Not Retired, Just Less Busy

It took me quite a long time to gather the thoughts, lessons, and experiences I have picked up over the years while working here and there. Now, not exactly retired, but with fewer limitations in terms of time and a little more space to reflect, I feel ready to share the road I have travelled through international organizations and through life in general.

My name is Shalva Berianidze, and I am 43. As I often say, according to my bachelor’s diploma, I am an English language teacher. That same diploma also claims that I can teach German too, although at this point I can hardly remember any of it.

That diploma is probably the reason for my unexpectedly versatile professional career, if I dare call it that. I started working as a translator and interpreter on September 3, 2003, while I was still a third-year student at Ilia State University. Up until then, I had never heard a native English speaker in person. Then, all of a sudden, I found myself at an installation surrounded by personnel with very specific accents and vocabulary that even native speakers would not always understand or recognize.

“Hey, Shalva.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Call surgeon, please.”
“Sorry… who?”
“Surgeon!”
“Give me the name, please.”
“Oh, yes, SGT Ready.”
“Gotcha.”

At that moment, I was naturally wondering why anyone would ask for a surgeon in a place where there were only sergeants and officers.

It is only a tiny episode, but it was enough to lay the foundation for my professional interpreting skills. Why? Because when you do not understand something, instead of inventing meaning, it is usually better to take a detour and find another way to clarity. That was the first lesson, on the very first day of my assignment.

I promised myself from the beginning that this blog would not turn into mentoring, and certainly not into something unbearably boring. Even if I touch on things that are not always cheerful, there should always be room for a good joke and a bit of laughter, especially when you have been charged with sarcasm and irony since birth.

The second day, I started smoking, though. But that belongs to another chapter of life.

For now, this is simply the beginning.