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There is nothing like an eleven day road trip to give you the chance to get to know your teammates better. Since we started traveling at the beginning of the season, I have had the pleasure of being paired up with Kristen Veal in the hotels. I think they stuck us together because we are the youngest on the team and we can at least act young and somewhat crazy with each other without severely annoying our teammates! But if there is anything that I have learned on this past road trip, besides the fact that a six game losing streak leaves a bitter bitter taste in your mouth, it has been how to actually understand what Veal is saying. The first road trip we went on, and in fact, the beginning of the East Coast trip, our conversations consisted of Veal talking and me replying with, “Huh????” She would repeat herself like three times and then give up on me. Completely annoyed, she didn’t bother to say much in the beginning. Then she got a little more comfortable with me and would reply by calling me a “D**K Head” which I was obviously offended by until she explained to me that in Australia that is like calling someone an idiot. So, I felt the need to explain to her that in the United States, calling someone that was just as bad as making digs on their Mamma. After we got that cleared up, we were ready to start communicating with each other in our “different” languages. I have learned more words from Veal in the past two weeks than I did in all of elementary school combined. I don’t plan on using any of them outside of a conversation with Vealy, but I suppose learning how to communicate with your teammates in their “language” is an important skill to master.
Among the many words and phrases I’ve picked up from Vealy are: “that’s tops”, “d**k head” (which I am sure my Mother will be pleased to know that I have incorporated into my vocabulary!!!), “crocky”, “sultanas” (the Australian word for raisin), and “bananer”. After all of this she is still trying to convince me that the English Australian’s speak is “proper”and ours here in the States is “slang”. The bad thing about all of this is that now I understand everything she says and I find myself translating for others! The other day in the locker room, she was asking someone for a Sharpie (the marker) and the person she was talking to thought Veal was inviting her to go shopping !!! So I had to interpret and let her know she wanted a marker not a shopping companion.
She has picked up a couple of my words also like “frick” or “that irks me” and so on. The best part is when she tries to say it like I do in my “stupid American accent” and she sounds like a nut case. I could only imagine what I sound like to her…
The best thing about this new-found friendship is that I often send her into “hysterics” at which time she starts to snort while she laughs claiming that it is all my fault. All of you who do not know Vealy very well and you think she is a quiet shy person, no worries; I am bringing her out of her shell. And I’ll have you know she has a mean streak! But, according to my parents, I’ve always been very good at bringing that trait out in people!!!
Read Kayte's earlier journal entries:
