It’s All Alien (Greek) to Me

I love to learn...to spend time buried in a book, immersed in information...being able to spit out the information on the other side...like language. But I have come to the conclusion that one semester of French and two years of Spanish way back in junior high and highschool did not help much when trying to communicate in Paris.

The nearly eight hour flight did not prepare me for the culture shock of arriving in the Paris airpot, attempting to find my way to a different terminal, through a passpot and security check (that was odd). During the flight, the pilot would come over the speaker and tell us how the flight was going, when we could expect dinner, a snack, etc...then a polite French rendition of the same information was given by on of the attendants. There were a few words that I recognized, some I even knew the meaning of. But it was like listening to speek-talking...in an alien language.

I purchased my first coke in Europe in a cute little pastry shop named Paul at the Paris airport. I even managed a quiet, "Parlez-vous anglais, s'il vous plait?" ...which equates to being able to order a small coke (woot woot), a distilled water (because there is also a sparkling variety), and a croissant. Yum, yum! I've listened to countless people around me talk, laugh, and argue...in French. I pick up a word or two here or there, but the talking is so fast that I haveno idea how I could ever learn this language to actually be able to carry on a conversation. I feel like I am in Star Trek and have gone through a wormhole, been dropped on another planet in a far off galaxy surrounded by a lot of human looking aliens and an alien language.

I did have a good laugh, and thought of Caitlyn, when I heard a French woman answer her cell phone by saying "Oui, Oui"...very familiar to the English teenager version of answering the phone (especially when it is one of her parental units calling) and saying "Yeah." I'm sure you will fit right in here, Caitlyn. :)

Growing up, my sister took French and I took Spanish. I remember learning Spanish and asking my father what languages he knew. He would rattle off several sometimes, but mainly just say the only one he didn't know was Greek...and then he would say "and it's all Greek to me."

I am now in another foreign country, immersed in another culture with a different language. I know a few words, and might even be able to understand a sentence here or there (thanks to Rick Steve's phrase book...and Chris and Caroline Church for lending us the French/Italian/German version). But I'm still looking around yet again as people all around me talk, laugh, and argue in Italian. I'm guessing I may even get to see a teenager answer their cell phone with a "Si, Si."

I am hoping I will return to the States a week from now with a little more than a couple sentences of Italian in my repertoire (and a million photos on my laptop). If not, I'm falling back on the old family failsafe...it's all Greek to me.

Bon giorno de Roma!

Mark's CIT graduation w/Flavio, Andre Singarelli, and Nicola