On Saturday, while on a day-trip adventure with an English class, I filed in for my seat at a Tiger Show. One guy was in my way. I kept saying excuse me in Thai, "Ka tort ka." Then I realized he could be from somewhere other than Thailand! I then spoke in English and he moved. He must have been Chinese or Korean, as most of the tourists were at the park that day.
You think I'd know by now, wouldn't you? That reminded me a very embarrassing moment on an airplane going back to the USA after my first two years here. Until now, I probably haven't shared it with you. I needed distance before I could openly share my ignorance.
My American teammate and I shared our row on the plane with an Asian woman about my age. While getting up for the bathroom or saying excuse me, I tried to speak to her in Thai. She didn't respond. Then I tried Japanese. She didn't respond. I would turn to my teammate surprised and talk about this communication predicament. (In Thailand, I get to used to being able to talk in English to a fellow American freely since no one around understanding.) Finally, somehow near the end of the flight, the woman starts talking to me in ENGLISH! She's Korean-American. I was so embarrassed. After some discussion, we find out that we grew up only 5 minutes away from each other. It's a small world! Shouldn't I know that by now?
2 comments:
The same thing happened to me on the way back from Kazakhstan - I kept asking a man to move in Russian and then finally realized just to use English. He was from Canada.
oh melanie, your great stories never end!
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