Languages

There are a few things that we have learned here in Indonesia, and language is one of them. The kids are taking Bahasa-Indonesia in school and I am visiting Ibu Loana, the Indonesian wife of a retired (but never finished working) SPH school teacher, once a week for an hour. Tris is extremely busy and so he learns what he can through the kids and I, Sri, and sometimes just through circumstance. There are a few important things to note before visiting this country, and they are as follows:
*all 'c's are said 'ch.' For instance, coba, to try, it is said "choba."
*if you ask for ketchup, you will get soy sauce. Ketchup here is called saus tomat whereas soy sauce is kecup.
*important words to learn quickly are thank you (terimakasih), good morning (selamat pagi), good evening (selamat malam), and you're welcome (kembali OR sama-sama). Please has about 6 or more variations, depending on what you are asking for, so that has been a bit of a chore to learn. Silikhan means "you are welcome to do...(ie/enter, sit down)....please"; boleh means "may I?" and "tolong" means "please help me..." I think that if I was really stuck I'd just use tolong, but there are other pleases for trying something (coba), to request something (minta) and to invite someone to do something with you (mari). That's all I can remember, and although I remember some of them here, it's difficult to use them in the correct context when someone is staring at you, waiting for you to speak:)

It's been a fun challenge to learn the language, and not only do we get to learn Indo, we are also learning Aussie. Interpreting Australian is sometimes a feat in itself! The funniest one for me is the common "How are you doing?" except that it's said "How are you going?" which really took me for a loop for the first little while. I haven't actually heard anyone say "good'ay mate" but Abby's teacher was telling us how he and his wife and his maid went on a trip over the Fall Break. Knowing them, I thought it was odd that he'd bring his maid along, until I figured out, through context, that he meant "mate." That made MUCH more sense!

Apparently we have an accent, although Indonesians like Canadians because we enunciate our words well enough for them to hear and understand. Rarely have I heard a Canadian drawl, but there is a lot of 'eh's around. It's been said that our family says it a lot. I'm not so sure about that, but people do tend to mock my speech when I'm around. It would be great to have a Newfy show up here, eh?

I know that there's a lot of Aussie speech that I hear and chuckle over, but for some reason it's all left my mind. Maybe later it'll pop back, or maybe I'll get a refresher in the next few days and fill you in.

Just as I was in the middle of writing this blog, Dalenea showed up to drive me to the mall to buy more paint. While there we popped our heads into "HyperMart," the crazy store I've mentioned before, to check out the Christmas ornaments. They weren't so hot, but there were ornaments in Indonesia!! What got me was when, all of a sudden, the loudspeakers were blasting "here comes santa clause." I turned to her and started laughing, because there were tears in my eyes and I was crying over a Santa Christmas song. It wasn't even a good one like O Holy Night or anything. Every once in a while we get a "moment" and you just have to live it in for as long as it lasts, tears or no tears. It will sure be nice to have family here at Christmas time.

Thanks for reading.