yes virginia, i do speak english

went for a walk just now to post a letter and to try out my new navy crocs caymans ¹, and was about to cross the street to the post box when i saw a car coming, and waited for it to pass. the driver pulls up, says "hey" and looks like he's about to ask me a question, then thinks better of it, before speaking again and asks "mate do you speak english?"

so i put on my best ocker accent and reply with a resolute "yeah mate!"

to which he responded with a bit of laugh, and i proceed to give him the directions he needed to be on his way to the airport.

i suppose i don't begrudge him for questioning whether i was indeed conversant with the lingua franca of the land - after all, there are many in society who don't speak it (well) - but i guess it could come across as a bit of an affront to someone whose command of the language quite probably exceeds that of most truer and bluer locals².

anyways, it reminded me of the time when i was a uni student doing vacation work in mackay, and shooting hoops at the half-court next to where i was staying. some local kids came along and started shooting too. i was having a good run with my shots, and one of the kids made some complimentary remark to which i uttered some acknowledgement. no sooner had i spoken the words did he reply, with wide-eyed amazement "gee you speak good english for a japanese!"

me: *pause*... i'm not japanese...


[1] had been searching for some sandal/mule-type footwear for a while, and saw these while browsing rebelsports online to use up a voucher i had - they're supposedly quite popular in the states, so i figured i'd play early adopter here in the antipodes :)
[2] not that i'm trying to be arrogant, but if my school results are anything to go by...