January 3, 2008 - Blunders

Everyone loves hearing stories about people that make blunders with their new language-and of course, I am no exception. This time however, I am the one making blunders. I went for a walk with the kids on New Year’s, and was smiling, and being friendly to everyone-trying to talk to them. I was waving and saying, “Selamat Tahun Biru!” instead of “Selamat Tahun Baru!” I thought I was saying Happy New Year, but what I was actually saying was Happy blue year. That was not too bad. But today I did a worse one than that. Every day at lunch, we eat and then I make up plates of food for the pembantu’s. I walk out to the gudang and say “Ibu makan,” telling them they can eat. Well, today Wyatt said to me, “Mom, you should say the whole sentence “Anda bole makan.” “You may eat.” So I go out there and said “Anda bola makan.” Which means “You eat balls.” Ibu Poppi looked at me funny, so I said it again, and still she looked at me funny. Then I hear Wyatt from in the house yell “Bole, Mom-not bola!” Like I always say “Saya masi belajar Bahasa Indonesia.” I am still learning the Indonesian language. “saya choba.” I am trying. Ha, Ha, Har, HAR…O…La, Da!!!!
Well, the great news of the day is not my blunders but the fact that my family is leaving to come here on Friday-tomorrow. We are more excited than a kitten in a room full of catnip. They are flying from Milwaukee to Chicago, to LA to Taipei, to Bali to Sentani. They leave on Friday and get here on Sunday. PLEASE pray for them. It is quite a trip with some over night flights. Pray for safety and quiet so they can get some sleep. The flight in LA to Taipei is all night (12 hours) and they feed you at midnight or 1 am a full dinner. Crazy. If they could take more luggage I know some of you would have tried to climb in. I will take pictures of all of us once we are reunited so you can see.
If you wake up during the night for any reason, think of it as a reminder from God to pray for them. Thanks.
Love
Rachel