Everyone knows somebody who is consistently stating the obvious. Most people will do it time to time, but there are those with a special talent at maintaining a constant focus on verbalizing all that is happening around them even if it isn’t necessary. Those people would be masterful artisans of Fijian conversation etiquette and probably elected to a high office, if there were elections here.

At first I found it a little strange, but I didn’t dwell too much on it. It does help in learning the language, though, as I always have something to say even if it doesn’t communicate much to the other person. For example, it is standard practice when walking past someone in the village to say you are, “walking this way.” A common variation is, “I am coming from over there.” For the minimalist it is often shortened to, “I am walking.”

I don’t know if this newfound skill will transfer back home. I may spend the first year annoying the hell out of everyone around me until I can regain normal conversation skills. This is the end of the blog.