Classes started
Joy.
And I've already had some "Julie Moments". You know those moments where you think, "Only Julie would ever be as silly as this?!" And then you realize that you aren't Julie and you thank your lucky stars because then stuff like that doesn't happen to you on a daily basis?
Yes, those moments define my life.
Why just this morning I had a Julie Moment.
I was no more than 2 minutes late to Spanish 1020, due to weather conditions.
I sneaked into class as quietly as I could while wearing my amazing, new snow boots (seriously, you have to see these babies! They rock!!) and big puffy, super warm coat. Well, I grab the closest seat and settle in for the next 48 minutes of class. I drop my book bag, pull out a writing utensil and notebook, then I take off my coat.
This is when I notice that something is a little weird.
I'm unusually tall.
I suppose you could say "obscenely tall".
I am literally towering over the table.
Some person in the class before had lovingly readjusted me chair! (Unless they were shorter than short, and in that case, I apologize) So....Life goes on, right? WRONG! I am utterly absorbed in figuring out how to lower the chair and hardly paying attention to the "oral activity" that was going on....big mistake!
We then split into groups to do a Conversation Exercise.
And I fixed my chair to an acceptable height.
Yesterday, Wes was my partner and he wasn't so up-to-speed on the Spanish aspect of class (he hadn't taken a class in nearly 6 years) so I felt somewhat smart and capable. Today, Matt (or maybe it was Mike?!) was my partner. In my opinion Matt/Mike should be considered fluent! I couldn't think of any Spanish words and I said "Ummmmmm...," more than a few times. I felt like a babbling idiot.
So, back to the activity. It dealt with someone going to the airport and getting on an airplane, so basically all we had to do was put the statements in sequence.
(EXAMPLE: He got into a taxi. He arrived at the airport. He waited in line to check his baggage. He boarded the plane. He had a window seat, etc...)
Well, as we were figuring the order out, I pointed to one sentence (and in my defense let me just say that I hadn't read the full sentence when I started talking), and said "Hey, this one goes later because he has to be on the plane to order a coke." And I thought I was so smart. Matt/Mike (I REALLY NEED TO FIGURE OUT HIS NAME BEFORE TOMORROW!!) looked at me a little strangely and said "Como?"
WHY DOES HE HAVE TO TALK IN SPANISH ALL OF THE TIME!!??
And then I looked at the vocabulary on the previous page and realized my big, humongous, silly mistake. Cola isn't "coca-cola". In Spanish it means "line". I should have known that!!! Yes, I had made a big fool of myself. I attempted to make a recovery and say something clever, but of course my brain doesn't think that fast in English (let alone Spanish), so I awkwardly moved on to another sentence and hoped he didn't notice. I'm sure he did. And I'm positive that my face went bright red.
Thankfully class wrapped up a few minutes later and I ran out of there pretty quickly.
I can't wait for tomorrow's class
Oh, and if you are interested, the sentence was, " Hago cola para facturar el equipaje." Directly translated, " I stand in line to check my baggage." Indeed, it does not mean "to order a coke".
I hope this isn't an omen of how the rest of the semester will go!
Joy.
And I've already had some "Julie Moments". You know those moments where you think, "Only Julie would ever be as silly as this?!" And then you realize that you aren't Julie and you thank your lucky stars because then stuff like that doesn't happen to you on a daily basis?
Yes, those moments define my life.
Why just this morning I had a Julie Moment.
I was no more than 2 minutes late to Spanish 1020, due to weather conditions.
I sneaked into class as quietly as I could while wearing my amazing, new snow boots (seriously, you have to see these babies! They rock!!) and big puffy, super warm coat. Well, I grab the closest seat and settle in for the next 48 minutes of class. I drop my book bag, pull out a writing utensil and notebook, then I take off my coat.
This is when I notice that something is a little weird.
I'm unusually tall.
I suppose you could say "obscenely tall".
I am literally towering over the table.
Some person in the class before had lovingly readjusted me chair! (Unless they were shorter than short, and in that case, I apologize) So....Life goes on, right? WRONG! I am utterly absorbed in figuring out how to lower the chair and hardly paying attention to the "oral activity" that was going on....big mistake!
We then split into groups to do a Conversation Exercise.
And I fixed my chair to an acceptable height.
Yesterday, Wes was my partner and he wasn't so up-to-speed on the Spanish aspect of class (he hadn't taken a class in nearly 6 years) so I felt somewhat smart and capable. Today, Matt (or maybe it was Mike?!) was my partner. In my opinion Matt/Mike should be considered fluent! I couldn't think of any Spanish words and I said "Ummmmmm...," more than a few times. I felt like a babbling idiot.
So, back to the activity. It dealt with someone going to the airport and getting on an airplane, so basically all we had to do was put the statements in sequence.
(EXAMPLE: He got into a taxi. He arrived at the airport. He waited in line to check his baggage. He boarded the plane. He had a window seat, etc...)
Well, as we were figuring the order out, I pointed to one sentence (and in my defense let me just say that I hadn't read the full sentence when I started talking), and said "Hey, this one goes later because he has to be on the plane to order a coke." And I thought I was so smart. Matt/Mike (I REALLY NEED TO FIGURE OUT HIS NAME BEFORE TOMORROW!!) looked at me a little strangely and said "Como?"
WHY DOES HE HAVE TO TALK IN SPANISH ALL OF THE TIME!!??
And then I looked at the vocabulary on the previous page and realized my big, humongous, silly mistake. Cola isn't "coca-cola". In Spanish it means "line". I should have known that!!! Yes, I had made a big fool of myself. I attempted to make a recovery and say something clever, but of course my brain doesn't think that fast in English (let alone Spanish), so I awkwardly moved on to another sentence and hoped he didn't notice. I'm sure he did. And I'm positive that my face went bright red.
Thankfully class wrapped up a few minutes later and I ran out of there pretty quickly.
I can't wait for tomorrow's class
Oh, and if you are interested, the sentence was, " Hago cola para facturar el equipaje." Directly translated, " I stand in line to check my baggage." Indeed, it does not mean "to order a coke".
I hope this isn't an omen of how the rest of the semester will go!
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