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Communication among those of different linguistic backgrounds can often be a comedy of errors, as anyone who has traveled to a country where his native language and its native language are not the same. Similarly, trying to help a non-English speaker out in the US can be, at the same time, rewarding and suprising.

Several years ago I was standing near the day lodge on Mt. Hood in Oregon and overheard two young women speaking Japanese. They were taking one another's pictures. Figuring they might want a picture of the two of them together, I cautiously approached and in my best (think 5 or 6 phrases gleaned from one year of Japanese many years previous) Japanese, asked "Nihon no kata desu ka?" - "Are you Japanese?" They looked delighted to hear something even vaguely familiar and responded with such a flurry of words that I nearly fell off the mountain! I was able to communicate that I really coudn't speak any more Japanese, but that I would be delighted to take their picture. They hugged one another, and I snapped the photo. Next, they insisted that I get in a picture with one of them while the other. What would they tell their friends and family I wondered?

There have been numerous attempts at creating an artificial "universal language". Esperanto is one was developed at the end of the 19th Century that still has its adherents today. You can check out the Esperanto USA site at www.esperanto-usa.org to see examples of the language and read up on activities of the organization. The librarian in my high school, Miss Glidden ("the Glider" to the students, behind her back, of course), was a big Esperanto fan, had books on it and could actually speak it, much to everyone's amazement.

Another appears in the one-act play "Universal Language" in which playwright David Ives creates "Unamunda", "an absurdist variation on Esperanto (already absurd enough) that blithely substitutes proper names, brand names and ludicrous distortions of familiar foreign phrases for their English equivalents. ("Harvard U" means "How are you?"; "Velcro" is "Welcome.")" - NY Time review of December 3, 1993. This is but one of many one act plays from the collection "All in the Timing" by the playwright, and if it's ever being done in town, wherever "in town" is to you, buy a couple of tickets, get a friend to go with you, and be prepared for a totally enjoyable evening.

The honeymoon registry where I work has seen a number of registries created in different languages. American English is the most common, of course, followed by British, Australian and Canadian (eh?) English, but we have seen registries in French, Portuguese, Spanish and others. For those who wish to translate "honeymoon registry" into one of several languages, click here!

On a recent trip to the Cook Islands, we had our last meal at the Pacific Resort on the island of Aitutaki. This is a view from the dining room - it must be incredible at sunset!




What a beautiful resort! The Pacific Resort Aitutaki has only been open for four years. It is lushly landscaped and luxuriously appointed - and much less to stay at than resorts of similar quality on other islands in the South Pacific.

A must while on Aitutaki is a lagoon cruise - the lagoon is so incredible that visitors to Rarotonga take a day trip over to the island just to go on there! The fish are abundent, and when you snorkel they may school around you while you check out the giant clams, pearl oysters, octopi and other marine life.

Most lagoon cruises include lunch on the beach - ours was with a group who had worked with the Survivor cast and crew - do you think they copied the ingenious method of making dishes from the locals?

If I were to go back to the Cooks I think I'd spend an extra night on Aitutaki, go on two lagoon cruises, and stay at this resort.

For the first time since it's been on television, I'm hooked on Survivor - mainly because we were there the week after the Survivor crew left! I have to say I get a huge chuckle every time they mention how difficult it is to face the elements there -- we were there in their "winter" when the average daily temperature is in the high 70's. The breezes are soft and warm and the most extra clothing you would want might be a sweater at night.

Most of those (about 50%) who visit the Cook Islands are from New Zealand and Australia. The next largest group is from Europe, mostly Germans. Only 12% of those who visit are from the US, so you're not likely to run into a whole lot of Americans while you are there. We went to an Island night at the Edgewater Hotel on Rarotonga and out of a couple hundred people were the only folks from the US. When we finally ran into some other US citizens it was on Aitutaki - we found two ex-patriots, one of whom made a classic comment about surviving in the Cook Islands - he said you'd have to be really lazy to have any trouble doing so as there is an abundance of fish inside the reefs, bananas waiting to be picked and coconuts falling off the trees all over the islands. There are no poisonous snakes and no other animal hazards with the exception of stone fish, which one simply has to avoid stepping on. In other words, life is good.

So, you can see whyI have to laugh when I hear about surviving the elements on Survivor!

I'm also amused by the pictures of sharks they show swimming in the water as the depth inside the reefs is too shallow for them. Justs outside the reef is a different story, though!

We're from Portland, Oregon, and we did run into two American couples who were tourists, both on Aitutaki - each of them lived within a 45 minute drive of where we live! How bizarre is that??