In the days when there were no blogs – and I remember those days well – but only paper journals or what we could call plogs (paper logs), the entries were meant to be private, and reading someone else’s plog was seen as a capital offense. Now, in the e-age, all that has changed, we pour our hearts out on virtual paper and actually invite the whole world to come and read. Also whereas in the days of plogging it was left up to the plogger to decide when and how often (s)he plogs, in the age of blogs, it is almost a duty to keep your readers’ interest by blogging regularly.

So, just in case there is anyone still interested in my boring life, I promise to make a better effort to blog regularly. I did not say how regularly though.

Fortunately, the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Culture has recognises this and their latest policy seeks to outline ways in which we can capitalise on this greatness. The policy document is no longer available on the website of the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Culture, but can be read here (Towards Jamaica the Cultural Superstate) at the Portal de la Cultura de América Latina y el Caribe. Some people totally misunderstood the Ministry’s proposal and objected to the superstate idea. This objection is no doubt influenced by the very bad examples we have had in the last and current centuries of political superstates.

There are millions of people around the world cashing in on Jamaican culture by reproducing and selling Jamaican related products, and Jamaica benefits in no way. I have always believed that if any money should be made from our culture we should be the ones to package, sell and benefit from it, but most Jamaicans have obviously not caught on. What we need is some way of communicating to the ordinary Jamaican, the huge demand for Jamaican culture, even for those things which we think have no value. On that point, I will have to mention Jamaican (Creole), a language with which many Jamaicans have a funny sort of relationship. It’s a language they are very intimate with but which they are ashamed to present to the world. But while many Jamaicans continue to question whether Jamaican is a language thousands of people around the world are trying to learn the language from internet fora and websites and dancehall songs. There is definitely a demand!

This reminds me of something which struck me at one of th Fifa concerts which was held in Leipzig, Germany last year during the World Cup. The emcee was using some form of Jamaican Creole and Caribbean English even though he was talking to a multilingual/multinational crowd. The truth is that Jamaica has set the pace for such things as emceeing and people are scrambling to experience every piece of our culture that they can come in contact with.

When will we wake up and smell the coffee?

Joseph
De Walk-Bout Jamaican Bwoy

Naturally, I have been thinking about the translation of the Bible into Jamaican. The Jamaican chapter of the Bible Society of the West Indies (Bible Society of the West Indies) several years ago did a translation of the Gospels into Jamaican. The project caused quite a stir as many people thought it was a waste of time. Unfortunately, they have not published the entire work, however, they have released a few sections in audio form.

Well, back to me now, and my renewed urge. So almost a year ago I started translating the book of Ruth into Jamaican. Ruth was chosen because it was short. I also considered doing some of the Apocryphal books, since I thought that less people would have a problem with these being translated into Jamaican.

Then not so long ago I discovered that a Jamaican studying theology in Wales, Bertram Gayle, had also done a translation of the book of Ruth. He has a pre-final draft of the translation on his blog (A FI BERCHI SPIEC DIS!). Someday I might post mine, that is unless we decide to work together and prepare one translation.

I am a professional linguist (or on my way to becoming one) with very little training in translation (except what I did at University as a student of Spanish), and no knowledge of Greek or Hebrew, so my translation was done from the New King James Version. Bertram translated his from the original language. This seems like a new chapter in the history of the Jamaican language. We’ll see how things work out.

This is not to say that there wasn’t any fun at all. I ended the old year and started the new one with so much joy. Cornelia came home for the holidays from her exchange programme in Canada and I spent Christmas with her and her family in Berlin. I must thank Roswitha and Dittmar for taking very good care of me – my parents are grateful. It was great moving from home to home eating potatoes, turkey, duck, Rotkohl, cake, chocolate, etc. Why doesn’t this holiday come more often?

