Good morning, my loyal readers-I hope to have my Purim update online in the next 24 hours. I’m having some logistical issues in the camera department which will be resolved soon. As always, it was a nice holiday experience. I hope you all had a chag sameach and to any of my Christian readers (do I have any Christian readers?), a happy Easter to you.
Today is our company costume contest and several employees brought their kids to work. Lemme tell you…there is nothing cuter than little Israeli kids (quite possibly because they represent the small segment of the population whose Hebrew is on my level). And of course, when you see a baby, a dog, or a kid in the office, you are bound by the laws of physics to drop what you’re doing and pay attention to them.
So when I saw a little 5 year-old in costume, I made my way over to say hello. No matter what the language, you assume your “talking to a little kid voice” with inflections and slow pace of speech.
“Boker toooooooov! (Good morning)”
“Bat kamah aaaaaaht? (How old are you?)”
“Sorry, we’re aaaaaaaall out of Absolut.” Just kidding.
I always wonder…what do little kids think about immigrants who speak another language? At what age do kids understand the presence of different languages and countries? Did this kid think I was an alien? I assume Israeli kids figure it out faster than Americans because of all the English in their lives, starting with on television.
After about a minute of conversing, I said to the girl in Hebrew, “I think that your Hebrew might even be better than mine!”
She replies, “I know.”
Are they just born honest here or what? Is there even a translation for “white lie” in this country? Throw me a bone, kid.
Is there another situation in which a five year-old is better than you in some area? I don’t care who you are, that sucks.
A classic comedy about a man who must be brutally honest with everyone around him.
In Israel, this movie is translated as “Tuesday”.
Update: I just heard the girl speaking Russian to her father. I feel dumb.
12 comments:
Keep your chin up, Benji. It's not the end of the world. Just point to your head and say "Blondini" and/or "Americayi" and even the kids will get it. You will still be funny.
I could answer all your questions--because I was that kid once--but this is the place for comments, and I think your questions were rhetorical.
Just a suggestion: when you talk down to kids, they notice. There's a difference between the "I'm extra interested what you have to say" voice and the "Clearly, you are not able to comprehend my polysyllabic capabilities" voice. Fine line, but an important one.
(And your English is fantastic, so don't let the Hebrew get you down!)
Where'd you see "Liar Liar" called "Tuesday"? on ויקיפדיה it's just called שקרן שקרן
Let me put it this way. "A classic comedy about a man who must be brutally honest with everyone around him." In other words...a normal day in Israel.
lest you think we are all clueless, calling this movie 'tuesday' made me laugh out loud.
(sorry duckrabbit, no offense meant).
On the other hand, I've had a 38.5 degree fever for the last two days, so maybe it wasn't funny at all and i'm just delirious.
If your interested, I'm a christian and I read your blog. Do I win anything? An Easter egg maybe?
I totally agree with Mort. The comment about the movie known as 'Tuesday' also made me laugh out loud. That's brilliant and hilarious!! The temperature in the Negev is 38.5 degrees today, so maybe I am under the same delirium as Mort. Benji, thanks for sharing your observations/experiences -- always entertaining and funny!
Hannah, you might win something. Email me and we'll talk!
Mort and Anonymous...stay tuned.
Oops, didn't mean to come off as humorless! I usuallly get your jokes, Benji! I just got really excited at the thought that it might actually be called Tuesday in stores or something, keeping with the often bizarre translations of movie titles into Hebrew. Like how Groundhog Day is actually called לקום אתמול בבוקר? Well, now I get it, and I feel dumb but Yiyeh b'seder...
Anyway, I'm staying tuned too, so there. Lehit!
I lolololove the movie liar liar..
and yes, why are israelis so rude? this ittle child might have it from its parents...(am israeli in diaspora, so i have the comparison, too)
That is the 64,000 shekel question. In defense of my fellow people over here, they're not really "so rude". As in this situation, they're just honest.
Wait...are you Israeli? If you are, never mind, I guess you're more of an authority than I am.
actually too long in diaspora....
yes, but as the movie shows. there is is a thin line between just being honest being rude.... but who cares? :)
refua shlema to you benji. hope you get well soon. To brighten your day. here a link that deals with the Israeli Chutzpah ..
http://www.websense-media.co.il/eatbigfish/eatbigfish_minisite.htm
have fun
Since the movie came out when i was on year course, i very clearly remember seeing movie posters for Independance Day (with Will Smith) advertised as יום שלישי so while I agree that many movie title translations are funny (or just plain weird), I think you got your weird translation mixed up :) LOVE YOUR BLOG!!!!
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