Thursday, February 14, 2013

Life in Translation


When the YAGMs were in Chicago for our orientation, one of the things that was mentioned was that it was ok to be completely wiped out after even a ‘light’ day of work particularly when we were first getting acclimated to a new country.  There wouldn’t really be a ‘light’ day of work.  After all this time, I’ve really appreciated not only this statement, but what it has meant for me to constantly be aware for the need to translate not just language, but culture and life in general. 

Obviously with differences, there’s a need for me to constantly translate from Malay to English.  But even if I am speaking with someone in English, it’s different than when I speak with my friends and family back home or with my fellow YAGMs.  I have to remind myself not to speak too quickly.  If I’m speaking with someone who is not as advanced in English, I have to be aware of the ways I phrase my sentences so that they will understand without getting lost.  In return, I have to listen for more than just words when someone is speaking to me in English.  Sometimes they’re looking for a different meaning, but don’t know the word for what they want to say.  This means taking into account that they might not always mean exactly what they say and I have to think of ways to ask questions for clarification.  (My friend may be content that she now has a cup of MOK, but might just use the word happy instead.  So what kind of happy is she?)  This difference in how I communicate calls for a whole new kind of listening.  Whether I’m listening to Malay or English, I have to stay completely tuned in to what someone is saying and not think ahead to what to say next (which often leads to long pauses while I think of what to say and how to say it).  At first this seemed awkward, but is it so bad?  How often did I tune out while I was ‘listening’ in order to process and judge what I was hearing?  This need to slow down has made me realize how much I wasn’t listening to. 

But translation isn’t completely restricted to language.  I have to consider how to do even the most simple tasks in a different context. When I first came to Malaysia, this included everything from crossing the street to buying things at the market.  Luckily, these things have become more second nature so there’s less of a brain drain, but there are still things that grab my attention.  Why are people so blunt and honest when they talk about your appearance? (I heard someone tell their friend, “You got fat over Chinese New Year.”  In the US, that would be completely insulting and immediately call for dieting, but it’s just an observation here.)  Why do people eat so loudly and always slurp their soup?  In the US, it might be called it bad manners, but you’re actually encouraged to do so here in order to show that you enjoyed the food rather than just saying you liked the meal.  But there are even deeper things.  How do people feel about family connections? How does culture influence the view of relationship with God and how does that have an impact on how people share their faith?  How does this influence the way I express my faith with my friends.  Likewise, I have to understand this culture as much as possible in order to understand my friends’ faith.  But the more I can understand, the more I can translate into terms I can understand and the more I can learn from those around me.  

Everything is a translation of sorts, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.  It means that I’m constantly engaged with everything around me and there’s not much time to relate to people in an ‘autopilot’ sort of mode.  It means that there is more time between observation and response and I find myself listening much more closely and reflecting more.  The sheer number of translations that I go through on a daily basis can be overwhelming, but they have also been great gifts.  They’re things that I can work through with the friends around me and they can be informative on how to live more closely with my community.