A Blog to Be Thankful For...

Hve Hello again everyone! I hope you are all doing splendiferous! For those of you in NJ, my mom has told me that I cursed the good weather there by complaining about it in my last e-mail, so for that I apologize. And do an evil laugh.

So, I since the novelty of conversing with my students via MSN Messenger hasn’t lessened for me, I decided I am going to share some more…interesting conversations. Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it, ok NOW…

This is, by far, my favorite conversation I have had so far…


student says:
hello dina
Dina says:
hello
student says:
how do you do
Dina says:
good! and you?
student says:
yes !!
student says:
y love you Dina bisous (kisses)
student says:
lol
student says:
!!!
Dina says:
hehe awwww
student says:
tu CONNAIS la comédie musicale high school musical ?? (You KNOW the musical comedy High School Musical??)
Dina says:
c'est un film ici? aux etats-unis c'est une emission (It’s a film here ? In the US it’s a show)
student says:
tu voudras que je te le prete ?? (You want to borrow it)
student says:
tu va voir il y a un acteur trop mignon (You are going to see a very cute actor)
Dina says:
il est trop jeune pour moi? (He is too young for me ?...NOTE: SHE SAID NO, HE WAS 16)

………

student says:
dina je peux te poser des questions ?? (Dina can I ask you some questions ?)
Dina says:
Oui (Yes)
student says:
tu es nee quand ? (You were born when ?)
Dina says:
le 20 mars 1984
student says:
alors tu es poisson ?? (You are a pisces ?)
Dina says:
Oui (yes)
student says:
ok
student says:
ton nom de famille (Your last name )
student says:
??
student says:
silteplait ?? (please??)
Dina says:
Berkovits

(NOTE: THIS IS WHEN IT TAKES A TURN FOR CREEPY)

student says:
dina j'ai un carnet avec des question pour mes amies ..... sa te dERANGE pas si je te pose des questions comme : ton adresse ton prtable ?? (Dina, I have a little book with questions for m y friends....would it bother you if I ask questions like your address and cell phone number ?)
student says:
??
student says:
yes ou no ??
Dina says:
oui, d'accord, mais malheureusement c'est pas possible maintenant, parce que je doit rentrer chez moi, mais le prochaine fois quand nous sommes ensemble a MSN? (yeah, ok, but unfortunately not now because I have to go home, but next time when we are together on MSN ?)
student says:
ok pour jeudi tu pourrai me DONNER UNE PHOTO DE TOI et moi je te DONNE le flim jeudi ok ?? POUR LA PHOTO (ok, for Thursday you will be able to bring me A PHOTO OF YOU et I will GIVE you the film Thursday ok?? FOR THE PHOTO)
Dina says:
hehe
Dina says:
j'ai pas un photo (I don’t have a photo)
Dina says:
bonne nuit!
student says:
a jeudi ou a demain bisous ma prof préférer (See you Thursday or tomorrow kisses my favorite teacher)
Dina says:
aww
Dina says:
c;est très gentille! (that’s very nice !)

AND THEN, she changes her display name from her name to Vive Dina…so it reads Vive Dina says: Good night. Thus, I have my first stalker, in the size of a pint-sized teeny-bopper French Fry. Don’t be alarmed if one of you gets a phone call from her, I do not intend on giving her my phone number.

I also received an e-mail this week from a student, and it started out so sweetly and unassuming. She started writing how she loves English and has been studying it for 4 years now, and that she hopes to continue her studies upon going to high school and maybe at University. BUT THEN, she goes, “and I hope you also continue your studies of French when you return home, because you speak with too much of an American accent.”

On the one hand I admired her audacity, and on the other hand I hated it. Haha. So, the next day in class one of my students batted her eyes at me and was like “did you get my e-mail?” and I said yes, I did, and I wanted to make sure it was her, so she pridefully told me her name, indeed, the little goody-two-shoes know-it-all-but-who-makes-lots-of-mistakes was the one who tried to put me in my place. Kids say the darndest things, huh (insert face with rolling eyes here).

Other than these, nothing exciting happened this week so far. That’s a common trend, I guess, these days. Nice is becoming depressing and emptying out. We went downtown the last three nights in a row, and it was DEAD. The bars that are usually disgustingly packed with people and smoke, are now just packed with, well, smoke. But not as many people. But on the one hand it gives Sapna an advantage of having the whole dance floor to ourselves wherever we go.

It was actually great because the other night we went to this bar called Ma Nolan’s and there was this awesome band that is there often. They have a really mellow sound, and they do covers, but in their mellow swanky-esque fashion. I asked if they could play “Sweet Home Alabama” and the singer/guitar player was like “I don’t know that one”, and then he just strums a couple chords to see if they could work, and it was PERFECT, and then he sings all the words. So his not knowing it was pretty impressive, since he seemed to know it really well.

It was also great because laptop DJ came on (which is Sapna’s new term, because there are few DJ’s in Nice, there are just laptops set to randomize), and Beyoncé’s “Crazy In Love” came on, so Sapna and I started rocking out to that song but they stopped it for the band. However, the astute singer noticed that we were really into the song, so he and the band finished singing it for us, mellow style. It was pretty neat-o.

And the other weird story from the last couple nights is that I went to the bathroom last night at a bar called Thor’s. It was ladies’ night there so for 3 euros, chicks can get all the wine they fancy. So last night in the bathroom there were these two girls that obviously fancied a lot of wine. But when I walked in I felt like I was being interrogated. They kept asking me all these questions, but then they asked me what my name was. And when I told them it was Dina, they were like “Ah oui, Dina. Eet eez comme zis. Rrrrrrr” and they did the whole lion claw miming thing with their hand. I guess they like the name Dina. Haha. So that was weird, and I was quite relieved when a stall became available soon after.

So that’s about it. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so Alix and I are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at our apartment for some of the other American Assistants. This should be interesting, given a few factors. One is that our apartment is tiny and we are going to have like 8 people here. Another factor is I am going to be cooking. In that respect, I think the real Thanksgiving for our guests will be the day after, Friday, if they live to see it. But it’ll be nice, nevertheless, because I was a little bummed at the idea of just surpassing Thanksgiving. And that reminds me….10 points to whomever can tell me when Chanukah is this year (Mom, I’m counting on you here.)

I’ll be sure to take pictures at our Thanksgiving, so you can see what a ghetto Thanksgiving looks like. You all have a wonderful and safe, and incredibly gluttonous Turkey Day! And friends, you better be rocking out tonight, on the most popular night for going out of the year!

I miss you all very much!!

XOXO,
Dina

P.S. DANIELLE, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!! I’M SORRY THIS WISH IS SO LATE, BUT I’M A LITTLE FLAKY, OK?!