What it feels like not to be able to speak the local language
Excerpt from a letter to a friend dating February 2010:
Today's hard-learned lesson: When you don't speak a language, you don't have personality. You can't be funny, you can't be witty, you can't be insightful, you can't be much of anything really. And then when you do finally get to learn, then, I imagine you will be pretty much restricted in your topics, with a wonderful choice of what's on the menu at the restaurant, pieces of clothing, and commenting on the wonderful furniture around you.
I do have a plan to remediate the situation. It involves bringing artificial tears solution along to seem sad enough for ppl to switch back to English until I learn at least some basic Norwegian vocabulary, and bringing a little sign with me with random Norwegian expressions such as "I agree!" , "No!! Really???" and "Lost in Norwegology". I think this second strategy might be more effective. Especially if put up at very random times by a green sock puppet :p)
