WHEN TRAVELLING OVERSEAS

  I was reading a few articles on the Reuters site this morning and came across one article about a Nigerian comic who was arrested on suspicion of  smuggling drugs in his stomach and it reminded me of a rather frightening incident that happened to me at the airport in Paris.
As I was going through security  I was pulled aside and had to empty my carry on luggage for security to check.  The security people then patted me down and started questioning me, and, not speaking a word of French I had no idea what they were asking me.  I kept saying I don't speak French only English but they  did not understand me and still kept on asking me questions and they seemed to be getting more aggressive when I could not answer them.  This went on long enough for me to become very alarmed.  Eventually they must have realised I had no idea what they were saying and because there was nothing in my bags I was allowed to leave.
This incident made me wish I had paid attention in French classes when I was at school at least long enough to tell them in French that I didn't speak French.
The article in Reuters made me realise I could have ended up in the same predicament this poor Nigerian comic has found himself in.
When travelling overseas it really is a good idea to learn a few basic phrases in the language of the countries you are visiting before you leave home.  Phrases such as, "Hello", "Good morning", "Good night" will please the people you meet and things such as "where is the toilet", "please" and "thank you", etc will probably make your holiday much more enjoyable for you.