10-10-10

Just had to post that it was October 10th of 2010. Yeah, I know it's childish and all but I can't help but think that dates that these come about a handful of times in a millennium and it's also a date that's universal everywhere. In Sweden, in France, in the U.S.... where normally the different arrangements of month, day, and year may cause confusion in other circumstances. 


Since I'm going to post on the date, I might as well update my otherwise neglected blog. My program (or as the British would write "programme" or "course") started on the 5th and so far things seem to be OK. I've adjusted to the time difference, found a place to stay (living with my ex-boyfriend's friend for the semester in a small but comfortable 2-bedroom "flat" aka apartment), and I've made a few acquaintances here. Not much else to say at this point about my program or my life here since courses started less than a week ago and I haven't been here long enough to judge. 


Oh, there has been on rather strange development. I'm realizing how easily influenced I am concerning English accents. I've already started dreaming in British English and sometimes I find myself consciously making an effort to speak American English. Lately, British intonation, style, and to an extent, accent, have been popping out of my mouth when I speak English. It's really bizarre. Perhaps it's because I'm surrounded by Britons with very "proper" British accents and that's usually the only English I interact with during the day or perhaps I'm just extremely easily influenced. Whatever the case, I imagine it will be very strange to talk to my mother once (or perhaps more) times a week, conscious of my accent and intonation, very aware of her dislike of the British accents.


Today's Random Picture: 
The British Isles and Ireland and the literal meaning of the city names. That's right, "London" actually means "hill fort" =D

Noticing Accents

The more you advance in a foreign language, the more you become sensitive to the local accents/dialects. This isn't just be but seems to be an overall fact that applies to all language learners. For instance, when I first started out, I wouldn't be able to tell you if a Strasbourgeois spoke differently from a Parisian or a Marseillais. Now, I could definitely pinpoint the differences. Not only that, but as is the case for German lately, I can even tell the difference between someone speaking English with a German accent from Sachsen and one speaking English with an Austrian-German accent. Crazy, huh? I haven't gotten the hang of the different regional accents of Russian but at least now I can clearly tell the difference between Russian and other Slavic languages like Belarusian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, etc. Before, I probably wouldn't have been able to tell you the difference between Slovak and Russian! (Don't kill me Pavol). But now, I can, without a doubt.

One such accent-detecting skill that has been getting rusty lately is my ability to detect the different Spanish accents. For the Spanish learners out there, can you tell the difference? Cathy? You've studied Spanish for nearly 8 years now, you must be able to tell them apart, right? I'll post the answers later =) Get them all right and I'll bake you a cake ;)

Today's Random Quiz:

You Are a Pumpkin Pie Baking in the Oven

You love to feel comforted and relaxed. For you, fall means turning inward and remembering what matters in your life. Fall rings in the time of traditions, and you embrace each and every one of them. Whether you're decorating for Halloween, cooking for Thanksgiving, or planning for Christmas, you really get into the season. You love sharing this time with your friends and family. You like to make new and lasting memories.

What Autumn Smell Are You?

Babies and Commercials

For the first time in my life, I actually changed my mind about having kids. Well, not exactly. At the restaurant today, I saw the cutest kids I've ever seen in my entire life. They were identical twins and it was... cuteness overload. 3 years old, they belonged to the most "mismatched" couple. I would never have expected such adorable kids to have such comparably normal-looking parents. They were so cute, I almost cried... I wanted to kidnap them or just one of them. Their dad was English and their mom was Korean - they were both average-looking. Neither of them looked like supermodels or anything like that. That's why I was surprised they had such adorable kids. Just to prove I'm not biased, all of my coworkers were all over the kids. Not just the waitresses, but also the waiters. You had to see them. I wanted to take a picture, but I knew the parents would think I was a total creeper if I'd asked and maybe take the kids away from me. So I didn't.

Thus, the idea of having kids crossed my mind. If I could have kids that were that cute... if my kids looked equally cute, I think I'd have kids. The problem is, you don't have any control over genes... it's all the flip of a coin or a toss of a die. I probably don't have the right genes to have those kids... or perhaps, I do? I don't know. I think if I found a kid that was equally cute as those twins, I'd adopt it. I still don't want to have my own kids because there is no guarantee that my kids would be cute. I mean... my kid might be even a freakier freak of nature than me! Or maybe more normal. Take, for instance, a hypothetical situation. If I got pregnant with my boyfriend's kids, the kid would be 1/2 Scottish, 1/4 Swedish, 1/8 Korean, and 1/8 Mongolian. What would such a kid look like???

One thing is for sure, IF and only IF I have a kid... it MUST have a foreign accent... like these kids:


But then again...:


Either way, it's not something I worry about at the moment. If I ever change my mind about kids, I know it will be until a LONG while later (maybe 10+years later... MAYBE).

The Random Video of Today: