A traveller! By my faith,

You have great reason to be sad:

I fear you have sold your own lands

To see other men’s.

– Shakespeare,As You Like It, IV, 1

Not only did some people sell their lands to see the lands of other people, in this modern day many max out their credit cards or take out loans to visit the lands of others. Some may even sell their souls as they forfeit their birthright and adapt the culture of other people.

It was Junior Reid who sang about foreign mind.Worry dem a worry dem a worry dem worry dem foreign mind…Foreign is a place where people come and go,When some people go to foreign, they see things they never see beforeAnd forget about their friendsSome go a foreign and turn shoe shineNew York nice, but in the summertimeLondon nice, but in the summertimeJamaica nice all the timeWorry dem a worry dem a worry dem a worry dem foreign mind

It was Junior Reid who sang about foreign mind.

Worry dem a worry dem a worry dem worry dem foreign mind…

Foreign is a place where people come and go,

When some people go to foreign, they see things they never see before

And forget about their friends

Some go a foreign and turn shoe shine

New York nice, but in the summertime

London nice, but in the summertime

Jamaica nice all the time

Worry dem a worry dem a worry dem a worry dem foreign mind

So many people have not only their minds on all things foreign, but also only have foreign things on their minds. It’s always good to travel, as that broadens one’s outlook on life and exposes people to the ways, habits and cultures of others.

But there is a sadness, a danger, a diminishing of one’s self-esteem when they think that all things foreign are good and all things from where they were born and raised are bad.

That’s where we’ll travel today, to the foreign mind, right after these volleys responding to ‘Ball ah roll’.

Hey Tony,

‘Ball ah roll’ was right up my street. As an avid sportsman, I was happy to see that you took a look at the just-concluded schoolboy football season. I missed most of the matches, but your article put a lot in perspective in a nutshell. Imagine, five different schools winning different titles this year. This only shows the spread of the talent with no dominance by any one school. Congrats to them all.

Howard

Teerob,

Your article was entertaining but had two errors. First, Jamaica College beat Wolmer’s 2-1 and not 3-1 in the FLOW Cup, and Clarendon College beat XLCR 7-1 and not 5-1, also in the FLOW Cup. Apart from that, I enjoyed your perspective on the schoolboy football season, although I did detect a tinge of purple. Only KC has won three titles this year, the Walker Cup, Colts Under 16 Urban and Under 16 All Island, so I appreciate your tinge.

John R Woolmer

Have you noticed how many Jamaicans declare that only foreign things are good, even as they put down our own products? “Me only want foreign things, for nutten local nuh good,” is what many say. Well, I had to explore this after a parson friend of mind told me that she left a foreign apple in her fridge, went on vacation for three weeks, and when she returned the apple had not changed one bit. “I was so frightened I threw it out,” she declared.

You try putting any Jamaican fruit in the fridge — whether it be mango, apple, banana, naseberry, sweetsop — and see what happens after even one week. It shrivels up and spoils. And yet, many people still prefer those foreign apples instead of our own — natural, fresh, free from preservatives and chemicals. Haven’t you ever wondered how those vendors have those apples selling from cartons in the streets for weeks and they still remain hard and glossy? But in their minds, it’s foreign, so it must be good.

It’s not only fruit, but other foods too, as our supermarkets are stocked with foods from foreign lands that many Jamaicans seem to prefer over our own. The irony is many, if not most foreigners who visit our shores, love our fruits and foods and sing high praises when they partake. “Man, I just love your ackee and saltfish, and your pan chicken and patties are out of this world.” Some even try to say it with a Jamaican flair as they are so enraptured by our Jamaican accent and try to sound like us.

Sadly, many Jamaicans are not proud of our language and try to put it down any chance that they get. As soon as they reach the airport on their way out, they start to twang. “High ham hoff to Noo Yark to spend my vaycayshon and hern sum dallars.”

