Sorry for the late post, The weekend was busy (I'll explain) and yesterday and earlier this morning, my computer refused to connect to the internet. I think it has decided I have been working it too hard and so it took a mini holiday.
This last week was rough for many reasons, so I will focus on the one day that wasn't - Saturday. I spent the day at the Reading (pronounced redding) Single Adult Conference. I knew the day could go one of two ways, and based on the rest of the week I feared for how it would go down. However, it ended up being a very pleasant experience.
First, it helps to go with a friend. That way it isn't so awkward and the friend can introduce you to people she knows and it becomes less intimidating. It was a small conference, only about 30 or so showed up, but we had fun. The conference was Shakespeare themed. Unfortunately the archery and courtly dancing were cancelled... however We learned fascinating information about Shakespeare's life (what little there is to know) and his writing. Are you aware that there is a goodly part of English vocabulary that was invented by him? There wouldn't be a word for what he wanted,so he made it up. Not to mention the many phrases, cliches and idioms that were penned by him. (Vanish into thin air, Jealousy is a green-eyed monster, eat me out of house and home.....) The skits were a blast, as was just getting to know people.
I learned the art of making a crisp sandwich. It goes against the whole stereotypical "how to eat like the British". Normally they eat everything with a fork and knife... pizza, tacos, fajitas, hamburgers...anything an American would pick up and eat with their fingers. However a crisp sandwich is anything but proper and dignified to eat. Since lunch was sandwiches (you get them packaged in a box, but they are freshly made... just roll with this one for now) mine was a bit dry. I had picked up a bag of Worcestershire (pronounced worsher... for those of you who always argue about that....) flavored crisps. I first had to explain that though I had had Worcestershire sauce, I had never had it as a crisp flavor. I was told to put them on my sandwich, and that they were really good that way. I was trying to decide if this was a huge joke on me, but no it is a real thing. I was instructed to take the lid off of my sandwich and cover the inside of it with crisps. Then put the lid on, mash it to crush the crisps, then take it back off and fill in the gaps with more crisps. Then balance the box in your lap so to catch anything that falls, pick up the sandwich and cradle it with both hands to keep it together and enjoy. Anything that falls in the box you can then eat after. I'm thinking ok, this is a British thing I would never put my crisps (chips) in my sandwich in the states and in order to eat it, I have to be very American and undignified.... However I was told that I'm in England and need to do as the English....Bon apetit! It was delicious by the way and helped with the dryness of the sandwich....
I learned a few Scottish phrases.... understand that the Scots say things that only the Scot understand because it is a mix of English and Gaelic. One of the guys there comes down from Glasgow and is a riot to begin with and the the scottish accent with it is priceless. Since I was introduced to him as a linguist, my friend asked him to share Scottish words, or phrases that were very Scottish. I learned that shuggie or shogan is to be wobbly. If a person is on a shuggie peg at work - he is likely to lose his job. Another one was "he is so hungry he can eat a scabby bern". Bern is a shorten word that means "wee babe" (Little baby).... you can decipher the rest of that.....
This led to him making me aware that there was a deaf girl at the conference, since in the course of the conversation he learned that I knew ASL. I tried to explain that I didn't know BSL. As it happened, the gal ended up in the room with us as we were being divided up for skits and she was in our group. So I asked her if she knew ASL..... and she did! She had come to the conference on her own and knew no one there. No one there signed, except me and it was not BSL, however she was fairly fluent in ASL so I became her unofficial interpreter. We chatted, a lot, and I learned some basic BSL. It was fun at times because when she would get excited while signing it became a mix of BSL and ASL. She would also think about spelling in BSL first then use ASL fingerspelling. I worked on BSL fingerspelling for things which made her smile. I really appreciated that when our group was chatting, The person speaking would say his/her thought and then let me interpret it. She would respond, I would watch and then voice. Much like you would do if a person were interpreting for a voiced language. They didn't expect simultaneous interpretation which is much much harder to to. Of course if it was a group announcement, general interpreting of things going on like side conversations in the group, or the skits I would do simultaneous interpreting. She ended up leaving before the fireside and dinner which we were all sad to see her go so soon. Throughout the day as I was chatting with her I could feel and see people watching the conversation. For some reason people are always fascinated by signing. It felt so good to sign with someone! I hadn't realised how much I missed it. When you use a language every day for over 20 years it becomes a part of you. I haven't had a signed conversation in over a year. It was nice for a few hours to not feel awkward with language and very conscious of my American accent. True we were using ASL, but trust me, it's different when signing.
It was a fun filled day. I met many new friends, learned a ton of things and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Two cultures merged for me (possibly three or four) and the definition of who I am has again been molded and changed. Shakespeare and ASL now have a connection that I don't think I can actually explain. The day gave me a deeper appreciation for many things and in that process caused Shakespeare to hold a new place in my heart - right next to ASL.
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