Language - so much more than words

Speaking a language is not just knowing the words and what order to put them in to make other people understand what you want. Language is cultural and historical. A lot of expressions that makes sense to all the natives could be gibberish for a newcomer, even though the newcomer know the words.

I've come to accept that I won't get all the cultural or historical references in English. If someone tells a joke and everyone around me laughs, I'll smile politely and try to remember it so I can ask someone later. I won't ask in a group, that will give me too much of the spotlight and make me too self-conscious. But I'm not embarrassed to ask a friend what something means when we're alone. Friends help each other and I sometimes need help with this foreign language they speak in my new country.

Last Friday we went to see Spamalot. Even though I know the story and am fluent in English I knew that some jokes would be lost on me through language barriers, both cultural and in pronunciation. I was right, I got 95% of what was happening on stage, but every now and then a word or a reference would fly past me without me realising what it meant.

The show was still highly amusing and I don't feel like I missed out on the lost jokes. The same goes for the stand up comedy show we went to a couple of weeks ago, I had to ask A on a couple of cultural references, but I didn't feel like I missed much. The part I understood was hilarious!

Countdown

The new year has just about started and the countdown for my move to London has hit T-27 days. My flat is being packed down into boxes, everything I own is sorted into bring, storage, charity, trash or 2nd opinion. The first bag of my stuff just landed in London, the remaining bags are on the floor in the living room, waiting to be filled. The hardest part will be to choose what yarn, needles, patterns and various yarn related tools to bring along.

This blog is intended to be about my adventures in London, mainly yarn related but also dancing and exploring a great city and being an expat and possibly other exciting things coming my way.


Checklist

A place to live - check
Letting the flat - check
Flight booked - check
Temp leave from work - check
Pack all stuff - in progress
Find a knitting group - check
Job in London - searching

On my needles
Sprig sweater
Snow white entrelac headband