9.28.11 Adam News and Info

;( this sounds like they are underwater.. anyone else having this problem.. the first part was wonky too..

pretty please post a YT when available .. Thank you in advance..#patience

I think Adam is just turned off by the guy's obvious tan lines.

Adam: "Really, dude, you need to get to Versa spa -- their spray tan is fantastic, and no tan lines!"

;D ;D ;D

Alright, some cultural tidbits:

In America we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway. DISCUSS
In Britain they are called dual Carriageways even though they are 4-lane and if you use a carriage on them you would find yourself in trouble - in more ways than one.

On to other cultural topics:

As a bi-lingual speaker, kind of like Heidi language wise, I can assure you, no way does she first think in German and then translate. You cannot fluently talk if that is what you are doing. It's rather like you have a bigger vocabulary pot to choose from. For EN only speakers, I usually ask: How do you decide when to use the word 'go' and when to use 'walk'?
You just instinctively know. Well as a bi-lingual person you have 4 or 5 words to choose from and 99 % of time you just happen to grab the right one. Every once in a while you either get stuck or you miss. But if you are as fluent as Heidi is, then it happens rarely.

Also, if you have to concentrate on language too much you miss out on content or observing gestures and other cues, so it becomes either a hindrance to your own success and/or it also becomes very strenuous to keep that up all day long (probably Sauli's problem at the moment, because he seems to not be quite as fluent as I thought he would be based on my past experiences with anybody Finnish I have ever met). It's also hard, if you want to say something and you can't, because you cannot joke in a foreign language yet or just don't have enough vocabulary and expressions to pull from.

But translating back and forth on the go? NO WAY.

Another cultural item from yesterday- not anymore sure who said that. Quote: European men kiss on the mouth all the time..."
WUT? Which country? Hell no they don't or tell me the where. Somebody pulled your leg with that story.

But there are gestures that in our American / EU culture have a homosexual connotation and in other cultures don't. My first experience with that was when I came to Egypt. I was in my early 20s and noticed some policemen in uniform, pistol in halter and officially on patrol....except they were holding hands. Swinging their arms back and forth like little girls would do.

I turned to my father with a rather incredulous look on my face and he just said to me: In Egyptian culture this gesture does not mean the same thing as in ours. The fact that you can commonly see that in the streets of Cairo does also not mean the country is not homophobic. It very much is and officially homosexuality is considered a crime. It is just that this behavior is not associated with homosexuality, but rather is an expression of friendship.

And he ended with saying with a lot of irony in his voice: You are another six weeks in Cairo. Have fun retraining your brain. It's good exercise.
A big lesson for my life that I will never forget. One of many I learned from my father.

And this same father is otherwise a devout Catholic in his own life, go figure. Things are not always what they seem and boxes often do not always fit or are at least not transferable from one situation to the next. And that what I want to send as message to Irish....its the boxes that are the problem. The thousand little boxes in our brain. Whether it is concepts like symbols of infidelity or what the word slut means or others, all are nothing but boxes....did you know that the German language does not have a word for Slut? Imagine, I grew up without that concept...all through middle and high school. I wish American girls could be granted that too.

End of this cultural discourse. I love that Adam challenges our boxes left and right. That is why so many don't get him. But he just moves on without them and lets that be their problem. Eventually they are interested in him again and start retraining their brains....its a brilliant and glittery ride, but it is about a lot more than just the gay box he is challenging. And as Paula said 'it is a wonderful thing'.