Transience

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Today i met a young man who was part Portuguese and part East Indian. He was cute as a button.

(In the futuristic world i envision, everyone is ethnically and culturally diverse. Course, you don't have to be ethnically diverse to be culturally diverse. That is my utopia.)

And this young man and my bro share the same alma mater. In addition, he speaks with a British accent as he lived in London for 5 years. How adorable is he?!? (Did i mention London is on the top of my list of places to visit before i die? Come to think of it, it's the only place on my list in a while.)

His jaw dropped when he learned that i spoke Farsi.

"My Dad is the only person I know who speaks Farsi!" He exclaimed.

"Don't be too impressed," i said. "My fluency is probably the equivalent of a six-year-old's."

"Like my Cantonese!" He said. We laughed in camaraderie.

Minutes later, he put me on his cell with his Dad, who had a perfect accent and intonation, as i have been told myself. He reminded me of my ex father-in-law with whom i hadn't spoken in years. Heck, i hadn't spoken Farsi in years. But i speak it in my head all the time. After all, you don't just forget your third language.

And yet i totally froze beyond the honorific "How do you do?". My mind completely blanked out. I couldn't even utter "It is my honor to have made your acquaintance." Lines i had memorized like a frigging script. Like the prayers i learned in Catholic school. Nothing. I couldn't even remember how to say goodbye.

Perhaps there is something poetic about not knowing how to say goodbye.

Late at night, after i'd replayed the scene in my head and had a moment to reflect, the words all came back to me like raindrops finally hitting the arid ground after having magically paused midair in a sci-fi moment.

I never thought i'd choke when required to speak Farsi again. It just never occurred to me. Who am i now? How special can i be if not pointlessly trilingual??