My status in US right now says 'resident alien'. I am that alien whose spotting is not seen as 'breaking news' by the natives here.
The past couple of months have been educating in every way possible. Though I knew few of them, out of practice I used the Indian words( thankfully with Indian borns) and got the American version for it in the reply and I silently said 'Okaaaaaay!'
Me : "Oh she is 8 year old? so she is in 3rd standard?"
She : "No in 2nd grade"
Me : "Okaaaaaaaaaaay!"
When I was watching some car driving tutorial videos...dont ask me shouldnt car driving be learnt practically? I will explain it some other time,aaah soo when I was watching those videos I wondered what 'step on the gas' meant..only to clarify later that it means 'accelerate'. Thankfully there is no three word translation to STOP, its quicker to stop the vehicle with a one word than three words which would take 2 more seconds for me to realise what it is. .....Adding to the things that differ are....you drive on your right, petrol is gas, diesel is fuel, engine is filled up with gallons and not litre (liter in American english).In the time when my granny has finally started using kms and kgs, I have switched to using miles and pounds.
She : "Oh you find time to have a bath? I just have a shower everyday"
Me : "Oh...ha ha..." I did smile but my brain was thinking - what the hell is the difference!!! In case you are as ignorant as me, then let me save you a google hit. Bath is when you sit in the tub and clean yourself, and shower is when you stand and do the same job.
Me and You : "Okaaaaaay!"
I thank my stars that I knew earlier that a brinjal is called an eggplant here.I can imagine myself standing in the store inspecting brinjal and telling myself "Looks like brinjal...but 'egg'plant?". My brain would have been stunned to realise that Okhra actually means ladies finger and is not a city name. I am sure this would be the case if I had landed here 10 years back or if I had no exposure to this world. I am sure a person from here would face difficulties back in India too. Imagine someone saying 'ondu Bhel puri to-go' instead of 'ondu Bhel puri parcel" :).
In a nutshell, I am still learning....if you have had any 'Okaaaay' moments, then warn me about it before I find out myself!
Like being an alien was not challenging enough, I am a veggie too. Unlike the bachelors who yearn for ghar ka khana, me and my husband look forward to eating something different. (Lets not debate if thats due to my culinary skills). So on one particular occasion, we set out for a restaurant which claimed to have 5 different cuisines. What we ordered and got is in the pic above. The one that you see in the far end of the snap is the eternal veggie appetizer- Veggie Spring Rolls. For our lunch we ordered a Japanese Rice and a Korean Rice. And what did we have on table? Two exact looking dishes. Even the 'spot the difference' pics in newspapers have 6 differences, this had only 2! One was ordered with Tofu..so visual difference one. Second one was that they were served in dishes of different shapes-oval and round. Thats all!!! Yes taste wise one was sweet and the other not sweet (they called it spicy on the menu though). Being a veggie is not so good here :(.
So you know my unofficial status....I am a veggie alien!
The past couple of months have been educating in every way possible. Though I knew few of them, out of practice I used the Indian words( thankfully with Indian borns) and got the American version for it in the reply and I silently said 'Okaaaaaay!'
Me : "Oh she is 8 year old? so she is in 3rd standard?"
She : "No in 2nd grade"
Me : "Okaaaaaaaaaaay!"
When I was watching some car driving tutorial videos...dont ask me shouldnt car driving be learnt practically? I will explain it some other time,aaah soo when I was watching those videos I wondered what 'step on the gas' meant..only to clarify later that it means 'accelerate'. Thankfully there is no three word translation to STOP, its quicker to stop the vehicle with a one word than three words which would take 2 more seconds for me to realise what it is. .....Adding to the things that differ are....you drive on your right, petrol is gas, diesel is fuel, engine is filled up with gallons and not litre (liter in American english).In the time when my granny has finally started using kms and kgs, I have switched to using miles and pounds.
She : "Oh you find time to have a bath? I just have a shower everyday"
Me : "Oh...ha ha..." I did smile but my brain was thinking - what the hell is the difference!!! In case you are as ignorant as me, then let me save you a google hit. Bath is when you sit in the tub and clean yourself, and shower is when you stand and do the same job.
Me and You : "Okaaaaaay!"
I thank my stars that I knew earlier that a brinjal is called an eggplant here.I can imagine myself standing in the store inspecting brinjal and telling myself "Looks like brinjal...but 'egg'plant?". My brain would have been stunned to realise that Okhra actually means ladies finger and is not a city name. I am sure this would be the case if I had landed here 10 years back or if I had no exposure to this world. I am sure a person from here would face difficulties back in India too. Imagine someone saying 'ondu Bhel puri to-go' instead of 'ondu Bhel puri parcel" :).
In a nutshell, I am still learning....if you have had any 'Okaaaay' moments, then warn me about it before I find out myself!
So you know my unofficial status....I am a veggie alien!
12 comments:
Good one Ritu.. One more common thing "with no ice" is the equivalent of "without ice" :). For anything you don't want, add a "no" infront of it.
nice title for the writing..
The 'No' point taken :)
Thanks prajna
Nishu, yes it was vegetarian...it was all green on our side :)
And Nishu, yes I eat pizzas and burgers but they are not different anymore....so to have a change had to go to a restaurant of this type :(
Okaaaaaaaaaaay!!
he he bath one was cute...:) Nice write-up....not sure what all okaay moments u have got to know, but still putting down some of them...doing dishes,fixing dinner,honk(horn), Flat tyre,detour,ride, cilantro,bellpepper...and once at resturant we were waiting outside in a line to be seated and one lady came over to ask "do u guys want to have a bite with us today..."....I say "heh..."....then realize what she meant and say "yes" okaaaaaaaaay...:)
Ha Ha...thanks Ch...that was a good list too. You dont actually fix a dinner when its gone wrong :)
Great writing.. I never liked reading before.. Guess what!! For the first time I felt I can like reading too.. Will look forward towards many such writings.
vegie write more okayyyyyyyy
Thanks Divya...I am glad you liked reading it. Made me smile :)
Girijatte thanks for making time to read it...makes me feel good. Yes I will keep writing....and hopefully you will also keep reading them :)
Haha. The learning never stops. And the surprises you list are unique to the US, with many an interesting story about them.
Okhra might still be a name of a place for all we know.
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