Illiteracy

I'm getting mighty sick of being illiterate everywhere I go. I can't read a thing, and the only things I know how to say are "Hello," "Thank you," and "How much?"


My illiteracy especially hits me when I go to my favorite type of restaurants: those sidewalk cafes where nobody speaks English, everything is super cheap and delicious, and locals crowd the tables. In these sorts of situations, I usually point at what I want and grunt, which is effective but humiliating. I've decided that if I ever live in a foreign country for a longer period of time (say, 1 year or more), I'll study the language intensively no matter how difficult it is.


Knowing how to read and write are amazing skills that I think are often taken for granted. If I didn't know how, I think I'd feel like Kate Winslet's character did in that movie The Reader -- embarrassed and disempowered.


btj