Love Languages!

It's funny how real-life experiences are just as necessary as text-book lessons. Like when I had my forehead bruised as a child by a falling apple while picking fruit at my grandfather's house - and then later I learned about the theory of gravity in school. It made sense.

Likewise, I had already guessed that people respond in a special way to their mother tongue. Yesterday evening confirmed my sneaking suspicion.

Last night, I was sitting at the kitchen counter as my new Austrian flatmate was going out.
"Auf Wiedersehen!" I called out.
She stopped and looked at me. "What did you say?"
"...Auf Wiedersehen." I repeated.
"Ah! I feel like I am at home." she smiled and pranced out the door.

I also remember being in Dublin last year, staying with my Turkish host. His friend taught me to say 'thank you' in Turkish, so I decided to put it to good use.
"I have something to say to you." I told my host.
"What is it?"
"T'shikular."
"That was beautiful!" He wrapped me in a big hug.

So of course it encourages me as I learn very slow, awkward French from my work neighbour - and also as I think before speaking with my Argentine roommate (who, btw, brought home a thick, 12-person chocolate cake on Tuesday night & coconut bread last night from the bakery).

Sweets & Spanish

Unfortunately for me, my newest roommate works at the Hummingbird Bakery in Notting Hill, not far from our flat.

She mentioned that the shop offers red velvet cakes. My instinctive exclamations of rapture made my feelings on the subject clear. Later that week, a sweet, little box appeared on the kitchen counter - inside, four very red and very velvety cupcakes. A dangerous precedent to set for our flat.


Happily, my roommate is also from Argentina! In the first few days of her moving in, I set a Spanish-only rule between the two of us. Fortunately for her, this rule makes me talk less and much slower.

Baby Sharing

A friend at another recruitment agency across town sent me an email forward of a series of cuties. This guy is my favourite - he's on my desktop right now : )

Recently Eaten

Last night, after work, I went for dinner at Wagamama, an Asian-inspired noodle restaurant. Yum.

The best part was that I got a 2-for-1 voucher deal online, so I bought two dishes for the price of one! (Btw, not a very common thing in London.)

I had the chicken kare lomen which was spicy, but I think I'm building my tolerance quite well.


*Side note: Fyi, I took a pal along...I did not eat 2 plates by myself : ) ...this time.

A few more vocab words

Jumper (n.): sweater

Fit (adj.): attractive, equivalent of 'hot' (slang)
It took me a while to understand that this meant 'attractive' instead of athletic.

Brolley (n.): umbrella (slang)
Side note: I left mine at church last Sunday, so I'll be trekking through the rain this week :(

Mum (pn., n.): Mother, mom

Lorry (n.): big rig, truck

Torch: (n.): flashlight
You may remember this word used by Edmund in Narnia: Prince Caspian.

Quid (n.): pound, equivalent of calling a dollar a "buck" (slang)

Shandy (n.): Drink: part beer, part lemonade

Lemonade (n.): Clear soda, tastes & looks like 7up/Sprite


*My favourite commonly used word--"Sorted"
It can be used in the following contexts:

Under control - "I had it sorted." like when Peter Pevensie felt he had the fight in the Underground handled & chided Edmund for intervening.

Command to 'get it together' - "Get it sorted." or "I need to get it sorted." especially when the subject is all over the place & muddled.