Speaking Up

My pics
Dave's pics

Its been about 10 days since we landed in Taiwan and I feel as though I am adapting very well. By now, I get tired around 11 PM and sleep through until 8 AM. And its not like I'm starving; Dave and I are perfectly able to get two meals a day out of the hotel by ourselves. Sure there is a giant language barrier, but I'm starting to pick up the basics, even though resorting to caveman grunts and pointing like a child at things I want has been working just fine.*

One thing that I have both experienced and observed is that speaking another language to a native speaker brings a tremendous feeling of accomplishment. For example, I used my Mandarin phrase book to come up with a sentence to ask a waiter for another beer. When he brought over another beer, I did a mini touchdown dance because I broke down the barrier. When I finally reflected on these moments, I started to notice how many people go out of their way to try to speak to Dave and me in English. Just like my Mandarin, it is well rehearsed and carefully artiuclated, and usually ends with a goofy look of wide-eyes looking for approval.

For me, trying to speak to people in their native tongue is like picking up one of Tiger Woods' irons and telling him, "Hey, look what I can do." But after he grimaces , he grins and walks the 3 yards to pick up my ball, and another 7 yards to pick up the piece of earth that belongs on the fairway at my feet. (Side note- I have a tendency to pick a metaphor and run wildly with it) It's a nerve-racking experience, but its essentially what's happening. I'm on the PGA tour of Chinese speakers, and yeah, everyones watching me tee up, yeah, everyone sees my knees quivering, but knowing how it feels to play their role is a huge confidence boost.

Hitting the links is still a long way away for me, but caddying is the best place to observe and learn first hand. For now, I'm satisfied with the pleasure brought on by communicating in small sentences, although I'm told that like any gateway drug, pretty soon I'll be trying bigger and more complex sentences to reach a greater euphoria.


* I <3>