a)      Have you experienced any cultural miscommunication or “lost in translation” moments?  Tell us a funny story about adjusting to the local tongue.

I was checking a book of out the library one day, and I took a look at the receipt to see exactly when the book was due back. It said 11/11/14, but that day (the day I was checking it out) was November 10. The book was supposed to be a 30 night loan so I was really confused. I went up to a librarian to ask him about it. I could not understand a single word he was saying. He had the thickest Belfast accent ever. It was worse than a pikeys accent in the movie Snatch. I kept asking him to repeat himself but eventually I just gave up and pretended I could understand him. It was awful hahaha. It’s crazy to think that I cannot understand someone who is speaking the same language as me. Someone could have told me he wasn’t speaking English and I would have believed them. I wonder if he could understand me. I was with a friend from France at the time and after we walked away she said “Now you know how I feel every day” hahah. Later on I kicked myself because I realized I had the date confused. I forgot that they put the day of the month first instead of the month first. Ha!

b)      Explain a favorite new word or phrase you have learned.

I love the phrase “cheers”. It is so happy sounding ha. They use it for goodbye and thank you. I also like that they use the words lovely and mate. I don’t know why but it is so cool.