Like most English children, I learned foreign languages at school. When I made my first visit to the United States, I was sure I could have a nice and easy holiday without any language problem. But how wrong I was! At the American airport, I was looking for a public telephone to tell my friend Danny that I had arrived. An American asked if he could help me. "Yes," I said, "I want to give my friend a ring." "Well, that's nice. Are you getting married?" he asked. "No," I replied, "I just want to tell him I have arrived." "Oh," he said, "there is a phone downstairs on the first floor." "But we're on the first floor now," I said. "Well, I don't know what you are talking about. Maybe you aren't feeling too well after your journey," he said. "Just go and wash up, and you will feel a lot better." And he went off, leaving me wondering where on earth I was: At home we wash up after a meal to get the cups and plates clean. How can I wash up at an airport? At last we did meet. Danny explained the misunderstanding: Americans say "to give someone a call", but we English say "to give somebody a ring". When we say "to wash your hands", they say "to wash up". And Englishmen start numbering from the ground floor so the first floor is the second for Americans. The writer went to America for   _  .
education business holiday friendship