Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Charades, Anyone?

Let me tell you, folks, I am going to be a killer charades player by the time we move back to the states. Living in a city where you don't speak the language leaves plenty of room for creative hand gesturing. Oh, and noises. For example, I needed to buy some screws to install a shelf, but I knew that once I actually found a store that suited my hardware needs, I would mostly likely encounter a serious language barrier. So I spent some extra mental energy on my walk through the neighborhood figuring out the best way to pantomime the word "screw."

I decided this word was best described by holding my finger like a gun:


And then when I added a "whirrrring" noise (you'll have to use your imagination for this one):






I ended up with this mind-boggling concoction:




And it was a rousing success! (In case you can't tell, I was imitating a drill. It seemed a better option than spinning rapidly and running into the wall.) I'm sure the fellas at the store had a good laugh on my behalf after I left, but I just don't care.

To give me the occasional break from the ol' pantomime routine, I can use this brilliant pocket picture book we got in the mail yesterday from our friends Kevin and Laura. (Thanks so much, guys!) It's pure genius.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

you're a genius. thanks for sharing that story. you brightened my day a bit.

Anonymous said...

This post came JUST in time. I was in a pretty bad state of crabby rangoon withdrawal, and I'm not sure I could have lasted much longer. I laughed out loud AT WORK for this one. The previous post was right...you ARE a genius.

NJ Speks said...

hope the point-it book will come in "handy."

Anonymous said...

Ah, those pictures were just great (except for the fact that they made me miss you!). I could practically hear the (hypothetical) .wav file accompaniment.

BTW, I just reached into my German mustard jar for some fancy schmancy stripey paperclips, courtesy M & E Kirkland!

The Tilted Tulip said...

It's funny that you mention those paperclips, because just the other day I was just trying to figure out who they went to. Glad they are useful!

Anonymous said...

I was going to suggest you try some American Sign Language... Do they have HK sign language?