There is freedom in barriers; language barriers that is.
If thoughts and words travelled on highways and each language had its own highway, the English highway would be much less travelled in Cambodia than in America, right? Less people speaking and understanding English means less traffic on the English highway.
That idea gives me a strange sense of security here. Wide-open roads give freedom to be uncensored and uncontained.
What I mean is that, in Cambodia, I can say things aloud and in some places, no one will understand me. In other places, I can blabber incomprehensible or unorganized thoughts and then correct myself with people only catching the edited and sensible version of what I verbally vomited.
It’s fun to be able to drive on the shoulder of their highway too. My Khmer language skills are getting better and though not yet on the express lanes, I do my best to keep up. But to have that option to fly down my English highway at any time, to slow down when I need to, brake if I’m unsure, or back up if I stumble, is definitely freeing.
It’s also good to be able to drive alongside another English speaker. We can converse at a fast speed knowing that our highway is mostly empty. There may be people physically around us, but they can’t fully understand the words coming out of our mouths. They are their another highway, per se.
I hope the analogy makes sense. I’ve been thinking a lot about these things as I try to picture my transition back Seattle. For some reason, my mind particularly jumps to the last leg of my flight from Seoul to Seattle. Knowing that I’ll be able to understand probably all of the conversations going on in that plane frightens me. That as soon as I step off the plane and onto the cool tiles of SeaTac, people will be speaking to me in English feels all too stimulating.
That’s because in Cambodia, when people speak English, my ears perk up and I have to stop myself from eavesdropping. What am I going to do when I arrive in America and all around me, people are riding my English highway at blinding speeds?
It’s going to be crowded in America and so for now, I’ll enjoy the freedom of riding down this less-travelled English highway in Cambodia.
Well said. :) I hope you enjoy the rest of your time in Cambodia. (I miss it sometimes. Especially when there is frost on my windshield in the morning!) When do you return stateside?
ReplyDeleteSeriously love this.
ReplyDeletei love your blog. hope you'll still write when you return :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, after returning back, there were a couple of times I had to pull off of the proverbial highway here in America, and rest for several minutes because the pace of things seemed so much different ! :-)
ReplyDeleteI also remember noticing most of the people walking around weren't Asian. I had to pretend that I was in a foreign country for several months to adjust back to the strange new land of "Amerdeeca") :-)... oh how it had seemed to change while I was gone ;-).
Welcome back!