Visits

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Fresh Off the Boat

Today two new foreign exchange students will be getting off the train, so to speak (or boat may be better) to shack up with us for a while--one from Japan and one from Saudi Arabia. Looks like I will have to make reservations for the bathroom for some time to come.

I know there's not much of a chance that they will be as invisible as Mamdouh was. He had a real talent for that, not shared by many (human beings). Though he has left us, he is still floating around town somewhere. Every once in a while he will call. Hi Richard. How are you. I'm fine. Maybe I come on Saturday. And that's about it. As can be readily appreciated, he continues to struggle somewhat with English.

But that's okay. I myself continue to struggle with Indonesian. Part of the problem is that the language includes both the official textbook word for a thing, and then also the word that is not in the books but which everyone actually uses.

Money for instance. The correct word, the one you will find in the dictionary, is uang. The word that is used in speaking is duit. I suppose it is rather like dollar and buck.

So perhaps we speakers of English are just as guilty as they.

So now our house is to become the battleground of four languages--English, Indonesian, Japanese, and Arabic--and whatever sub dialects there might be. Add in Labrador and Chihuahua, and this could become a bit confusing.

That's where Starbucks comes in. My table, my laptop, my coffee, my sanctuary.

No comments: