Letter 2/14/45

When I was in college I traveled to Italy for a month, and can say without a doubt that I don't pick up second languages well.  I was dependent on English-speaking Italians, Italian-speaking classmates, and a well-worn English-Italian phrase book to make it through the month. On one of our last nights in Italy I remember being able to FINALLY count to 50 in Italian and acting like I had just won my first Super Bowl tournament.

Linguist I am not.

My mom has always told me a funny story about my grandfather's language barrier issues when they went on a family trip to Germany.  As you will see in the letter below, my grandfather had studied German in high school, and had a decent enough grasp on the language when my mom went to Europe with the family.  I wouldn't call him fluent, but he could make it work.  My mom tells a story about how he went into a market to order some sliced ham for sandwiches, and swapped a few German words around in his head.  He ended up ordering a kilogram of ham (for you Americans like me who had to look this up, that's 2.2lbs) and my mom had to eat a lot of ham sandwiches while she explored Germany.

This is why I love my grandfather, though.  Seriously it is.  He's so doggedly determined to make things work, he will order too much ham just so he had a chance to practice his German.  I wish you all could meet him, I promise you'd enjoy the conversation as much as I have over the years.

Here's today's letter.  Please enjoy!

Mr. A. Kumasaka

287 Main St.

Keansburg N.J.

U.S.A.

T/5 A. Kumasaka

ASN 32609377

Hq Btry 863FA Bn

APO 410 c/o P.M.

N.Y. N.Y.

14 Feb 45

Dear Folks,

     I received your air mail of Jan 29 today.  I had already heard about Mrs. Stratton's visit to the house -- from Amos himself.  he is all right, for I see him at least once a day.  I imagine that his mail was delayed somewhere along the way, be-cause I know that he writes as often as he can.

     As for my learning French, well I may not get too far with that language.  You see, the people in the neighborhood speak German, and I'm sure the further east we go, I'll be making more and more use of my high school German.  It certainly comes in handy, right now, because I can make out a lot of what people are saying and too, I can make myself partially understood.

     Nothing new to report just now.  I'm still getting good food and enough sleep.  Haven't picked up any souvenirs yet, because I haven't been up front.  I'll put in a request for the box Vi wants to send me, because she can't send it without one.

     Hope all is well at home.  Will close now for lack of spare and time.

     P.S. P. Blane sent me a package ^include^ a roll or two of 127 film.

Lots of love,

Archie