I only wanted to know what the fisherman was doing with that net

Every afternoon in Chaloklum I watched an old fisherman mending a net, until I finally asked what he was doing. He answered in Thai, then slowly in English, then with his hands. I came back the next day with a notebook. Three months of afternoons later I can say fifteen things about nets and he can say good morning in my language, badly. We both think we are winning. Yesterday he said a word I did not know and held up a knot. I said, yes. He said, good. I said, good morning. He said, very bad.