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.
