A busy couple of months

This last couple of months have been kind of a blur. Eric has been coaching soccer (or U-16 football, as it's called at Grace), planning for the week-long middle school outdoor ed trip, and planning for Spiritual Emphasis Week. Ang has been remodeling a house for their landlord, taking Gabe to various appointments to fulfill the requirements for going to kindergarten and helping out some new members. All this in addition to the normal round of teaching 7th grade, going to the office, teaching preschool, learning Thai, helping with Sunday School, etc. We've also hosted Eric's dad and Walt (pictured above). I'd say this week has been the busiest so far. This week Eric attended special services and meetings before school and in the evening for Spiritual Emphasis Week, planned outreach trips for Spiritual Emphasis Week, planned logistics and classes for next-week's outdoor ed trip to Doi Inthanon, led the 7th grade in a simulation called "Feudal lords of Japan", and taught English after school in the slums. Ang has been less busy with planning a big party for an office employee, taking Gabe to the doctor for illness and gash on the head and working out details for the remodeling to be finished in her absence. It may seem crazy, but in some ways, it's fun and rewarding, especially since we know we will have a nice long break starting week after next during the Thai new year. I think we'll sleep a lot and look forward to a quieter last quarter of the school year.

Translation

I was just thinking about translation after having Dad W here for a few days. I regularly translate for Eric, but having guests gave me a lot more to do. I don't really mind. I kind of enjoy it, in fact. First, I'd have to say that my Thai is not beautiful. Our language learning coordinator, who is also a sort of coach, tested me last year and said that I was not the sort to master a language. When she tested me, she graded me at elementary fluency and said "You can understand quite a bit and you've learned to talk your way around most everything you want to say, so I don't think you're going to get much better. You go for the simple communication." That's definitely true. When I took French I got a high score on the AP not because I had a wide vocabulary or because I was a master of conjugation but because I could always think of a simple but correct way to say everything. My secretary says I talk like a child, but she does understand me.

However, translation isn't just about language mastery. It's also about cultural accuracy. I don't always translate exactly what is said because I'm trying to translate the meaning and make the speaker more acceptable to the hearer. It can also be a matter of embarrassment for me. Thai people think it's totally acceptable to comment on a person's body. I feel a bit awkward translating "You're really fat!" or "You have a great body!" Or in some cases I don't really want to translate what is said because I would never say it myself and don't want to be associated with the comment. Sometimes it's humor and I don't really get it. For example, Dan said to some ladies, "I'd rather have darker skin." I translated and one of them said, "He should pour hot water on himself," and then the Thais laughed uproariously about that for several minutes. I could translate the words, but none of us got the meaning.

However, sometimes I think the translator has too much power. The translator is the only person in the conversation who really knows what everyone is saying. For me, the temptation to steer the conversation in the direction I want is often too much for me to resist.