Re: [wolfrunners] Languages & SF/F (fwd)

On Sat, 19 Aug 2000, Marcus Smith wrote:

> Tom Wier wrote:
>
> >Is this documented?  It's sounds like the stuff that urban legends are
> >made of.
>
> I can add some personal testimony to this type of behavior.  I lived in Spain
> for 4 years (my Dad was in the military, and he got stationed there).  There
> were many Americans who never went more than 20 miles from the base, and never
> learned to say anything besides what you could get out of children's shows
> (American ones, of course).  They even saved up their vacation time to use
> once
> they got back to the States.  Luckily my parents were not of that type.  They
> often dragged us kids around to see the country, and forbade us to eat
> American-style food when not on the Base.  It was miserable back then, but I'm
> glad they did it.  Sort of like homework ... :-)
Gosh, you're right; I keep forgetting that I lived on a military base for
2 years when my dad was stationed there.  Yongsan Base is almost
frightening: it's like someone dumped a chunk of quintessential U.S. into
the middle of Seoul.  It's a nearly autonomous community, and you can
almost get culture shocked leaving it.

YHL