deaf culture

Sign language teacher smsed me for a special test today. Seems that i'm short of 4 more marks to pass level 1. went for the test, and only managed to get 3 marks, bringing the total to 69.95...well...que sera, sera. Had a short talk with her on deaf culture, and the following are excerpts (in sign, but translated) :
me : i realised something about the deaf people ...
she : what is it?
Me : you all are wary of the hearing (people), and do not trust them. It takes a lot of time and patience to gain the trust of you all.
She : ya.
Me : i believe it is the constant fear of not being able to hear what we are saying whenever we are talking, and that breeds unnecessary fear and mistrust.
She : (nods) but there are exceptions...what is (another teacher) were to tell you that she likes you?
Me : (shaking head) then i will have to tell her that it is very difficult. As i believe communications is important in any relation, and given my poor sign skills, i wont be able to understand her most of the time, and vice versa. This will create weariness.
She : ya, and your parents will not be able to accept it too.
Me : well...ya, cos they also don't know sign language, and its going to be difficult for them to communicate with each other, and also other friends and relatives.
She : agree.
Me : so, you gotta have more trust in your bf. And remember, patience (fancy that coming from me ! A table banging swearing two-tongue good for nothing !) is also important.
She : (nodding) ya.
Me : but now times have changed, with the internet and handphone, the hearing(people) and deaf can still be friends can communicate like normal. Even most of my friends also i rarely call or meet them, only contact thru sms, email or chat.
She : ya, but for a relation, still need face to face interaction.
Me : ya, true also.
She : anyway, hope you will continue to learn and improve your sign language, and make more friends with the deaf, and also introduce more friends to them.
Me : ya, i will :-)

as such, the deaf are also normal, just that they need more time to build their trust in others, as they've been living in their silent world since birth, all alone, with few friends.
Hope this will prompt you to learn about sign language ;-)