My time among the Deaf community has not spanned very long. I am only a second-semester student, and my class is technically only a language requirement, but I've known for a while that my education in Sign Language and Deaf culture has counted for much more than that in these last few months. For that reason, though I am not yet fluent, I take every opportunity I can to put myself where I can communicate and interact with the language and people I've been so enjoyably learning about. Recently, I accompanied my professor and some classmates to a Deaf Social event at a bar in Philadelphia (admittedly, mainly for a grade requirment). This would be my second such event, but I was shamelessly nervous about how difficult it would be for a newbie signer to enjoy herself at a place filled with life-long deaf people, professional interpreters, and deaf professors who could all sign as easily as I speak English. Trial by fire, I guess.
The room was small and pretty dimly lit, and the music was loud, but as soon as I walked in with my classmates, I knew I was in an entirely different world. People were signing everywhere I looked - exhuberantly, emotionally! With a quick visual sweep of the room, I recognized signs like "husband," "school," "car," "game," and too many to count that I don't yet understand. It was intimidating, because learning sign language one word at a time, in the safely of a college classroom, is a whole different experience than having to carry out a full conversation with a stranger who's totally fluent in the language. That's how you learn though, so I tried to swallow my misgivings as I sat with my classmates beside some other students from another college, and did my best to use my vocabulary and have a nice conversation. It was difficult, but a lot of the hearing ASL students were in the same boat, or had even less experience than me, so I wasn't too disheartened.
But it's like being in any new enviorment - the longer you stay, the more comfortable you get. As the night wore on, I found myself moving through the crowd much easier and being more willing to engage in conversation with older deaf individuals. Thankfully, they all wanted to ask the same questions. Go - school - where? Your age - what? Your teacher - who? ASL - you enjoy? Eventually, my signing became less rigid and I was able to understand the fast hands of the experienced signers, which helped my confidence tramendously.
The one thing I've loved about going to such events is seeing how everyone is friendly with . . . everyone! It's like there's no such thing as awkwardness between deaf people when they come together at these times. They are so open and patient and welcoming to newcomers, and always thrilled to see old friends or even acquaintances who they met only recently. The fear that is natural when you enter a totally alien environment quickly dissipates when they come up to you and make an effort to make sure you feel welcome, even if you're too scared to embarrass yourself by signing a lot. The experience I had at this event allowed me to leave looking very much forward to the next opportunity I would have to be among such remarkable people.
