Sho on Sho

Six years ago, on a beautiful sunny day with cold breeze, I, Shoichiro Watanabe, took a first step on Martha’s Vineyard, U.S.A, with few English words stored in my brain.It was my first time coming to the United States to go to school. I was put into a language school on Martha’s Vineyard for first four months until beginning of the regular high school year.

During this time, I had one of the most interesting experiences in my life. One of the biggest issues for me was the language. I mis-understood so many words that other people said.

The word “son of a bitch” is one of them.

One of my Korean friends was saying “some of the beatch, some of the beatch” in Korean accent. I had no idea what he was saying, but I thought he was saying “some of the beaches.”

Being the resourceful student that I am, I went to ask one of my English teachers. “What does ‘some of the beatch’ mean?”

“What?” said my teacher.

I said it again louder.

“Some of the beatch!”

My teacher told me that it was a cursing word and I should never say that again.

Another time, some of my friends and I went to see a high school lacrosse game and a player made an amazing goal.

Suddenly, a guy right next me goes, “that was a sick shot” and another guy said, “he’s so sick!”

I was little confused at that moment, but soon I came up with a decent thought. That player is sick. I thought he must be playing with a cold and fever. I was amazed how he could play so well being so sick. Later on, I found out what those guys actually meant about him.

There are also words, like pussy, that are confusing. I didn’t realize it, but this word has at least three meanings. First is a slang term for a woman’s private parts, second is a cat, and third is a term for a coward.

A couple of days ago in Rutland, my friend and I were waiting in a line to purchase some groceries at a store. A lady in front of me was asked to pay $4 and 12 cents for a bag of cat food, but she only had $4 on her.

The old lady asked me if she could borrow 12 cents, so I gave her 25 cents. As she was walking out of the store, she yelled “My pussies thank you!”

I was lost for words.

I had no idea what to respond for that, so I just waved to her.

I still don’t know why she called us women’s genitalia.

It is still a myth up in the air.

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