What women want
I vowed to write often but alas - the life that might be interesting for others from far far away have sucked me in and on very few occasions let me off the hook to draw in a gasp of arguably fresh south China air to only plunge back into the tenacious routine again. Ahem. So, I am translating a book on Burmese literature, it is interesting but at times stupefying - with the Tolstoy-esque twenty-line long compund-and-complex sentences of the Russian academic parlance and names like Levetoundar-amaji U M'ya San or princess Poupp'ha. But it is about Burmese poetry and I again took up the poetic quill, even though the client asked to only give non-poetic translation of verses.
But l still manage to register the life that goes on around me, and here are some snapshot-like tableaux.
1. My wife is learning to drive. Our first lesson - I taught her about the clutch, gas and brake. We started in an unexpectedly smooth way, gaining speed, and rushing through the deserted campus lanes. I was amazed, until my wife squeezed through her excitedly tense lips - so what do you do when you want to stop? It's a classic, yes, but then I suddenly realized that she was doing exactly what you do when you want to have a certain result but don't know the means, so you keep doing the few things you know - with an increased effort. She was revving it up in a desperate desire to change the situation. Poor girl. We managed to stop without much stress or otherwise unpleasant outcome.
2. Having a go at being a trilingual, my wife practices in a mix of languages. After rapping in English to me, he suddenly goes - Die! Die! Not being sure whether I deserved it, but absolutely sure that I was the intended recipient of that interjection, I stood there, perplexed,until it dawned on me that it is Russian [dai] - 'give (me)'. Relieved, I reshuffled my picture of the world, happy that I wouldn't have to make too many changes to it, and gladly gave what was asked of me. (Note to self: work on her accents)
3. While I was typing away at the Burmese literature, I asked my wife to make some sandwiches and tea, and voila! - it appeared on my table. You are great! - say I, indeed being eternally grateful. You only say it because of what I did just this once. - replied my wife. Trying to come to grips with the challenge of figuring out what's wrong with being thankful for an act of kindness and showing it, I made a conclusion that the female logic had yet again revealed itself in the dialectical twist called "appreciation for nothing in particular (i.e everything) vs. getting appreciated for particular actions". In other words, you have to show you appreciation always, not only in relation to actual deeds. You got it. Now every time I thank her or make another comment, I chase it with something absolute, general and universal - like this: "I appreciate you - unconditionally", "Thank you for being kind today - for no reason", and - somehow it sounded appropriate linguistically: "Thank you - unreasonably". The last one somehow didn't cut it, despite my best efforts at universality. What do women want? - here's an enigma, which even Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt cannot answer... - but that was a good movie anyway.
But l still manage to register the life that goes on around me, and here are some snapshot-like tableaux.
1. My wife is learning to drive. Our first lesson - I taught her about the clutch, gas and brake. We started in an unexpectedly smooth way, gaining speed, and rushing through the deserted campus lanes. I was amazed, until my wife squeezed through her excitedly tense lips - so what do you do when you want to stop? It's a classic, yes, but then I suddenly realized that she was doing exactly what you do when you want to have a certain result but don't know the means, so you keep doing the few things you know - with an increased effort. She was revving it up in a desperate desire to change the situation. Poor girl. We managed to stop without much stress or otherwise unpleasant outcome.
2. Having a go at being a trilingual, my wife practices in a mix of languages. After rapping in English to me, he suddenly goes - Die! Die! Not being sure whether I deserved it, but absolutely sure that I was the intended recipient of that interjection, I stood there, perplexed,until it dawned on me that it is Russian [dai] - 'give (me)'. Relieved, I reshuffled my picture of the world, happy that I wouldn't have to make too many changes to it, and gladly gave what was asked of me. (Note to self: work on her accents)
3. While I was typing away at the Burmese literature, I asked my wife to make some sandwiches and tea, and voila! - it appeared on my table. You are great! - say I, indeed being eternally grateful. You only say it because of what I did just this once. - replied my wife. Trying to come to grips with the challenge of figuring out what's wrong with being thankful for an act of kindness and showing it, I made a conclusion that the female logic had yet again revealed itself in the dialectical twist called "appreciation for nothing in particular (i.e everything) vs. getting appreciated for particular actions". In other words, you have to show you appreciation always, not only in relation to actual deeds. You got it. Now every time I thank her or make another comment, I chase it with something absolute, general and universal - like this: "I appreciate you - unconditionally", "Thank you for being kind today - for no reason", and - somehow it sounded appropriate linguistically: "Thank you - unreasonably". The last one somehow didn't cut it, despite my best efforts at universality. What do women want? - here's an enigma, which even Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt cannot answer... - but that was a good movie anyway.