It’s ironic how some Jamaicans are ashamed of our language, even as the rest of the world is fascinated by it. Everybody wants to speak like a Jamaican, not like a Guyanese or a Bajan, or a Trinidadian, but like a Jamaican. That’s how popular our lingo is.

I have travelled the world over, and everywhere that I’ve been, people are fascinated by our language and try to mimic it. I once saw a video clip of a government official in New Zealand giving his parliamentary speech in Jamaican dialect, even though he never ever visited our country.

The late Rob Ford, former mayor of Toronto, often rambled in Jamaican patois whenever he got a chance, confusing those around him who declared that he was speaking in tongues.

I mentioned a few months ago that I was asked to teach an international karate class in New York, using Jamaican dialect only. That’s how intrigued the world is by our language. There are universities abroad that have Jamaican Language (patois) studies in their curriculum. I still maintain though, that patois need not be taught in schools here, as it’s our natural language. But it has its place and is beautiful to the ear. Have you ever heard anyone being cursed in Jamaican patois? It’s poetry in motion and emotion.

Where would Louise Bennett, Oliver Samuels, Volier Johnson, Ranny Williams, Glen Campbell, or Shebada be without our colourful language? Yet, many with foreign minds prefer the language of foreigners and try to emulate them as soon as they hit foreign lands.

Within two weeks of landing they have an accent and try to speak like the natives there. And yet I have friends and relatives who have lived in foreign for over 40 years and still speak Jamaican. They live in foreign but haven’t got ‘foreign mind.’

There was a time when our athletes simply had to train in foreign lands in order to be good. At least that was the conventional wisdom at the time. Not so anymore, as all of our top athletes train right here and achieve greatness that others can only dream of. Now, foreign athletes are coming here to train as they recognise our greatness.

There was a time when Jamaican music was hardly played on the radio and was frowned upon. The common phrase from many parents was, “Stop playing that boogoo yagga music in the house.” We were inundated with foreign music until Irie FM burst on the scene and changed the musical landscape.

Now, look how our rhythm has taken over the world as it influences other forms of music across the globe. Not only in the west, but eastern countries like Japan and others have adopted our music and taken it to another level. Pretty soon we can’t claim it as our own, as everyone else claims reggae. And yet, there are still people of foreign mind who revere the foreign stuff and denigrate ours. Listen, there is good and bad foreign music, as there is good and bad Jamaican music.

I have seen girls from the Czech Republic do dancehall moves that would blow your mind. It’s an art form. We’ve seen Japanese dancers come here and win dancehall queen contests more than once. That’s how influential our culture is. And yet, many Jamaicans laud the foreign stuff and denigrate our own.

I still like to watch our local TV stations as often as I can, as they’re the pulse of the nation.

Entertainment Report,

On Stage,

Hill and Gully Ride and others are a reflection of our society. And yet, there are people who boast that they never watch local television.

Many embrace Santa Claus, Halloween, the NFL, NBA, and EPL and ignore our own culture, our roots. We put down our own and elevate the culture of others. The saying is true – a prophet is without honour in his own country. But what country do these foreign mind people belong to?

More time.

seido1@hotmail.comHey, it’s Christmas Day, have a great, peaceful and holy Christmas, my friends. And if you don’t celebrate Christmas, enjoy the holidays in your own special way. It’s all about positive human interaction and love for each other.

seido1@hotmail.c

om

Footnote: I don’t want to appear to be coming down too hard on the church, but I cannot believe what some churches are saying about the cover of the new Yellow Pages telephone directory. The cover shows a beautiful colourful scene of dancehall characters in motion, highlighting a very powerful part of our culture. And yet the church finds it offensive. Would they have found tango dancers offensive also? Don’t they have more pressing needs to attend to? It’s just another put-down of our dynamic culture.

Hey, it’s Christmas Day, have a great, peaceful and holy Christmas, my friends. And if you don’t celebrate Christmas, enjoy the holidays in your own special way. It’s all about positive human interaction and love for each other.