JOURNEY - on Mastering Ukemi by Daniel Linden (classic books for 12 year olds .TXT) 📕

not ask how the others would be billeted. If they had a problem they would let me know. I sat on the hard bunk and after a few moments my duffle showed up. I unpacked enough to pull out my sleeping bag and mat and spread them across the thin camp mattress on the hard plank that served as a bed. It felt like the finest presidential suite in the best hotel in Paris compared to the previous night. I took off my boots and socks and lay down and fell immediately asleep.

When I awoke I knew it was much later. The light was different and I could hear laughter and a grating, scraping sound and then an occasional grunt and laugh. I lay quietly feeling my body and finally figured it wasn’t going to get any better so I sat up and dug around in my duffle for my camp shoes; light sandals with no arch support and just enough underfoot to keep the sharp stones from hurting. Downstairs I saw Cook preparing to serve tea and went out to see where the others were.

I found them in the rear of the lodge in the square used for hanging laundry and other domestic chores. The square was empty and I realized immediately they were training. Christian was launching a shomenuchi at Curtis and Curtis was reversing and letting the downward slash sail past then pushing Christian in the back. They repeated the process three times then Chris stepped up and attacked Curtis. Eventually Celine took her turn and then Christian stepped into the middle. I walked over to the table and benches on the side of the building in the shade and sat down next to Esra to watch. Cook sent one of the kitchen helpers with a tray of cookies and tea and I told him to put it on the table. He did and then left. I offered a cup to Esra and she accepted it and then we both turned to watch.

“Sensei, Ari yohu go eeng tu pla yee?” she said.

I looked at her and smiled again and offered more tea. I didn’t have a clue what the hell she was talking about. I turned back to see Celine deliver a vicious blow to Chris and wondered what that was all about. I knew he had been flirting with her so it could be some form of courtship, aikido style, but it’s been a long time since I have courted anyone with aikido so…

“Sensei, Celine doe ees not be long e to an yee on ee and sss he ees…”

I ignored her and kept watching and she kept talking. After a few minutes I couldn’t help myself.

“Curtis! Keep your center planted when you tenkan. You’re bouncing up and down like a 14 year old kid!”

He grinned over at me and nodded and then went back to training. Sometimes I just have to get involved even when I pointedly am not. They continued to train and Esra continued to blather away when suddenly I turned and said, “no”. I was answering a question. I had heard a question and had answered it automatically without thinking. She had asked if I was unhappy that they had come.

“Are e yo hu un hapee wit hu me?”

I stared at her and then spelled what she had said phonetically. I worked my way through it. I did it again. ‘Are you unhappy with me?’ She was speaking each and every syllable. She was not giving any caution to silent letters. She was speaking exactly like the Turks address their own written vocabulary. No silent letters. Jesus!

“Esra, would you like some more tea?”

She worked through what I had said and then responded, “No. This ees not vee rye go ud.” No, this is not very good. It was like deciphering pig-Latin. You just had to listen closely.

“Esra, how did you learn to speak English? Did you take a class? Did you learn in school?

She smiled her most gorgeous, drop-dead smile and exclaimed, “No! In books! I read in books!” That wasn’t exactly what she said, but that was it. She had learned to speak English by reading books. It all made sense, now. We talked for another hour while my young friends trained. I switched to beer from tea and after I had tracked down the vendor, the rest of the group decided beer sounded better than kote-gaishi and joined us.

I kept talking with Esra and found her quite fascinating now that I could figure out what she was saying. The rest of the group ignored us and eventually curiosity won out and Chris asked what she was saying. I guess he figured I had learned to speak gibberish in the last 24 hours.

“What do you think she’s saying?” I asked him.

“God, Sensei, I don’t know.”

“You should try listening.”

“I have been.”

“Well, keep listening. The thing is, when Mustafa Ataturk ordered the western alphabet to be the rule of law in Turkey at the beginning of the last century they phonetically spelled out every word. They used no silent letters and no compound vowels. A taxi is spelled t-a-k-s-i. You get it? Esra taught herself to read and speak English from books without anyone giving her the benefit of explaining silent letters and compound vowels and all sorts of crazy stuff we take for granted. So listen to her. You will figure her out if you pay attention.”

He stared at me for a few seconds and then turned to Esra and asked her a short direct question. “Was the trip hard today?”

“Yes,” she said. “Ve ry lon gu.”

Chris smiled and sat down close to her and said, “When a y is used at the end of a word it sounds like two e’s. It is pronounced ‘very’, vare ee. When two consonants are together one is usually dominant and…”

I stopped listening. He got it. Esra was shining she was so excited,