Thursday, February 8, 2007

a boy's perspective

tonight as i put isaac to bed he asked me "mommy, why do they say 'boot' here?"

(he's referring to the use of the word boot that we, in the u.s., call the trunk of a car - it has confused him for weeks).

i answered him that in different places people use different words to describe the same thing.

then isaac asked me "i call you mommy in lexington, kentucky, what do i call you here?"

my heart ached as i thought of the adjustment his little mind is making, far ahead of the predicted timing of culture shock for an adult.  and i was reminded immediately of our reliance upon the grace and the comfort of god no matter where we are.

2 comments:

james said...

I know the feeling. When I first move to New York from Canada, all my new classmates kept asking if they could go to the 'lav'(as in laveratory). I didn't know why everyone was going to the science lab, and was I supposed to as well?

d-wain said...

I got into a discussion with my students today about the "most difficult language," always a fun one. They had a hard time understanding that no language is difficult if you learn it in the right way: as a wee one.