Day 22

[beboots]

Day 22

So last week, my French teacher, Dominique F. told us yet another interesting word origin: sadism. Apparently, there was a Count of Sade, who was locked up for, um, kidnapping women and, well... yeah, hence, sadism. The subject was only brought up because the Count actually wrote a lot in prison, and it had something to do with some "ism" or another and it was literature-revelant, okay? ;) But then Monsieur was like (in French, of course, but translated for the benefit of those who don't speak French fluently enough to get sexual jokes...) "Oh, another parenthesis... The masochist said to the sadist: "Hurt me! Hurt me!" and the sadist replied "no.""

Yeah, I love France. ;) I also have photos from Belgian chocolate shops that sell more... racy molded chocolates. Very amusing. :3

I've also finally bought stamps! The post cards have been written and addressed and stamped! Soon, they shall be sent off to you all, hopefully to arrive before I do. ;) 

Oh, and I must relate a quick anecdote from my time in Brugge. I was in a kind of new age store that sold really funky clothing, but I was buying a few really nice scarves. I was observing my surroundings, trying to blend in (tourists are always a target for pickpockets, and I find that you're treated more nicely in general if they think that you're local), and I was listening very intently to the people in front of me as they spoke in Dutch. The lady at the counter would say someting to them that sounded very much like a Dutch variant of "hello, how are you today?" and there would be the generic  Dutch "fine, thanks", which don't really need translation. I could sort of understand the numbers, as "octo" sounds like it should be "eight", etc., right? Anyway, and then after exchanging goods, they'd each say "dankevel" (or something like that) to each other. 

So when it was my turn, the lady at the counter said "hello" to me in dutch, and I nodded, smiled, and mumbled someting that sounded like what she had said (when you mumble quietly, especially if there's music and/or people talking in the immediate vicinity, they totally fill in the blanks mentally, you know?). Then she gave me the total in Dutch (which I saw on the till), so I handed her the right amount of money, and she said "dankevel" and a few other things, to which I replied with "dankevel" (yay for imitating blindly!). So I interacted successfully in Dutch! 

But the story isn't over. I still hung around because my friend Yan was trying on some clothing, and when she went to the counter we were talking in English. The Dutch employee saw us, did a double take, and asked (in English), "Hey, didn't I just talk to you in Dutch?" So apparently I passed as a native of the Netherlands. :3

So this Wednesday, I shall return to Belgian to go to Brussels! :D Yay for chocolate! ... and I'm determined to find more waffles. D:<