I think I did well on my exam. My brain hurt, though. It's been over fifteen years since I've actually written anything in Arabic, let alone try to put together a coherent sentence together in Arabic. Like I said before, although I speak the Lebanese dialect almost every day with my mother, I don't speak nahawi, or high/formal arabic at all. Whenever I listen to news or read online magazines in Arabic, I can pretty much get the gist of what the reporter is trying to say. Otherwise, I really have no need for it. So today when I had to read long passages and answer questions, I found it a little challenging. Translating from Arabic into English was a breeze, which is very surprising. The test itself should have taken between 1.5 and 2 hours, but it took me about 2 hours and eleven minutes. Most of that time was trying to formulate my answers to the questions. It took less than ten minutes to translate two paragraphs.
On the ride home on the bus, I saw a woman who was snuggled with her daughter, who was wearing a T-shirt that said "Sorry: Mind closed until further notice." Now, why on earth would someone go around advertising that his or her head is completely closed? Might as well just have a shirt that says "I'm an idiot"!
This t-shirt reminds of this bumper-sticker/t-shirt.
I guess I just don't get why would want to advertise that they're complete dolts.
America hates intellectualism. One of the major objections of creationists to evolutionary theory, for instance, is that the specifics change from time to time as new data becomes available. The majority of Americans want black-and-white, unchanging "truths," not uncertainties that must be considered and reconsidered.
Thinking is hard. Pat answers are simple. So are most people.
Brian Seitzman said...
June 26, 2007 at 6:17 AM