Common Questions and Statements I Hear
(Note that the grammar of these sentences does not necessarily reflect the grammar when it was spoken.)
-lah (it's a slang suffix used at the end of almost every thing-lah)
You don't look American.
I thought you were Arabian.
Why are you so skinny? (one guy actually sounded offended that I wasn't fat)
I thought Americans ate more/were fatter.
I thought you would be taller.
Does America really hate Canada?
Who are you voting for? (I hear more about American politics here than I do in America)
How did you grow a beard?
Put some pants on. (shorts are considered too conservative in some places)
Slow down, you talk to fast.
A few of the only English phrases the orphan children know:
I want _____ (this, circle, monkey, jump, camera, phone, paper, etc.)
Michael! (I hear my name shouted at least 200 times a day here)
-lah (it's a slang suffix used at the end of almost every thing-lah)
You don't look American.
I thought you were Arabian.
Why are you so skinny? (one guy actually sounded offended that I wasn't fat)
I thought Americans ate more/were fatter.
I thought you would be taller.
Does America really hate Canada?
Who are you voting for? (I hear more about American politics here than I do in America)
How did you grow a beard?
Put some pants on. (shorts are considered too conservative in some places)
Slow down, you talk to fast.
A few of the only English phrases the orphan children know:
I want _____ (this, circle, monkey, jump, camera, phone, paper, etc.)
Michael! (I hear my name shouted at least 200 times a day here)
posted by Michael at
9:23 PM
6 Comments:
"Who are you voting for? (I hear more about American politics here than I do in America)"
Me Too! they talk about the super delegates and primary's and all kinds of stuff I don't know! And they think Obama is going to change the world, because America is so rich- while they sit on their asses and ... be poor and not do anything @_o- crazy
I get told I walk to fast too- same with Canada (WTF?)
I like the fat one though :D
- shorts are conservative? ... how does that work?
hope its going well :) - you traveling after around the far east?
Most of what I heard in China was "you want dvd? you want shoe? you want bag? you want shirt? you want massage?"
That was supposed to be something more like shorts are too liberal. I'm probably not going to be doing any traveling outside of Malaysia, but will be spending a week in the Malaysian state of Sarawak in Borneo.
Oh, and I ran into a guy named Diallo from an LC in Kenya. He said he knew you.
i get the voting comment all the time too, everybody knows who the candidates are and what they stand for, it´s crazy! they have elections here soon too and i know nothing about them :/
i also get, "so which do you like better, brazil or the u.s.?" although i love it here, i don´t feel like that´s a fair question cuz the u.s. is home, you know? you always love home even if it´s in a different way than you love other places...but don´t get me wrong, i do love it here :D
nobody seems to think i´m american at first either, which is weird...i get canadian, french (probably the most), german, italian, etc. everything but, ha ha :)i think it´s my haircut.
How did you grow a beard?? I have been trying but to no avail.
Ha, oh man the "la" thing is priceless. Reminds me of redneck China.
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