Kito the Adventurer: Next Adventure...

This blog was created. Lots of exciting things going on -- life has lots of twists and turns. Hopefully, we'll all keep it real; keep it complex. Best regards, Kito Robinson

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Yiddish goes to eat at fundraiser

So I went to Forks & Corks, a fundraiser for Harvesters, which is Kansas City's only food bank. My friend J-Red helps organize this fundraiser. The event it so much fun. All the best restaurants in Kansas City -- and we know how to cook -- and thanks Forks & Cork -- we can eat and drink too. So much fun. There's so much food and wine. All manageable size. And yes, I am typing with my non-drunk eye open. Blogging while tipsy. Watch out now.

Scene One

Man 1: Hey, how did you get all that wine in your glass?

Me: [giggle]

Crazy M: She asked the wine pourer, "if I down this wine, right here, will you let me try another one?" Everybody else was being chintzy.

Me: [giggle] I didn't say "down." I asked her "if I finish tasting the wine I picked, will she let me try the most popular wine?"

Crazy M: She gave you a full glass of the other one too.

Me: I don't know.

Man 1: I gotta learn from you. We're hanging out with you.

Me: I just asked.



Scene Two

Me: Chintzy? Is that Yiddish. Do you speak Yiddish? "Chintzy" means stingy. Is that Yiddish?

Crazy M: I don't know. Is that Yiddish?

Me: I speak Yiddish. Well, some. Do you know the phrase "oye vey?" and "tchotchky?" I know a thing or two about tchotchky.

Crazy M: Really? I didn't know what tchotchky was until I moved to Kansas.

Me: Kansas? Okay, we do speak Yiddish in Kansas.

Crazy M: Who speaks Yiddish? Do Jews speak Yiddish?

Me: Yes. Yiddish means Jew. It's not a derogatory term. And Yiddish is a language.

Crazy M: Where...?

Me: It's a language that is spoken in Eastern and Central Europe, primarily. It's a combination of like German, and maybe some Polish and, of course, Hebrew.

Crazy M: I didn't know that.

Me: Yeah. Google...

Ben Stiller Look and Height Alike: Excuse me, I'm Jewish. I was raised in Kansas and I'm Jewish. You two speak more Yiddish then I do.

Me: It's because I speak Yiddish. I grew up with hearing Yiddish.

Ben Stiller Look and Height Alike: Where did you grow up?

Me: Well, I grew up in L.A. (I try to channel all I know about the Fairfax District.)

Crazy M: Are you a black Jew like Sammy Davis Jr.?

Ben Stiller Look and Height Alike: I have a friend, a black guy, who well he converted, and he knows more about Judaism than I do.

Me: No. My mother was Jewish, so I'm Jewish. Well, my character. I speak Yiddish.

Crazy M: What's that holiday that just passed?

Ben Stiller Look and Height Alike: Passover.

Me: Passover. The first time I got drunk on wine, I was at a Passover dinner.

Ben Stiller Look and Height Alike: Well, you have to get drunk at a Passover dinner.

Me: I got drunk.

Ben Stiller Look and Height Alike: Well, you have to toast so much.

Me: By the end I was toasting from under the table. "Mazel tov." I'm done. I should've eaten a little before dinner. Who knew? "Mazel tov."

1 Comments:

At Friday, 28 April, 2006, Blogger Fun Time Kito said...

Reason for blog about "I speak Yiddish"

I saw my friend Columbia and her husband Peru at the fundraiser. We exchanged pleasantries and they asked me if I was having a good time. "Oh, yeah. I'm eating, drinking, and speaking Yiddish," I responded. Columbia then asked me if I was doing another play. Hmmm? I had to admit I was studying a scene in which I spoke a little Yiddish.

I feel kind of transparent. Maybe a little violated. Hey, anyone want to guess the ratio of hours spent researching my mother's tongue (Yiddish) to the number of Yiddish words in the scene I'm doing? Damn Columbia. It would have all made sense if it wasn't for that pesky Columbia and her pal.

 

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