Once I met a interesting couple who probably were co-workers. Judging from the conversation the man newly joined a firm and the woman was welcoming him with talking about his past jobs. The story was normal. But what kept my attention was they were talking with two different languages totally mixed up and yet they understood with each other perfectly. One language flowed and suddenly (but smoothly) another followed, and vice versa. They showed no question about it and everything went so naturally. I thought to myself, 'this is really a multilingual communication---this is trans-lingual.' Since then I keep wondering what makes some people feel comfortable while talking with two different languages at a time.
The other day I went to a pizzeria and sat on a table next to two gentlemen who both were in their late fifties. They seemed to be old friends at school. They enjoyed delightedly their reunion with glasses of beer. They talked about Olympic games, sports and kids (playing baseball) and wives (playing tennis). One praised the athletes, and the other asked him whether he joined his wife's tennis lessons. The man answered "No way, I mean these lessons are her sanctuary---she'll get angry if I go." And they talked about the old traffic accident from which one of the men miraculously came back safe uninjured. Their conversation was clear-cut and magnetic like a well-made script. The flawlessness probably was due to the affinity between two alumni. I was really impressed that it was actually a very image of Yasujiro Ozu's unmatched films.
More attention to people at the next table from time to time--- you'll get some conversation with inspiration.
No comments:
Post a Comment