Meka and I just had lunch in a local Vietnamese restaurant. Our friendly waiter Duy started a conversation with us and as we chatted about Australia and his wish to study there I decided to test out Mekas new English-Vietnamese phrasebook. My lunch was fried rice cooked in coconut, literally cooked in a whole coconut. I consulted the phrasebook for the word for delicious pointed at the coconut, lifted off the lid and proudly proclaimed (in Vietnamese) 'delirious'. Duy looked at me confused, so I said it again. 'No, no' he said wrinkling his brow, confused. What, I thought, is my pronunciation so bad that he can't understand me? Meka quickly consulted the guidebook. Soon the mistake was uncovered. Trying to explain the problem was impossible.
Hey, at least I tried.
