Our Indonesian student, Sara Lee, is a solemn little girl who bursts out with sudden laughter whenever she catches a joke: "Oh I get it. I understand!" Then she makes little jokes of her own, behaving for all the world like an American teenager--not one of those who ignore all adults with an air of "only my friends on facebook are granted an audience...and then only if I choose to acknowledge them", but an open, "love to learn, love to share complaints and triumphs" kind of teenager who views people of all ages as potential friends.
Turtle is from Arkansas, a state he blames for all his linguistic anomalies, and he delights in tossing idioms to her so that he can explain them. A few weeks ago he had to explain the phrase: "let sleeping dogs lie." Later that day, when he was asking me questions about something in the past and getting off-putting, roundabout answers, Sara Lee, broke into the conversation with a light-hearted warning: "Don't wake up the dog!"
I think it will become a classic around here.
