The communication skills of the well-prepared traveller:
Picture this...I'm driving my car in peak hour traffic, my face screwed up in concentration ( and frustration!) with some very unfamiliar sounds issuing forth from my mouth.
Am I having a fit? ...Am I experiencing road rage? Or have I gone completely mad this time?!
No!! I'm learning Burmese!
I love the way that statement sounds so confident and accomplished,when in actual fact I'm still grappling with numbers one to ten, and trying to come to terms with the fact that there are multiple words for goodbye in Burmese.
My husband very kindly downloaded 'Burmese By Ear' on to my iphone so I can listen to it any time......GREAT!
Whilst I have lots of experience with advanced charades (which has always stood me in good stead in various countries, despite the emabarassment I have caused my daughters!) I do like to attempt a few of the basic words everywhere I go.
The Burmese script is beautiful to look at but totally meaningless to me of course. Like most asian languages the finer nuances can be your undoing - the difference between 'underwear' and 'nine' is only an inflection away!
I will persevere, especially when I get to the section on shopping, but the awful truth is that I will probably only confuse myself and the locals. Still at least I will have tried!!!
Hokay! That's not goodbye: it's 'yes' - much easier to remember than the multiple words for goodbye - and now you know one word of Burmese! Congratulations!
Dianne
Tuesday 28 August 2012
Saturday 18 August 2012
Plotting and planning.....
Welcome to the first of many Women and Power blogs!
I hope that for all of the participants and their friends and families it will provide a memorable description of all of our experiences - good and bad.
(If you have no idea what a blog looks like try putting albistonsmiths.blogspot.com into your search engine and you will see the one I created for our trip to Africa and Turkey last year)
The biggest challenge will be connecting with the internet and uploading the blog. Burma is known for variable internet connectivity. So don't be surprised if you get nothing for a few days and then a whole heap of blogs at the same time.
With a month to go before departure for Burma, plotting and planning is uppermost in everyone's minds. The burning questions include:
How much Gastro-stop does one person need for 3 weeks in Burma?
What possessed me to offer to do a session at the Conference (and what am I going to do??!!)
How does a girl survive in a country with no ATMs?
Will I get drenched at some point ( Answer is probably yes!)
Is it 'Burma' or 'Myanmar' and will I be thrown into jail if I get it wrong?
How does one keep cool in extreme heat and humidity, whilst still dressing modestly?
Bathers! When did I last squeeze this body into bathers?
But most importantly: what sort of alcohol should I be purchasing duty-free for sharing whilst wallowing in the pool!
Too many questions and not enough answers, fellow travellers.
Your first blogger
Dianne
I hope that for all of the participants and their friends and families it will provide a memorable description of all of our experiences - good and bad.
(If you have no idea what a blog looks like try putting albistonsmiths.blogspot.com into your search engine and you will see the one I created for our trip to Africa and Turkey last year)
The biggest challenge will be connecting with the internet and uploading the blog. Burma is known for variable internet connectivity. So don't be surprised if you get nothing for a few days and then a whole heap of blogs at the same time.
With a month to go before departure for Burma, plotting and planning is uppermost in everyone's minds. The burning questions include:
How much Gastro-stop does one person need for 3 weeks in Burma?
What possessed me to offer to do a session at the Conference (and what am I going to do??!!)
How does a girl survive in a country with no ATMs?
Will I get drenched at some point ( Answer is probably yes!)
Is it 'Burma' or 'Myanmar' and will I be thrown into jail if I get it wrong?
How does one keep cool in extreme heat and humidity, whilst still dressing modestly?
Bathers! When did I last squeeze this body into bathers?
But most importantly: what sort of alcohol should I be purchasing duty-free for sharing whilst wallowing in the pool!
Too many questions and not enough answers, fellow travellers.
Your first blogger
Dianne
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