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Scaring the Natives (Part I).
An amusing exchange took place between myself and a gaggle of middle-school boys at the Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of History today.
As I walked past the group, thinking to myself that it was time to hightail it out of the building now that the school groups were starting to show up, I overhead a voice say, "Hey there."
I turned around and found myself looking back at a pack of fourteen-year-old males, who were all grinning and shuffling and punching one another on the shoulder. The boy who presumably had called to me sketched a little salute and said, "Hello." I sketched one back, saying "Hello" as I did. This put them all into a little frenzy of excitement.
So I decided to be evil.
I walked straight up to the boy who'd called me, saying (in Japanese) "Do you speak English?"
"Oh my god, she's fluent!" one of the boys standing next to him exclaimed. (He used the same tone of voice one might employ to express the realization that someone was radioactive.)
"Uh, one more time please," the first boy asked, somewhat sheepishly.
I repeated my question.
"No, I don't speak English," he said.
"Oh," I said. "Your pronunciation of 'hello' was very good, so I thought you did."
This set off another frenzy. "Oh my god, she just praised him! What's he gonna do now?"
The boy expressed his thanks, then noted that it was strange to be complimented by me. I relented then and apologized.
"You boys have fun now," I admonished.
"We will," they chorused back to me, as I headed for the exit. (Because it's best to make a quick escape after teasing the wildlife. ;>) I suspect they'll all be talking about it for days.
As I walked past the group, thinking to myself that it was time to hightail it out of the building now that the school groups were starting to show up, I overhead a voice say, "Hey there."
I turned around and found myself looking back at a pack of fourteen-year-old males, who were all grinning and shuffling and punching one another on the shoulder. The boy who presumably had called to me sketched a little salute and said, "Hello." I sketched one back, saying "Hello" as I did. This put them all into a little frenzy of excitement.
So I decided to be evil.
I walked straight up to the boy who'd called me, saying (in Japanese) "Do you speak English?"
"Oh my god, she's fluent!" one of the boys standing next to him exclaimed. (He used the same tone of voice one might employ to express the realization that someone was radioactive.)
"Uh, one more time please," the first boy asked, somewhat sheepishly.
I repeated my question.
"No, I don't speak English," he said.
"Oh," I said. "Your pronunciation of 'hello' was very good, so I thought you did."
This set off another frenzy. "Oh my god, she just praised him! What's he gonna do now?"
The boy expressed his thanks, then noted that it was strange to be complimented by me. I relented then and apologized.
"You boys have fun now," I admonished.
"We will," they chorused back to me, as I headed for the exit. (Because it's best to make a quick escape after teasing the wildlife. ;>) I suspect they'll all be talking about it for days.
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