Thanksgiving 2009

Last week, we took a day to celebrate Thanksgiving. We ate turkey, the usual fare for Thanksgiving day in the USA, and remembered the things we are most thankful for this year.

Turkey. Yum!

FT

Two Types of People

Today I was listening to a radio program when I heard something that struck me as very true, and important.

"There are two types of people.  Those who are hurting and those who will hurt."

The radio program was talking about the natural hills and valleys of life.  It was focusing on the fact that all people experience emotional pain at sometime in their lives--at the death of a loved one or friend, or when going through hard times at work or with family. But I thought it also pertained to the physical (and mental) pain of patients that my students will deal with as doctors.  It's true.  Everyone will feel pain at some point.  Emotional and physical pain are natural parts of the cycle of life. 

Native American

I've been having a laugh today because in the past few weeks I've been called a "Native American" several times.  Of course it would be lovely to be a member of that noble group of people known as Native Americans (historically called American Indians).  Unfortunately, I am not a "Native American" as my well-meaning students and friends sometimes say. I am a native speaker of American English which is what they are trying to say.

This is one of those difficult things about learning a foreign language--we sometimes say things that mean something entirely different from what we intended.  However, I think it is also one of the enjoyable things about learning a foreign language.  We get surprising opportunities to laugh, even in hard times.  We also get to hone our listening skills; to actually look into someone's eyes and pay close attention to what they're trying to say.  I think we forget to do that sometimes when we're speaking to people. 

Teaching a foreign language and living surrounded by foreign language teaches me to listen carefully, even to people I easily understand.

That's a good thing, isn't it?