The Doll

I am helping a Lao co-teacher do research for her Masters degree in TESOL. Because her project is on teaching pronunciation and I teach phonetics we have been working together a lot. She is a wonderful older lady who has never married and is full of energy. One day when Mirinda and I were eating lunch with her and the following conversation took place. It was in Lao, but this is how I understood it in my head, which made it especially funny for me.

Teacher: Doug, you only ate a little food, eat more!

Me: I'm full already, I'm a small person so I don't eat a lot of food.

Teacher: You look like a doll with your white skin and blue eyes. I want to take you home and put you on a shelf or on my bed so I can look at you all day.

Me: (uncomfortable laughing)

Mir: (laughs really hard, might have shot some Pepsi through her nose)

THE END