Let’s talk football, baby!

Well, last Monday night’s football game between Cowboys and Bills is by far one of the best Cowboys game I have ever watched,then again, I have started to watch football game and have been a cowboys fan only for few years. Thinking back about the time when I started to watch football  game (on TV of course cause I have never been to a real game), I remember a very funny incident that occurred about 10 years ago which I would like to reminisce here.

It had been only two months since I had set foot in United States and I was still in the phase of adjusting to my “american” life. I realized that though I grew up in that nepali  generation where we followed the latest western fad, wore Levis jeans, spoke flawless english, listened to the western music ranging from  pop, rock, heavy metal, country songs, life in America was quite different from what we had imagined.Many things are done differently and called differently here than back home in Nepal, though in both cases I am talking about English language.

At that time in Nebraska (that was my first destination in Unted States)  college football fever was going on, so I was asked by a fellow classmate if I liked football and had ever watched one. Immediately, my defensive response to him was ” Sure, I like it and have always loved watching it, though I have never played it”. Then the guy again asked me “You mean in Nepal?” with one raised eyebrow. “Yes! Yes!” was my proud answer and as I thought what did that guy know who had replied “Utah” when I had asked him if he knew where Mt.Everest was in our earlier introduction conversation. The more we further talked about football the more confused he looked, finally he pulled out a local newspaper from his backpack and showed me if I was talking about the samething. I looked at the picture and to my dismay we were talking about two separate sports! The picture looked like they were playing rugby and it was no way close to the football game that I was referring to. Later, I realized that back in Nepal the sport that we called “football”, in America it is called “soccer” and the sport that I have come to love and enjoy so much in America now – is called “football” here in the states! Now, isn’t it an irony, that it’s called football when they use hands in all cases except while kicking the ball? I meant to ask that question to my fellow classmate, but did not dare to as I realized that I had confused him enough by my answers. My honest final remark to him was “Well, that football is not the fooball I am talking about”.