The confusion of gestures
With the development of the means of communication a lot of non-verbal signs and gestures that earlier belonged to the culture of one nation became international. There are a lot of signs and gestures that are used all around the world and people believe that those symbols are of the same meanings in every county. But, those people are extremely wrong as every nation have its peculiar meaning for a sign that is considered to be international. In order to avoid misunderstood and offence of one's feelings it is important to know the peculiarities of the meaning of each pseudo-international symbol.
Every one knows the sign that is showed as a ring composed by the fingers. Most people consider it to be an international sign and believe that its meaning is general for all people and countries but it's not. Say, if you show this sign for American people it will mean "okay" and there will be no negative meaning of that sign. Though, in no case you should use it while you are at German. The Germans have their own interpretation of that sign and that interpretation is totally different than the American one. So, if you use this sign in conversation with Germans it will mean that suggest them to have a sex with you.
In some countries of the Mediterranean basin this sign is recognised as sign of homosexuality, so, you'd better never use it as visiting those countries. If you will use this sign while in Japan it will be recognised as "money", but in France this sign will say "nothing". Another popular sign is a thumb up. Again, the best known, and so the pseudo-international, meaning of this sign is "cool" or "good" but there are also some interesting and surprising meanings of that sign that should be known. Say, in case if it is a sharp thumb up it will lose its positive meaning and will be recognised as "f.... you" so, watch your moves. In some countries it may also be a symbol that is recognised as "I am a homosexual". If you use it while you at Greece you will say to all Greeks to shut their mouths up, rather brutal as for me.
Another sign is a sign of victory – it is an index and a middle finger shaping the "V" letter. The most known meaning or that sign is the proclaiming of the victory but there are other interesting meanings. It is important to know that for Britain and Australia that gesture is recognised as a "victory" only in case if the sign is showed with the back of the hand. In other case this gesture is a gesture of brutal and rough meaning, it will be recognised just like the thumb up is recognised by Greeks. In counter, the British shouldn't try to make someone shut his mouth at the European countries as in that countries the V-sign is recognised as "victory" no matter the side of the palm it is faced with.
So, as travelling abroad or communicating with the representatives of other nations and cultures don't forget about the fact, that a sign, you consider to be an extremely friendly one, may be of brutal and offensive meaning for other people that belong to other cultures. In order to prevent the misunderstood and leave a good impression about your country you'd better communicate with people by means of verbal speech.