OK, a bit of background info: the term "human candy" is introduced by a friend I met in France who also loves to pull pranks on people...and well...some people are just so much more tempting to "chew on" than others, and we call these people human candies heheheheh...
Had a pretty funny "human candy experience" on the plane today... (yeah...12 hours Paris-Singapore flight....). Went like this:
Walked to my seat n started thumbing through the in-flight magazine...then several guys took the seats to the left and right of me...2 on my right and 3 on my left....and they started speaking in Indonesian...*I wonder if the flight attendant purposely put all of us together...she obviously didn't know how dangerous it could be when Indonesians team up with Indonesians....)
Anyway, when I was still wondering how to greet them, the one on my left started speaking in Indonesian...
Guy on Left: "Eh ajak ngobrol dong tuh cewek, sana ajak ngobrol..." ("Eh, eh, talk to that girl! c'mon talk to that girl.." I guess it's because I was the only girl in a row of guys..right in the middle too!)
Guy on Right: *smiling...*
Me a.k.a Girl in the Middle: *thinking that it would be much more fun to pretend I'm not Indonesian rather than reveal that I'm indonesian and possibly get stuck with overenthusiastic guys for the next 12 hours....*
So yeah, for the whole of the flight I pretended that I'm not Indonesian, spoke to the stewardess in French, and the situation became kinda hillarious...Just after I took the meal, I went to the toilet, and after I got seated again:
Guy on Left: "OK she's back, can talk to her now..."
Guy on Right: "No...later...." *and here's the creepy part..he was looking directly at me as he said it...dang...*
Me, a.k.a Girl Stuck in the Middle: *innocent smile to Guy on Right pretending I don't understand a word of what they're saying*
And then, about 20mins before we're about to land, there was an announcement in French that the plane's about to land (and none in English...hmm..Air France...not that I'm complaining, especially with the great cheese, free wine and Haagen Dasz..), and Guy on Right "asked" me whether the plane's about to land:
Guy on Right: *gesturing with his hand a descending motion, with a questioning face*
Me: "Yes..."
Guy on Right: *looking at me again*
Me: *polite smile , then back to reading The Economist with a super serious look* (I have to admit that I'm totally laughing inside..f there's such a thing as mentally rolling on the floor..sometimes my abilty to totally disconnect what I feel with what I show on my face amazes even myself huhuhu....)
Guy on Right: "You...from Philippines?"
Me: *was gonna answer I'm from Indonesia, by reflex, but caught myself. "No, Singaporean."
Guy on Right: "Oh.."
Me: "And you?"
Guy on Right: "Indonesian.."
Me: *wide happy smile* "Ooooh.....Indonesian....."
Guy on Left: *looking over my shoulder...* "So can she understand you? Do you understand each other?" *ok I gotta admit that Guy on Left makes the situation a lot funnier that it would've been if it's just Guy on Right. Plus, bear in mind the fact that I'm actually in the middle of these 2 guys and they're talking ABOUT me ACROSS me...geez....*
Guy on Right: "Indonesian food...good..."
Me: "Yeah actually, I visited Indonesia before and I think the food's really good.."
*some more light conversation, in which almost every sentence I utter is direct/indirect lie....silence for a while...he smiled at me, I smiled at him...the whole pretending I'm innocent thing..*
Well....in the end I kinda can't restrain a smile when I look at him...and decide to confess just so he doesn't misunderstand the fact that I'm smiling everytime I look at his direction..
Me: *sweet smile* "Uhmm.....maaf ya, sebenernya saya orang Indonesia...." ("Sorry, actually I'm Indonesian....")
Guy on Right: looked at me with total disbelief, then looked as if he wanted to cry and laugh at the same time, and then looked away from me and made soft laughing noises... "uhm..ha..ha..ha..."
Guy on Right: *talking in Indonesian now* "Oh my gosh you are Indonesian...."
Me: "Yeah...sorry...but I didn't know how to introduce myself at first..and I gotta admit that I like to pull pranks...."
Guy on Right: *still somewhat embarrassed smile* "Oh, no, it's ok, it's ok...So what do you do in Paris?"
Me: "Went there for an exchange, just 6 months, I'm actually studying in Singapore...bla bla bla..."
*some more light conversation...I introduced myself to Guy on Left and apologized also...they're quite good sports...but I think if I'm a guy they would've punched me huhuhu....*
Guy on Right: "So......are you still single?"
Me: *awkward silence.....in which I thought, thank goodness I pretended I'm not Indonesian for at least 11 hours huhuhu...* "Uhm,no, I have a boyfriend.." *since the previous conversation was entirely lies, what's adding another one, right..*
*followed by some more awkward silence...*
Guy on Right: "Oh.."
Me: "Anyway, for you it must be hard to have a girlfriend right, since you're a sailor and has to move from one city to another.."
Guy on Right: "Yeah.....well....it will be difficult for the girl...bla bla bla..."
*And we exchanged parting words and I'm glad the funnily weird situation was over huhuhu....*
_____
Anyway it got me thinking, I've always viewed language as a window, by which I can look into a whole other world (by reading books in that language, for example...) - a new language will instantly make accessible a wealth of new information. Also, language for me is a bridge that makes it a lot easier to connect to other people, even if we only know one or two greetings or common words....
But hey, turns out language can be used as a wall too...for didn't I use it to build a whole barrier preventing people from connecting to me, because they think they would not be able to reach me anyway, as they don't master the language I'm communicating in. Hmmm.......
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