They come. They see. They want to conquer.
In order to conquer, they sniff the culture of the environment. From food to language use. Sometimes, however, it is an embarrassing exercise.
SCENE 1:
While Mr. Talklovealways and Mrs. Talklovealways were travelling to Wales, this dialogue ensued between two BLACK women (BW):
BW 1: I don't want to have black children. They are ugly. Mixed raced all the way!
BW 2: I feel you sis. I want an off-colour baby. Thank God I have a white man in the side that's willing to give me my dream.
BW1: I envy you.
BW 2: God will intercede, don't worry.
Ticket inspector walks to the women and asks for their ticket. From their English pregnant with Nigerianess, they jumped into a Queen's english, dropping words from their nose.
SCENE 2:
At 805, a Nigerian restaurant, some guys walked in and ordered for egusi soup and pounded yam. This dialogue emanated:
Man 1: Everything Naija don tire me.
Man 2: I dey tell you brother.
Man 1: See as the soup dirty.
Man 2: I don tell you say make we stop to come here. See as this place dirty!
They paid. Food abandoned. They left.
Scene 3:
My Indian colleague, who just came some three months ago, visited Mr& Mrs Talklovealways. WE offered him some African delicacy. He scanned it, sniffed the food's smell and asked for a sandwich. He spoke with a forced English accent, one which made comprehension a hard nut and unmasked his insecurity.
Questions:
Is there anything wrong with speaking the way you can? Do we have to blend to be accepted? What is the essence of behaving new in another environment? Do humans think about originality?
#deep sigh. Originality is almost dead. A lot of people have self esteem issues. We should wear ourselves proudly. I find it interesting when parents tell their kids not to speak their native language. I don't get it at all. You'll never be what you're not no matter how many times you bleach or how many whites you sleep with. Just be proudly you
ReplyDeleteI think there is something infinitely wrong with people trying to completely change who they are. We need to stop seeing shades and and just accept each other as humans. Even blacks are being racist *smh slowly*
Welcome again to blogville and thanks for visiting mine. Hoping to see you more often
I think there's something about speaking with a foreign accent in a foreign place just to get people to understand you quickly and so you don't keep repeating yourself. I'm not going to lie, I worked in an insurance company in jand and I found myself blowing MAJOR fon-eh that even my friends were afraid whenever they heard me or came over.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I know I didn't compromise on though was food. I fed my friends from all cultures and nations with Nigerian food especially jollof rice (red rice to some lol) and plantain. Around my Nigerian friends, it was like we were back in Nigeria.
Insecurity? I don't think so.
I think it's possible to "fo-neh-rize" and still be true to yourself. No need to dis your Nigerian-ness just to feel like you belong.
ReplyDeleteSo, yes it may be a form of insecurity but not always.
Thanks for stopping by my blog and welcome to Blogville!
Welcome to blogville.
ReplyDeleteNothing can change who we are, or our nationality. No matter the forming, we should be proud of our "Nigerianess".