A friend of mine in North Carolina is hosting a German Foreign Exchange Student this year. He and his family are excited about her visit. He was telling me that he asked her if she liked bratwurst. Between his American and North Carolina accent, she was amused at his pronunciation of the word, bratwurst. He said she has since teased him (in a nice way) about the way he pronounces other German origin words. I asked him if she was speaking English most of the time. He confirmed that she was. I responded that if it were me when she was picking on my pronunciation of German origin words, I would pretty much snicker at just about every English word she pronounced. One that I suggested to him was to ask her how she pronounces "y'all" or maybe even Terrapin.
Another one of my friends was over last night to visit and also do some of my laundry. In spite of the fact that I have not done my own laundry since mid-July, it still pains me a little bit to have to count on someone to do it for me. I've adapted somewhat - knowing that the days of when I will be able to do my own laundry are rapidly approaching. While doing my laundry, my friend said to me, "If I ever am in the situation you are in, you will have to teach me how to accept this kindness with grace, as I think I would have a hard time accepting it also." Later on, as I thought about it, I think it's an easier task to accept the kindness when you understand the sacrifice that someone is making for you to help you with your chores. The pre-transplant coordinator at MCV told me in the early stages, when she could tell that I was a bit overwhelmed with all of the things that would need to be done for me, "It's OK Greg, you'll pay all of those favors forward someday." I told her that I probably wouldn't as I was that shallow.
There has been doubt and concern about outcomes of stuff as things have progressed since last October. The questions "What if," and "Is this normal," have been stated with regularity.
A lot of things have been right in front of me the whole time.
1 comment:
::snorts:: Ask your friend to ask the exchange student how to pronounce Witthoefft. I'm curious. =) The phonetic American pronunciation is "witt-off."
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