After the festivities had died down somewhat, I took the picture (above) specifically for this blog so you could see how blessed I was. I got so many presents…everything I wanted!! It is good to have a girlfriend who listens to what you want. If you can’t see everything I will help you (yes, I know, I’m like a child with candy): I got chocolate and more chocolate; a USB stick; Lord of the Rings DVDs (extended edition); The Silmarillion; a book of Christmas stories in German; Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana; two day-tickets to ride the public transport in Berlin (with Cornelia of course); a mug; and shower gel. My best gift is to my right (in the picture) looking into the camera.

Now I have some backlog work, because I stayed away from the office like the plague in the first and second week of January. It felt good to relax and just enjoy myself. I’m not used to that. By the way, not a lot of snow yet, this winter. We are having unusually high temperatures. Even I am praying for more snow.

Joseph
De Walk-bout Jamaican Bwoy

(The picture to the left was taken by me last winter. In the background is the Institute where I “work”. I no longer have to dream of white Christmases. What I have to dream about now are Christmases with sunshine [we can forget the rain])

I have almost a thousand contacts in my inboxes, and so it would be very difficult for me to send everyone personal holiday greetings. Please forgive me for the “mass production” manner in which you are receiving this but it can’t be helped with my moving from one activity to the next and one paper or chapter of my dissertation to the next.

As we come to the close of 2006, I have been overcome with just how important the friendships I have made are to me. Thanks to those who continue to pray for me (for whatever reason), and to those who across the Atlantic or any other ocean through their e-mails and e-cards can make me laugh.

If you think that 2006 was great, I hope that at the end of 2007 you will be able to say that 2006 just the start. To all those who had children, got degrees, got new jobs, new posts, started new programmes, met distinguished people, got engaged, got married, fell in love, I am always happy at your successes/milestones.

May God continue to bless you all.

Your friendship means a lot to me.

Joseph
De Walk-bout Jamaican bwoy

There once was a man who had nothing for his family to eat. He had an old rifle and three bullets. So, he decided that he would go out hunting and kill some wild game for dinner.

As he went down the road, he saw a rabbit. He shot at the rabbit and missed it. The rabbit ran away. Then he saw a squirrel and fired a shot at the squirrel and missed it. The squirrel disappeared into a hole in a cottonwood tree. As he went further, he saw a large wild “Tom” turkey in the tree, but he had only one bullet remaining.

A voice spoke to him and said, “Pray first, aim high and stay focused.” However, at the same time, he saw a deer which was a better kill. He brought the gun down and aimed at the deer. But, then he saw a rattlesnake between his legs about to bite him, so he naturally brought the gun down further to shoot the rattlesnake.

Still, the voice said again to him, “I said ‘Pray, Aim high and Stay focused.” So, the man decided to listen to God’s voice. He prayed, then aimed the gun high up in the tree and shot the wild turkey. The bullet bounced off the turkey and killed the deer. The handle fell off the gun and hit the snake in the head and killed it. And, when the gun had gone off, it knocked him into a pond.

When he stood up to look around, he had fish in all his pockets, a dead deer and a turkey to eat for his family. The snake (Satan) was dead simply because the man listened to God. Moral of the story: Pray first before you do anything, Aim and shoot high in your goals, and stay focused on God. Never let others discourage you concerning your past. The past is exactly that, “the past.”

Live every day one day at a time and remember that only God knows our future and that he will not put you through any more than you can bear. Do not look to man for your blessings, but look to the doors that only He has prepared in advance for you in your favor.

Wait, be still and patient: keep God first and everything else will follow. Pass this on in order that someone else might be blessed.

I think I am going to take an early day today and just go and take a walk around town. I have to go home first so I can leave my jingbang and especially so I can leave my debit and credit cards at home. I have been spending far too much and was taken by surprise by my last credit card bill.

Well, with regards to work, I have made some amount of progress and my face lights up every time I find a new or better etymology for a word. Those are MY moments. Still haven’t decided how the final dissertation will look, but I will just keep on researching and writing and hopefully by the time I am ready to submit that problem would have worked itself out.

