Friday 12 September 2008

Friday, Bloody Friday

At work, we have a Woman Friday, or a Friday woman, whatever, a lady who only comes in on a Friday. Her grandparents came over from Japan and were interned during the war. Last Friday, meeting our Japanese volunteers, she told us a story about visiting Japan a few years back. She went with a sister or cousin, and stayed with an aunt who had remained in Japan. She told us that her own Japanese isn't that good. Whenever they went out, when anyone asked them anything, before she let them answer, the aunt prefaced their utterances by explaining,
They're not retards, just Canadian.' I have told this story a couple of times, and Canadians don't really seem to appreciate it.

I think what really struck and stuck with me however, was the fact that the Aunt felt she had to say this because they looked Japanese

A while back, I remember Canadian Karen saying that some of her ESL students had patiently explained to her how you could tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese and Korean students, but it seemed a bit technical to me.

I said this to our woman Friday and she told me that it was just like how I, a British person, would be able to tell the difference between an English person, a Scot and a Welsh person.
'Erm, not just by looking at them,' I said. She was astonished. But then so was I.

Why does this bug me? I don't know, maybe because I don't know.

Friday night. I went to my friend's house and we ate and talked. A good evening, a convivial evening, a garlicky evening.
Blood cleansing garlic.

I came home and Kevin and I watched the first episode in a new vampire series. 'True Blood'. It was engaging. I enjoyed it. I wondered what happens if a vampire takes blood from someone who has had as much garlic as I have this evening. Would they choke? Fall down dead? Or would they not be able to come near enough to feed.
If the bread during communion turns into the body of Christ, does the wine turn into his blood? If you have the blood of Christ in your veins, can a vampire drink your blood? I can't imagine that would work.

Blood work. Bloody work. Bloody Hell.

2 comments:

Kateryna said...

I swear I responded to this and here it is three days hense.


Sometimes I think and think so loud I think I actually conversed.

I hope your new vampire show is better than the lame ones we have had after Buffy the Vampire Slayer went off the air. *sigh*

That's a good thought about communion though. I think you've single handedly shot down any thought of there being real vampires. Maybe they all starved to death through lack of heathen blood.

Schneewittchen said...

Ah, Buffy, I miss that show. My entire week used to revolve around it.
I actually quite enjoyed 'Moonlight', not in the same way as Buffy mind, but it was better than other offerings.