#ladyjssem family history

[theladyjssem]

Okay, I'm awful at other languages, English is my one and only despite a love for how languages affect names. That's just something I can't do.

My dad, on the other hand, for all of his MANY faults, is brilliant at other languages. Man is a certified genius, and when he wants to learn a language, he completely emerges. Radio, movies, TV, books, all of it in that other language.

I'm not certain if I've shared this story before. My dad loves the Russian language and, this is important, has a full bushy beard down to his chest. He has had it for years now since before my kids were born. When he was working in defence contracts (literally doing stuff that he couldn't tell people about with having to kill them, yes, he's told us that, yes, it's messed up), he literally jumped for the chance to go to Russia. They had a couple of days of adjustment to relax and tour the city.

Now, again, my dad is a very smart man, intellectually anyways, socially? Not so much. See, on these types of trips it's literally 101 to STAY WITH THE GROUP. DO NOT WANDER OFF. YOU COULD CAUSE SO MANY PRObLEMS IF YOU WANDER OFF.

So yeah, he wanders off.

Now, he's in Moscow, his escort and fellows on the trip have no kdea where he is, his escort is at wits end, and trying to find him, they didn't go to most of their planned locations. But, how do you pick an older, white cis man with a flawless Russian accent and a big bushy beard like a native older man or priest from, say, all the others in the entire ciry of Moscow??? I do have to say, yes, he did have a cell phone, but no, he did not answer it.

He had a whale of a time exploring and chatting with the locals while everyone was trying to get in touch with him. By the time evening rolled around, and everyone was back at their lodgings with their escort in a heap of trouble, and my dad waltzes back in, in time for dinner to ask where they were going. He was basically told that if he did that again, he'd be put on a leash and had to stay with the group from then on. Still occasionally got separated and confused for a local Catholic priest. But he was a non-native speaker being confused FOR a native. He even had the local accent down pat.

Russian is a liiiittle easier to learn compared to Japanese, I will grant, but at the level my dad knows it, and his seven other languages, that's a completely different thing. Also, yes, my dad can talk to a Russian rocket scientist and understand what they're talking about, and have a conversation with them. It would end up being about rocks.

This Twitter thread really spoke to me. I wanted to share it with anyone who hasn’t seen it.