I went.  Simply that.  I could have stayed away.

It was 1:50 pm in the cafeteria of Amal.  I sat with Muhammed, who was in my conversation group on Tuesday.  I wanted a relaxed few minutes before the session started but more than that I wanted to join him.  It would be good for us to struggle together in expressing Dutch thoughts.  It wasn’t much of a struggle for him, and that was okay.

So … I chose the tension of searching for vocabulary and grammar and yearning to understand Muhammed’s words.

And then we were ten, led by our facilitator Mirjam.  I asked my arms to stay long.  (See yesterday’s post)  And mostly they did.  Amid my mistakes of speaking and listening was a peace.  It decided to stay with me for most of the two hours.

Most of us were Ukrainian.  Mirjam kept bringing us back from our mother tongue to Dutch.  Sometimes when my neighbours spoke, I asked myself whether it was in Ukrainian or in a Dutch that was way beyond what I knew.

I was feeling light.  Amazing.  I tried making jokes in Dutch, something I love doing in English.  “Hmm … guess I’m making progress if I’m being silly in my new language.”

An older woman began to stare at me.  She smiled and said something I didn’t understand.  Our answers showed that we were both 75, and her birthday is January 3.  Mine is the 9th.  An older woman indeed.

Since it appeared that she was proposing marriage, I got up, went over, and gave her a hug.  Apparently the whole group is invited to the wedding.

Laughing filled the room.

***

I conclude that learning a new language doesn’t have to be dark and foreboding.  It can include lots of chuckling.

I’ll be back next Tuesday.