Family of Teachers
Thursday, November 15th, 2007I’m starting to like this business of living with a local family… It seems they have a sincere interest in my education. Today, in the morning, the wife took out utensils and kitchenware, and taught me the names of each item. In the afternoon, the husband pulled out the same items to review, and coached me through one of the more difficult words, the name for the Polish “bagel” (Obwadzianek). “Ohb-vah-jah-nek” he said.
“Od-bah-jah-nik” I repeated.
“Ohb-vah-jah-nek,” he repeated, patiently.
“Ohd-vuh-jah-nek” I repeated.
“Ohb-vah-jah-nek,” he said again, this time raising his voice a little.
“Ohd-vah-jah-nek” I repeated.
“OHB-VAH-JAH-NEK!”
Several tries later, I was done. I’m not sure whether I actually got it, or if he just wanted to move on with his life.
treeseventy