Fresh Off the Boat

I am trying to look and act like an established resident here in Albany but I am miserably failing.   I am undeniably Fresh Off the Boat and I probably reek of the sea, figuratively.

First, the weather.  It's hard to fathom temperatures expressed in Fahrenheit.  And when I do convert, I can't imagine how warm or cold it will be like.   I don't know what 40F, 50F, or 60F feels like because in the Philippines, I am only used to temperatures above 30C.  I keep asking Ben before I go out, will I need a coat?  Will my feet be warm?  Do I need to wear socks?  My feet get cold quite easily, you know.   If there is anything that will give my new immigrant status away, it will probably be my extra layer of outerwear when I brave the winter.

Second, while I am used to conversing in English, it is quite different when the tempo is faster, the intonation is different, and the accent is more polished.    I try my best to drop the Filipino accent, but with 38 years of talking Filipino English, it is often hard.   As you would have guessed, I have had a lot of mispronunciations.   The common ones are the Ps for Fs, Bs for Vs, and vice versa; short vowels in place of long vowels, and vice versa.   I sometimes commit the blunder of using "he" instead of "she" or "his" in place of "her", and vice versa.   This is especially tricky because in Tagalog, the 3rd person singular pronouns "siya" or "kanya" are both gender-neutral.

I try to translate my thoughts in English and end up translating every word including "na" or "diba" too.    For example, "Did you eat already" is my direct translation for "kumain ka na?   The more appropriate translation should have been "have you eaten", but spoken English does not give one the luxury of more than a few seconds to think of the proper translation.   Ben noticed I always add "already" at the end of sentences.  In jest, Ben asks "Are you ready, ALREADY?"

While I do watch a lot of American films and TV, I am still more familiar with formal English.  I am struggling with colloquial terms and expressions.   For example, I can't understand a thing they say in Sons of Anarchy.   I need to have captions enabled for me to follow the show.  Ben assures me though that my English is perfectly fine, and I am just being too harsh on myself.   I need to remind myself that my English is not inferior because I have an accent.  It just means I know another language other than American English.

And then there is the general unfamiliarity with the area and the customs. I can't get my bearings on which way is south, which is east.  I am still trying to get used to being friendlier and more chit-chatty when ordering food in restaurants or paying for groceries.   I need to be more abreast with local news.

Despite my attempts to veil it, I am an FOB.  A "freshie."     I just really want to blend in, but I guess the Filipino in me sticks out.   I might as well be proud of it.