I was talking to a colleague near the microwave while my food was being heated.Our conversation started with the customary hellos.
She: Hey ! you look very pretty today....
I: Thank you, I guess it is my dress...
And on it went to the topic of wedding dresses , and the usual what we wear in India for weddings..blah..blah...we should share photos...blah blah...
She: So, how long have you been married?
I: 7 yrs.And you?
She: 27 years.
I: Wow ! Thats long !!Actually, my parents finished their 45th anniversary last year.
She: Good. So, they are reaching their "Golden Anniversary".
I: Yep !! So, what did you do for your "Silver Anniversary".
She: Nothing. I just slept.
I: Really !! Why? What did your husband get you for your anniv?
She: You see, in 1975, when there was communism in Vietnam, they forced people to work in farms,like hortcul
I: U mean horticulture
She: Ya ya..So, they created channels in the river.
I: Hmmmmm....
OK, now I suppose you all will agree with me when I say I thought the conversation was not over and something relevant to wedding anniversary was coming up...Well, then you guessed wrong. THAT WAS THE ANSWER. And of course, I followed it with a NOD and a SMILE . Before I could think of a retort, we were interrupted by another Vietnamese lady and they started chatting and DING! my food was cooked and I walked out of the place wondering what could have been her interpretation of my question. Any guesses?
"Maybe her husband is still in Vietnam, and she wanted to convey something pertaining to it."
Being surrounded by Vietnamese , I thought I had seen all and could understand their english. I do speak fast but wonder how my question could have been misinterpreted by her.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Your interpretation
Posted by Survivor at 1:08 PM
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6 comments:
I think some people have the tendency of jumping topics without realising that the other person is still waiting for an answer. It happens a lot when I talk to my mom over phone...I have to repeat myself atleast 3-4 times to get her back into context by which time, she will say, "yeah yeah, I heard you"....
May be, next time, you should say, "oh, horticulture....by the way, what did your husband give you?"...:)
I dont think we will dig in, to get the answer from anyone (when we are there for just a conversation)
If they switch topics..
You can also switch topics.. Just ask "Did you guys grow avacado in your farm..." ? Something like that.
sdpal: That is not switching topic..
Survivor should have said.. ah! Channels..there are multiple ADC channels in my chip :) *ROFL*
In this case, probably she did not understand the question...
I remember when I was in Korea. I asked a simple yes/no question to a guy. He said "yes" and after 3 minutes of silence..he said the answer to your last question is "no".
Well, if you had answered her, then she will be writing it in her own blog, "what a geek!"
Well, I don't think this is a trait native to just Viets. So many times people imagine some part of the answer in their mind, skip a sentence and jump to the next. Maybe she meant to say something about her husband being in Vietnam during their silver anniversary and remembered something else about that and answered.
Like mindframe said this happens a lot when I am chatting or conversing with folks back home. I will ask a question and they will ask another question that has no relation to the first one. The conversation will be a group of disjoint statements.!
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