I am planning to do some stuff in September as a way of treating myself after the paper. Time to unleash the party animal…he deserves it. He has been suppressed by the drudge for too long.

Well take care and I wish all of my friends who are going back to school for another academic year a wonderful 2005-2006.

–Knowledge is not something which God holds, it is what He is.

More time
Walk-bout Jamaican bwoy

I am now back in Leipzig. Have been back from my US summer school trip for over a week now and trying to do the world of work. My sleeping pattern is not back on track yet. I have been waking up about 10 o’ clock every morning and I feel as if I have lost so much of the day. The rest of the day is spent leafing through dictionaries and grammars (as usual) trying to work out a conference paper which will hopefully develop into a chapter of the dissertation.

The time in the US was hectic, but great!!. I got to travel to some places outside of Boston (Plymouth where the pilgrims landed; Maine, etc). The courses were okay too despite many of the boring teachers. But some of them were good presenters. I had a big problem though with the food – Hardly anything which could be called American tasted good, but that could just be my Jamaican tastebuds talking. I was saved by the Asians whose taste and quality could be depended on. I had no utensils to cook with, so for almost all my meals for the six weeks, I had to purchase from restaurants, supermarkets, etc. Good to be back ‘home’ and in my own kitchen.

The weather here isn’t bad at all but it is getting a bit colder, still bearable though.

While in America I took the opportunity to buy numerous second hand books and even found time to read Tolkien’s “The Hobbit”. I also bought a copy of Miguel de Cervantes’ “Don Quixote de la Mancha” so I can read it again, this time in English.

For the good time I had thanks to:

Audene, Christine, Daidrah, Nicole – the ladies in my academic life

Michele – my academic sister

Victor – who opened up his home, library and brain to me to further my research

Christopher – who facilitated all those trips out of Boston, and made sure to check up on me from time to time (Danke schoen!!!)

Jo-Anne – the Trini who pulled the Caribbean posse together.

Ivor – who helped to solve one of my etymological riddles

Michel DeGraff – who offered a wonderful course and good friendship

Noam Chomsky (in his lectures) – who helped to clarify some things and confuse others.

AND ALL OTHERS

More time!

Of course, even over here in Germany, away from the native earth which I have trod for over two decades, I could not help joining in the excitement of Asafa’s outstanding, record-breaking performance. It tells the story of a people who are definitely world-class. I celebrated by spreading the news with a broad smile. My Jamaican flag had been pinned to the wall in my apartment weeks before the world-changing run.

For a very long time now I have been concerned with stories. I normally pride myself on being from an age where story books without pictures can turn out to be even more exciting that those in which someone helps out (or probably limits) your imagination. Now I watch television to give my brain a rest from all the work I do.

There is this old man who I pass most mornings and evenings as I go to and from the Institute. He is always sitting there looking around but always says hello when I pass. It seems as if he is a bit senile, but I am sure he has a story to tell, and an interesting one too. But since my German is not at that level yet, I cannot hear his story.

In academia there is a common trend for researchers to theorise about people’s culture, trying to fit it into their own frameworks without trying to understand it from the native (there is that troublesome word) perspective. Ask the people! You might be surprised at how much they know/or don’t know and how they view the thing.

I see my story as inextricably wrapped up with the story of my country. My story can’t be going all that well if my country’s isn’t. There is a need for more of the positive stories to be written to swamp and counteract the sea of negatives which is threatening to engulf us. The question for everyone at this time must be “what is my story and how does it fit into the bigger picture?”

Philosophising over, I have had a very busy week (that is a cliche now). Plus I am getting ready to fly to Boston (U.S.A.) to attend a linguistics summer school. The work never ends.

The story will no doubt continue there….

PS: I am now understanding the value of Advent Fellowship, Youth Class, Shamrock, etc. – you are all missed!

More time
De Walk-bout Jamaican Bwoy