you're not being as covert as you think

I haven't been to--or even read much of anything about--the other Disney parks in the US or in other countries, so I'm not sure whether this is their practice everywhere or in some places or if it's just something they do in Orlando. But anyway. EPCOT represents a big chunk of the park itself and is designed to appeal to older kids and adults. And a big part of that is called the 'World Showcase', which is divided into eleven smaller areas that are all more or less the same, each with a restaurant, a shop, a stage for shows, and a small museum. Each areas represents one of eleven different countries so all the shops and things focus on that particular country.

Disney actually got really into the idea of trying to provide as authentic an experience as possible, so each of the twelve 'Showcases' is staffed by people who are actually from those countries. (Mostly college kids studying abroad or taking part in the Disney program.) It does well to make the whole experience pretty fun, and they're naturally very good at answering pretty much any question anyone might have about their homeland.

All of these people speak English very well, but when talking to one another they often revert back to their native languages. Probably because it's easier and more comfortable, but I know for a fact that some of the time they're not speaking English so they can speak a bit more freely in front of the tourists without getting into trouble for saying something offensive.

Unfortunately, this approach only works if the people in earshot don't understand the language. Which mostly they don't, except sometimes they do. My family were hanging around Italy's souvenir shop and two of the employees were teasing each other good-naturedly in both English and Italian. The man, again only in jest, threw up one arm and smacked the bicep with his other hand. This sounds stupid to most people reading it, but it's actually a very rude gesture in Italy. Sort of like the middle finger in the US.

Being Italian, though... my mom knew. And she scolded him a bit. You could tell he definitely did not expect that to happen.