Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Lost in Translation..

Oh Hi. Just thought I'd jot down something quickly before another week flies by. I've got two foreign students here now, and maybe you'd like to know how they are doing? Well, Mattei (that's how you pronounce it) is from the Czech Republic, and his spoken English is even worse than Jaime's. Hard to believe I know, but it's true. He is very large and smiley though, and brought me a couple of lovely presents from home: some divine hazelnut wafers and a bottle of what looks like serious alcohol. I can't quite decipher what it might be, but it's colourless and looks very strong. I haven't opened it yet, but have tasted the hazelnut wafers, which are just dericious. Jaime is in his element, having been here a week already, and is therefore the senior monitor. It's so funny to hear him, with his very broken English, instructing Mattei in pronunciation and sentence structure. They are very nice together though, and Mattei has been invited to go with Jaime and his friends to Cambridge this weekend. Sweet.

Yesterday was a blustery but sunny day, and I took a long walk down by the sea. There were quite big, white-topped waves being whipped up by the wind. And several yachts being blown along, sails billowing, in a very choppy sea. It looked picturesque, but I'm not sure I would have wanted to be on board. I don't know if I would be sea-sick, but the little boats were travelling at quite a speed and kept practically disappearing behind the waves. Wish I'd had my camera, because everything was sparkling in the sun. The sea was that gorgeous deep azure green-blue under a perfect sky. I walked all the way to the beach cafe and sat with an iced coffee, talking to Katie and the other girls. It was lovely in the sun, but walking back home I was practically blown backwards by the stiff wind. It was a great breath of air though.

Over supper last night, the two boys were asking me what the little houses were down by the sea. They couldn't at all understand what I meant by beach huts, and asked what the purpose of them might be. That stumped me. "To sit in with a cup of tea and look at the sea, I suppose." They didn't look convinced. And when I explained that they cost around £9,000 to buy, they thought I'd completely lost the plot. "What for?" they asked. And I didn't really have an answer.

7 comments:

Expat mum said...

I don't think Mattei is any easier to pronounce than Jaime. Is it Matt-ee-eye or Matt-ay-ee? Or perhaps Matt-eh-ee. Not wishing to sound pedantic - I was always encouraged to ask if I didn't quite get something - which happens rather a lot these days!

aims said...

Alright - you need to take pictures of the beach huts as well as pics of the sailboats. I need to see a beach hut that costs that much money. Most I've seen are made of palm fronds....so I'm wondering....

Working Mum said...

I've often thought the same thing about beach huts. Beautiful ones on Llanbedrog beach though.

aims said...

Working mum needs to take some pics too please!

Donna said...

You're a Very brave woman...hahaha..Happy teaching sweetie!hughugs

Blossomcottage said...

Beach Hut photographs would be good,I am off to Norfolk in the Autum with my friend Mags, we are going to stay at Weston by the Sea, where they made the M and S advert "I'm going to marry a lighhouse keeper"
I will bring back some photo's
Blossom

A Mother's Place is in the Wrong said...

Well, there you all are back again. I guess my rant did the trick, maybe!

Hi expatmum, you probably already have my email, but just in case, it is Matt-ay - well that's the closest I can get phonetically.M x

Hi aims, sorry for the delay. I love the sound of palm-frond beach huts, though they wouldn't last 5 minutes here. Weather is just awful so my photos may have to wait for a bit of sunshine! M xx

Hi Working Mum, hope you got my email too - I agree with Aims, we need more pictures so we can compare. M :-)

Hi Donna, it's such fun - better than working for a living anyway! M xx

Hi Blossom - hope you had my email too - your trip sounds great, will look forward to your pics.
PS You may well get better weather then - it's awful here at the mo. M xx