I stood outside a ramen restaurant outside of Tokyo, wondering if I should go inside. Yes, I was hungry, and yes, I needed to eat, but I questioned whether or not I should eat at this restaurant. The noodles smelled good, but I couldn’t help but wonder how the staff and customers would react to me.

When your plane touches down in a foreign country, leave your self-consciousness behind. You will only waste time by worrying what others think of you, especially if you are as much of a “people pleaser” as I am. Being a people pleaser is not a bad quality, but can certainly cause trouble when trying to survive in a foreign country.

What should I have done - go inside the ramen house and point at what I wanted? I was far from downtown Tokyo, and the waiters probably didn’t speak English. A picture of a bowl of ramen told me that it cost 800 yen, but also stated something about 11-3. Did that mean the ramen was only 800 yen from 11-3?

I didn’t want to pay more than 800 yen, and it was already time for dinner. I could have gone in and tried to order/figure out what I wanted. Instead, I turned from the store and walked around to find a different restaurant – perhaps one with an English sign or menu out front.

An Indian restaurant was only a few stores down from the ramen shop. Luckily, they had an English menu outside the store. I looked at their food and prices and eventually decided their curry rice was the only food I wanted that was in my price range. I walked up to the sliding glass door when I remembered that some curries were often made from peanuts/peanut oil. I’m seriously allergic to peanuts and would need to make sure the curry didn’t contain any nuts. My allergy made me nervous, and I grew self-conscious of ordering food at the restaurant.

How would I know that there were no peanuts in the curry? Did the waiters speak English? The restaurant was small – everyone eating would hear me stutter my way through with the waiters. So, I walked down the street, searching for yet another restaurant.

Language self-consciousness only gets in the way. It is understandable that you might be embarrassed because you don’t understand the native language. Only speaking English often makes tourists feel assuming and obnoxious. After all, you’re the one traveling to the foreign country, so it should be your duty to learn the language, right?

Well, sort of. You cannot expect people in a foreign country to know English, but that doesn’t mean you cannot speak your own language. It would be nice if you spoke the native language, but it is definitely possible to get by on the combination of English and hand gestures.

I walked through the streets as time passed and dinnertime turned into late night snack. I walked by a Chinese restaurant I had seen before. Pictures of their dishes decorated their windows, and I spied a fried rice dish with a cheap price tag. I hesitantly called the waitress outside and pointed at what I wanted. Then I wondered if the fried rice dish contained meat, or seafood. As I am also allergic to seafood, I needed to make sure the fried rice didn’t contain any. I pointed at the dish and said “seafood” in my best Japanese accent. She shook her head. My heart plummeted – after all that, my mission for dinner ended up failing because of the language barrier.

However, she called out the chef, who, in broken English, told me that it did contain seafood. The chef eventually understood that I was allergic and switched the seafood for pork. The price turned out to be cheaper because of the substitution, and I ordered my food to go.

Though cliché, always try to put yourself in another’s shoes. It may seem rude to not speak the native language, but if someone came up to you speaking a language you didn’t understand, wouldn’t you still try to help that person? The waiters, waitresses, and chefs at restaurants want your business. Only speaking English may slow down their business a little, but they will not judge you negatively, and will often times go out of their way to assist you.

It is possible to survive without speaking the native language of the country you are visiting. Just speak English and play charades. Ordering fried rice, asking if it contained seafood, and switching it out for pork was not a simple task. You just need the courage to start the conversation, even if the “conversation” contains more finger-pointing than audible words.