Reg and I like to keep memorable fortunes from the cookies we get with our weekly (sad, but true) Chinese takeout. As English teachers, we get a kick out of the weirdly used articles and other things that happen during translation. Clearly we’re not alone because there is a whole website, engrishfunny.com, dedicated to the strange constructions that happen when languages and cultures don’t quite connect.

Reg’s sister just moved to Japan and sent back a goody box including for me a water bottle that says “every day a bird flies by my house.” If you think about it, it’s a sweet thought, a little appreciation of nature and of the simple things, and for certain, far more interesting than “today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

Some of our favorite cookie fortunes seem equally profound:

• “Rivers need springs.”
• “Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”
• “A peaceful mind generates power.”

We keep them on the refrigerator (where else, right?) to inspire and amuse us. Don’t they just sound deep? I mean, any kind of imagined wisdom coming from an exotic source who isn’t necessarily fully fluent in English just seems like something we should listen to doesn’t it (think Miyagi, or Yoda, for that matter)?

So we take heed when we are advised “Now is the time to make circles with mints, do not haste any longer.” It is indeed the time. Do not haste…any longer.