本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛I was talking with one of my English teachers one day (the one with the big-headed boyfriend, for reference) and somehow we got on the topic of American sayings. She asked me to teach her some, so I started out with "Don't beat around the bush". I thought this would be appropriate, living in the Capital of Indirectness and all.
As I was explaining the meaning, she pointed to the "bush" at the end of the sentence and said "Oh...is this Prime Minister Bush?"
...He's a Prime Minister now?! What's been going on in America since I've been gone? ...And why are we beating around him?
*********************************************************************************************
I was at the gym with a female Japanese friend. We were watching the news on TV when suddenly she turns to me and asks "So, you're American, right? How many guns do you have?"
Notice the word usage here. Not "if" I have guns, no! "How many" guns do I have. Because surely, as a red-blooded American, I own guns. Yee-haw, when I'm not drinkin' my root beer and eating myself damn to death, I sure love me to shoot some stuff! *thumbs up*
Clearly, I needed to set her straight. I pointed my first finger at her in the classic "Now let me tell you something..." pose, but before words could escape my mouth, she innocently said "Oh, only one gun?"
Somewhere in the world, I imagine Charlton Heston is quite pleased with himself.
*************************************************************************************
In my town, we have an organization of townsfolk who are "internationally minded" and meet every now and then to try and promote global and cultural awareness. One of my English teachers, who just recently retired, decided that with his newfound free time that he was going to invest himself more into this organization, and asked if I would help out. I really liked working with him a lot, so I promised I would go to the events and lend a hand.
One such event was a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, which was actually conducted in English! It was very interesting and culturally enriching, but not too exciting produced in text here so I'll move along.
Afterwards, my retired English teacher (who is very much like the friendly old grandfather next door) did a basic lesson to those in attendance, which included a group of high school girls whom I happened to be sitting next to. In part of the lesson, the teacher held up flash cards with English words on them, and everyone else tried to guess what it meant in Japanese. Not too bad so far, right? Well, my teacher holds up a flashcard that reads "cockroach". He's greeted by vacant stares. So he decides to help them out, y'know, give them a hint or two. Previously, we'd done "firefly", and one of the high school girls was able to figure out what it meant by separating "fire" and "fly" and guessing what it referred to. ...Some of you probably already see where this is headed.
So he says "Ah, sometimes it works to break the word down into smaller clues. *he folds the flash card in half* Az, what is 'cock'?"
I can honestly say I'd hoped to go my whole life without a grandfather-like figure asking me "What is cock?", but nope, I can scratch that off the list now.
Anyway, this completely floored me...and I just couldn't explain why. It certainly didn't help that I was sitting next to high school girls, who didn't quite understand what was so funny, and really wanted to continue the lesson. "What's wrong? What's so funny? And...what is cock?"
At least I wasn't sitting next to the old ladies.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
As I was explaining the meaning, she pointed to the "bush" at the end of the sentence and said "Oh...is this Prime Minister Bush?"
...He's a Prime Minister now?! What's been going on in America since I've been gone? ...And why are we beating around him?
*********************************************************************************************
I was at the gym with a female Japanese friend. We were watching the news on TV when suddenly she turns to me and asks "So, you're American, right? How many guns do you have?"
Notice the word usage here. Not "if" I have guns, no! "How many" guns do I have. Because surely, as a red-blooded American, I own guns. Yee-haw, when I'm not drinkin' my root beer and eating myself damn to death, I sure love me to shoot some stuff! *thumbs up*
Clearly, I needed to set her straight. I pointed my first finger at her in the classic "Now let me tell you something..." pose, but before words could escape my mouth, she innocently said "Oh, only one gun?"
Somewhere in the world, I imagine Charlton Heston is quite pleased with himself.
*************************************************************************************
In my town, we have an organization of townsfolk who are "internationally minded" and meet every now and then to try and promote global and cultural awareness. One of my English teachers, who just recently retired, decided that with his newfound free time that he was going to invest himself more into this organization, and asked if I would help out. I really liked working with him a lot, so I promised I would go to the events and lend a hand.
One such event was a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, which was actually conducted in English! It was very interesting and culturally enriching, but not too exciting produced in text here so I'll move along.
Afterwards, my retired English teacher (who is very much like the friendly old grandfather next door) did a basic lesson to those in attendance, which included a group of high school girls whom I happened to be sitting next to. In part of the lesson, the teacher held up flash cards with English words on them, and everyone else tried to guess what it meant in Japanese. Not too bad so far, right? Well, my teacher holds up a flashcard that reads "cockroach". He's greeted by vacant stares. So he decides to help them out, y'know, give them a hint or two. Previously, we'd done "firefly", and one of the high school girls was able to figure out what it meant by separating "fire" and "fly" and guessing what it referred to. ...Some of you probably already see where this is headed.
So he says "Ah, sometimes it works to break the word down into smaller clues. *he folds the flash card in half* Az, what is 'cock'?"
I can honestly say I'd hoped to go my whole life without a grandfather-like figure asking me "What is cock?", but nope, I can scratch that off the list now.
Anyway, this completely floored me...and I just couldn't explain why. It certainly didn't help that I was sitting next to high school girls, who didn't quite understand what was so funny, and really wanted to continue the lesson. "What's wrong? What's so funny? And...what is cock?"
At least I wasn't sitting next to the old ladies.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net