Encountering Difference: New Lens (and Meatball Soup Noodles)
These days I have been spending a significant amount of time and effort learning Tagalog, the language commonly used here in Manila. I enjoy learning a new language, even though the process of learning can be quite frustrating. I often find myself now wanting to say something, but by the time I form the sentence in my head three minutes later, the conversation has already moved on! You also have to be prepared to play the fool when learning a new language. Inevitably you will at some point find yourself saying something embarrassing. When I was still learning Indonesian two years ago in Indonesia, I was asked to read an announcement in a church group meeting about the activities at an upcoming seminar. There was to be a community service project. But by dint of dropping an “s” at the end of a word, I announced instead, “There will be meatball soup noodles!” Despite the inevitable embarrassment, the rewards that come from learning a new language definitely outweigh the occasi...