Cultural Name Game

One of the things learned in orientation is that there will be times when communicating does become an issue because of different terminology in cultures. You figure this type of thing will happen when your host son or daughter are here. What you don't expect is for it to happen before they arrive? Last night I received a very nice e-mail from J's mom. In it was a question. Would L help J buy and American handy? She thought this would be more up L's alley. Here's the thing. L would be more than happy to help J purchase one if L knew what an American handy is. Numerous internet searches came up unsuccessful in trying to figure it out. L has German relatives, but by the time I got the e-mail it was way past their bedtimes. We tried to figure it out ourselves and thought it might be an electric razor. Heck, sounds good doesn't it? A razor is a handheld device. His wouldn't work over here with our outlets. That must have been it. Well, today I figure I probably should find out for sure. Went on Facebook to see if there was one of the numerous Germans I have as friends on at the same time. Luckily, B, J's oldest brother was. I asked him if a handy was a razor. Then, I had to explain what a razor was. After B stopped laughing, he proceeded to tell me that an American handy was an American cell phone. In Germany, a handy is a cell phone. So today, I spent the day checking out what will be the best pre-paid plan on a cell phone for a teenager. This is when having friends with teens comes in handy(no pun intended). Thinking along the lines of texting use I think I have come up with the best/least expensive option for J. I had to do a ton of research because we have one cell phone. It is pre-paid and 1000 minutes will last us a year. We don't use cell phones. I know that is sad in this day and age, but it is the way it is folks. Ours is just for emergency or when we travel. Like I said I think I know what will work best now, and he won't be trying to use a razor to talk to his friends.