The blog for some time now has been largely focused on our adoptions...and as it seems to consume all of our brain cells and every spare waking moment...perhaps that is understandable.
But lest you forget that living in another culture brings with it many challenges, and thankfully, many humorous moments...allow us to entertain you with a new discovery we've made.
After living here nearly two years, we've come across several inappropriate English names. Among foreigners who work here, they are the stuff of legend...urban legends some might say... given the preposterous nature of some of them. For years foreigners who have taught English at the Universities have delighted themselves and other native English speakers with their "most outrageous" English names lists.
It is very, very common to meet several girls named "Happy" or "Love" or "Sunny" and of course, "Cherry" during a casual outing to the shopping mall. During our first year I told you about the young man I met, while I was in the stress-filled situation of sitting on the curb, with all our apartment furnishings, late at night, with sweat pooling on the pavement beneath me...his name?.... "Today."
I heard of our teammates who recently had a nice chat with a young man named "Chocolate." They are also developing a strong relationship with a young man who took his English name to a new level, devising it with his own mixture of letters..."Tlanx" Perhaps he would be better served by selecting a symbol to identify himself as did "the artist formerly known as Prince" some years ago, since no one here can determine HOW one is supposed to pronounce "Tlanx."
Our dear friend, the "Dutch Girl" who stayed with us here during our first month of living abroad, who previously taught here for a year, regaled us with some really doozies in her time...
She had students in her English conversation courses named: "Ice Cream" and the anatomically correct, but heinously inappropriate, "Ovary." (These were names given small children by their non-native speaking English teachers.)
The Dutch Girl often went to a local gym here where one of the personal trainers had selected a fine English name for himself..."Peter Pan"...she said that every time she saw him, or thought of it, she would laugh...and then laugh all the more at how funny it was that NO ONE understood WHY it was so funny!
We had a student who came to the school this year, his English name? "Bossy." I tried to delicately explain to his parents and himself that this was not the most flattering name in English...lest he have a serious personality issue...or be a milk-producing cow. With a few alternative suggestions, he chose, "Ethan" as his new and improved English name.
We have wondered through our time here..."where do all these wildly inappropriate English names come from?" Dear friends...we believe we've found it. We feel strongly about this hypothesis by virtue of the fact that the sheer number of misguided names discovered in one day, must prove that we're near the epicenter. Where, you ask?
Papa Johns Pizza.
Occasionally, when the desire for American-tasting food over takes the unsavory elements of heat, traffic, crowds, whining, struggling, and the semblance of sanity...we make the 45 minute trek to Papa John's Pizza. It's sort of an outpost for us...truly, though modified to fit the local market here, the closest thing we have to an American-styled restaurant (save McDonald's.)
And so we found ourselves there, yearning for a little Americana when Magpie (our 10 year old) began to notice the "names" on the wait staff there.
She whispered in my ear, "Momma, did you see her English name?" "No," I replied. "'Fruit,' her NAME on her name tag says, Fruit." We chuckled and reminded ourselves that we've seen some pretty crazy names in our time here.
Then the next server came to our table. His name? "Mars." Out of this world man.
This was starting to get fun.
Next up was "Thinking." Her name, the one that she selected or was given to her by the "American-styled pizza chain's" local manager so that people might see their authenticity as a western operation..."Thinking."
Our dishes were cleared away by another lovely girl. She smiled sweetly at us when she brought us the "to go" box..."Flying" was her handle.
But, heretofore, the worst English name I've seen worn on a name tag to date was saved for last...when a handsome young man named "Lice," received my funds for the entertaining, and delicious experience.
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