One of the oddest things that happens when you learn a new language is that you lose a
little corner of silence. When you are in a crowded room and someone is speaking a foreign
language, it disappears into a din of indistinguishable chatter. Once you learn that language, you
simultaneously gain an ability to distinguish meaning in the noise, and lose the ability to turn off
that awareness. It used to be mere background noise, and now it is not ignorable.
During my first days in Thailand, I sat smiling while my Thai friends chattered amongst themselves, sounding
much like ducks quacking to me, and having about as much meaning to my untrained ears. Now,
if I walk into a Thai restaurant or Thai market, I hear every detail about the shelf-stocker’s
mother-in-law’s car that needs to be repaired, and the waitress’s dislike for the guy sitting at the
corner table (how dare he send that Yam Moon Sen back twice!) I can’t not listen. I can’t not
understand it. The smiling silence is gone, it’s not even an option. I cannot un-tune my ears to
this station, for better or for worse.
It’s the same with football. I didn’t realize how deeply I’d submerged into my new
football culture until I was eating at a local Mexican restaurant with a friend. The big screen
television in the corner was showing a college game. She was telling me details about her
upcoming wedding, and I was listening, but I couldn’t help hearing each play as it happened, on
the screen right behind her head. I nodded in response to a charming idea for favors- he snaps the
ball- fourth and three...the whistle blows...first down! She asked me if I thought the pewter
ribbon was a good match and I thought about it- Can’t believe they called a time out- now! She
debated between the silver and the pewter- and number 11 rushed the A-gap...and he’s down!
“Oh!” The beer glasses thudded on the bar behind us, and every guy in the room exclaimed in
unison. My friend’s blue eyes grew wide in shock, staring at me. I guess I must have joined in
the unison, too. It was at that moment, that I realized I could speak Football.
