I don't have time to give anecdotal evidence, but I think I'm a natural translator.

Let me explain a bit.

Throughout my life, I've known many people who speak English as a second language. Very proficiently I might add. I'm always amazed how many people somehow completely misinterpret what they are saying somehow. [This happens a lot in drawing class, my fab guru of a teacher is from Sweden.] I'm convinced it's not the ESL persons fault that they are not being understood, rather it is the person who is listening who somehow fucks up what has just been said. Every week it seems that I'm one of the few that understood what she wanted for our assignment, and am baffled by the ways other people understood it. I mean we do examples in class, but they still don't bring in anything like it. it's strange really.

At the restaurant it got to the point that I could anticipate Noung Yow so well, and know what a gesture of her hand met, that she was convinced at times that I was a mind reader. One time she outright confronted me. "How did you know what I wanted?" as she looked at me with a penetrating eye, immediately having made a request of Apple in a flurry of Thai. "I don't know I admitted, it just seemed like what you were asking for." She was convinced after words that I was Thai in some former life.

I'll admit that Thai is my comfort food.

Occasionally she would bust out with some wise ass Thai comment, and I'd crack up. She would stare at me, and demand that I explain what was humorous. She would look at me with strange eyes when I'd explain to her what I'd caught of the joke. . . without knowing any Thai even.

I think I weirded her out sometimes.

Love to you all.