Foreigners In America

They know us better than we know them. Simply because we don't care about them. That's sad. Even a remote interest would spend the patience and time to learn things. Great things.

A friend of mine is going out with someone from a different country now. Her English isn't the best, but it is REMARKABLE what she's picked up from simple pantomimes and enunciation. Our culture is so fucking self-centered we require they learn from us and NOT vice versa. I want to change that in myself. Listening is a craft so far removed from us as Americans, it's probably frustrating to foreign people.

My cousin is the same way. He's from Taiwan. Maybe knows a few words in English. Not really. He doesn't have people to practice with. Only his cable television which satellites from the U.S. He learned most English from movies. Imagine if your language barrier forced you into learning by images. THIS would make me an amazing filmmaker. IF I can tell a story without using a single line of dialogue, I'd rake in so much international currency, I'd write my own checks in different languages. He's amazing, since my Taiwanese is horrid. It's a mix between elementary school words and poor slang I learned in the late 1980's. He is REALLY patient with me. Never asks me to repeat myself. Never gets upset with my shitty talking. Just quietly nods and says the American equivalent of "uh-huh" (direct translation is "really?") just to know he's listening. THEN...

...THEN, he repeats back what I said, and asks me if that was the gist of my point. And 9 times out of 10...it's precisely the translation. I've no idea how he does it. Because when I'm lost, I'm lost. He tells me my Taiwanese isn't too bad. You can stretch most of what Asians say by about 30% more than their intentions. Not me, I come out swinging. Like a dick.

I really value any foreign person living in America who assimilate and navigate these treacherous waters. IF I came from a different country to America and knew the hostility before I arrived, I'd stay in my native country, even if revolutions were happening. It's not as friendly as it use to be.

I should try to pitch my idea to my cousin some day. See if he "gets the idea." My suspicion is that he would get it, but culturally speaking, it wouldn't make much sense to him, since alternate universes seem to be our bag. However you slice it...Euros & Asians are so much better than us.