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Blogs – August 2004This coming Tuesday, August 31, provides an enlightening irony. It's my dad's yartzheit and my first day as coach for my son's Little League team. As a kid, I played like a famous baseball player. Unfortunately, it was Charlie Brown from Peanuts. I was the one who was always picked last, and my team always put me far in right field because no one ever hit there. My defensive strategy was to shout "Hey, batter, batter!" and to move out of the way while a good player can run over and catch the ball. To calculate my batting average, you need four decimal places. Still, I loved baseball. My mom would take us out to about seven Dodger games a year, and we occasionally drove down to Anaheim to watch the Angels. I was very happy to see my son develop an interest in baseball (even though at times, it comes in third behind computer games and Dav Pilkey books). He started playing T-ball through the community recreation department a couple years ago, and he played his first Little League season this spring. When we signed him up for Winterball, the coordinator told us that he needed a coach for his team. My wife encouraged me to sign up, but I was reluctant. I had never coached kids before, and I was nervous about making a fool of myself on the field. But I wanted to support my son, so I volunteered. I feel it's important for us fathers to make time for our children, because with all the things we have to do, it's easy for that time to slip away from us. That's what happened with my own father, and how I found myself not really knowing him until it was too late. (More info) This is why having our team's first practice on my dad's yartzheit on August 31 provides such an enlightening irony for me. It reminds me of the importance of building a strong relationship with our children and that the greatest and most lasting gift we can give them is building positive memories for them. (More info) But I won't be thinking of such heavy matters on Tuesday. I'll be teaching kids baseball so that they don't play like Charlie Brown. Now that the Games have started, here are a few of the folks I'm rooting for:
And there are a few folks I'm not rooting for:
I was a grumpy, know-it-all 15-year-old when the Olympics Games of Montréal were on TV in 1976. I complained to my mom about how stupid the Olympics were and how annoyed I was at all the flag-waving rah-rah nationalism. After giving me a thorough butt-chewing, my mom made me watch them. After a while, I came to enjoy the games. (Perhaps it was from watching Nadia Comaneci in that cute leotard.) My appreciation for the Games grew when they came here to Los Angeles in 1984. The most rewarding part of the Olympics for me wasn't the competition, but from meeting people from around the world. At a basketball game, I had another opportunity to exercise my middling Spanish-language skills by speaking with a cycling coach from Chile. I will be among the four billion people watching the Olympics as they take place in Athens. Again, the attraction of the Games for me is seeing people from around the world gather in the spirit of camaraderie and sportsmanship. It's especially heartening to see Iraq and Afghanistan, countries that are still in the throes of warfare, sending teams to the games. Let us hope for a peaceful, successful Games Most people around the world pride themselves in learning more than one. Unfortunately, most of us Americans pride ourselves for knowing only one. It's a shame because learning multiple languages broadens your possibilities. It opens opportunities for travel, business, education, and cultural exchange. It also strengthens your skills in communicating in your own language by expanding your vocabulary, making yourself aware of how language is structured, and learning how to express yourself effectively to different cultures. I had an experience with the benefits of learning another language last week at the Orange County Fair. I was working at the Toastmasters booth with a member of the Latin Leaders club, a bilingual club in Santa Ana for Spanish and English speakers (More info). This member knew English, but didn't feel completely comfortable with it. I studied Spanish for five years in high school and college. I had gotten good enough to read Jorge Luis Borges in the original, but I had fallen out of practice. I could still figure out La Tercera (More info), but I felt my conversation skills were shaky. Still, I gave my Spanish a try. We wound up having a wonderful conversation. He told me how he emigrated from Peru, and when he arrived, he fell into a diabetic coma. Miraculously, he recovered fully and works as a real estate agent and an assistant minister for the Spanish-language services for the Crystal Cathedral. I would have missed a wonderful opportunity to meet someone new if I hadn't learned Spanish. The encounter also shows how one can improve language skills by going to a Toastmasters club. I've known a number of people who were not native speakers gain confidence and skill with a new language by going to Toastmasters. With the Internet and global business, it's more important than ever to learn other languages. Find a language that interests you and find speakers who can help you practice your skills. Related TopicsPrevious Blogs |
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