there were pictures of him flipping the bird in all the newspapers. One time, Boris Yeltsin was sitting next to Barbara Bush at a White House dinner and he turned to his translator and asked, "What does it mean in the United States when a woman puts her foot on a man's foot?" He said that in Russia, it means she's romantically attracted to the man. The translator said, "Why?" and he said that Mrs. Bush had her foot on top of his right then. It turns out she didn't realize it, but he thought that was an occasion for a good joke, so he wrote an inscription on his menu and gave it to Mrs. Bush: "You stepped on my foot, you knew what it meant, and I felt the same way." N E X T+P A G E | A gesture can lead to a riot