Tuesday, August 6, 2013, 9:24am, Tahiti, French Polynesia

We have a nice room here in Tahiti that overlooks the ocean and the reef far out that causes the ocean surf to pound into waves that crash amongst the rocks. It is beautiful. It is paradise. We are also directly above a koi pond that has lilypads and small and large koi floating about. The baby koi tend to swim in schools, while the larger koi swim on their own, apparently without a care in the world except for the occasional feeding frenzy that occurs when someone drops a crumb from a balcony.

After hearing most people speak French or Tahitian for several days, some of the two years of French class is starting to come back to me,amazing as it may seem to those who suffered through that class with me. We didn’t really learn a lot of French, unfortunately, as that would have come in very handy on the trip. Instead, we were read, in part, Stephen King’s The Mist, although none of us ever really understood why. I know that some folks really enjoyed listening to someone read a novel to them, in the twelfth grade, but I would have preferred to actually learn French.

It is amazing, though, that I know and recall enough, even though I have never had to use it, to get by. I could read a sign yesterday, telling us that a place was closed on Sunday and Monday. I can actually order a pizza and a Coke Light, which is Diet Coke for those unsure Americans. I can say good morning and good night. I can even read enough between words in a magazine to know what it is saying, in some instances at least. It was my goal be for we left to learn French as my next “hobby”, now that law school is over. I know, some might think me crazy, but it is either tame my racing mind with a hobby or it will make up paranoia all on its own. I choose the former.

So I wondered if the fish in the koi pond think French. I mean, it’s like that dog we had at the vet who only understood Japanese. Since no one other than me even knew how to say “hello” in Japanese, it made for difficult circumstances. You can imagine. Try telling a dog to “sit” in English when he only understands Japanese. It doesn’t work very well. He just looks at you. So, I wondered if the fish only understood French. It would make for an interesting time.

I just wonder if I’d know what they were thinking?