I've been hanging out with my new friend Jason for the past couple of days. Jason is from Northern Ireland and says stuff like, "Me foot fell asleep" and "have ye eve' had the gates chasin' ya down the street?" I understand most of what he says - but when he starts talking fast...and using expressions about inanimate objects running after me...I get a little lost.
I say to him about every ten minutes, "Huh?" and he either explains his colorful colloquialism or just says it a little slower. He calls Garry, Gahree. He says "it" when he means "eat". It's the little things.
What I've noticed is that he never stops me to say, "huh?". I'm guessing he'd say, "Pardon?". Either way, he understands every word I say....the words...the expressions, even the slang. I think part of it is that he's been to America far more than I've been to Ireland. He watches American television because Irish TV is "crap" and listens to a lot of stuff on web sites that originate from America.
I, on the other hand, have seen a lot of Lucky Charms commercials and listen to U2.
He's steeped in our culture and can speak it fluently. I have a passing knowledge of his and can crawl through a conversation about Irish culture.
My favorite scene from Good Will Hunting is the bench scene where Robin Williams and Matt Damon talk about the difference between intelligence and wisdom. It's life experience...to some degree. I find myself getting into philosophical arguments often with folks a bit younger than me with a bit less history in a given arena, and I get frustrated because it's hard to win an argument based on wisdom. You can't explain it. I imagine there are plenty of wise souls out there that get incredibly frustrated with me when I throw out my facts and opinions and they're just shaking their head because I can't just quickly understand their wisdom in the situation.
It's a tough one - but I think it comes down often to life experience and trying to learn, as much as we can, from the wisdom of others.
I say to him about every ten minutes, "Huh?" and he either explains his colorful colloquialism or just says it a little slower. He calls Garry, Gahree. He says "it" when he means "eat". It's the little things.
What I've noticed is that he never stops me to say, "huh?". I'm guessing he'd say, "Pardon?". Either way, he understands every word I say....the words...the expressions, even the slang. I think part of it is that he's been to America far more than I've been to Ireland. He watches American television because Irish TV is "crap" and listens to a lot of stuff on web sites that originate from America.
I, on the other hand, have seen a lot of Lucky Charms commercials and listen to U2.
He's steeped in our culture and can speak it fluently. I have a passing knowledge of his and can crawl through a conversation about Irish culture.
My favorite scene from Good Will Hunting is the bench scene where Robin Williams and Matt Damon talk about the difference between intelligence and wisdom. It's life experience...to some degree. I find myself getting into philosophical arguments often with folks a bit younger than me with a bit less history in a given arena, and I get frustrated because it's hard to win an argument based on wisdom. You can't explain it. I imagine there are plenty of wise souls out there that get incredibly frustrated with me when I throw out my facts and opinions and they're just shaking their head because I can't just quickly understand their wisdom in the situation.
It's a tough one - but I think it comes down often to life experience and trying to learn, as much as we can, from the wisdom of others.
I loved today's blog...
ReplyDeleteI remember your Dad saying how odd it was when he would stay at a Bed 'n Breakfast when traveling in Ireland ~ and the Inn-keeper would ask when he would like a "knock-up"...meaning when did he need to be awakened in the morning.