"smels like a horse"

We went to NASA today. They donated part of their land to local schools to provide young Americans with an opportunity to learn more about farming. Tram, that goes to some of NASA facilities, passes this farm by. There were longhornes. It smelled like we were on a farm...
There were lots of kids on our tram and they all started to argue about this smell. One little girl said it smelled like a horse. the other boy sait "No. that's how sheep smell I know!!!" (well... he knows. That's a good argument, so logic and manly) Others were saying something else.
Well kids, actually it smelled like sh*t. That's all. Doesn't matter if it belongs to horses, sheep or camels. It really doesn't matter...

I just though that was kinda funny.

true ladies do not age

I had my birthday recently and quite a lot of people asked me for my age. I’ve said 1) it is rude to ask a girl/woman/lady about her age; 2) it doesn’t really matter, it’s all about how I feel. (But I’ll share my secret with you… my friend put only 24 candles on the cake... he thinks I’m 24… Really? I though much younger).

I truly believe that as long as a lady feels as a true lady, age doesn’t matter.

Here’s funny example from home. Few days ago my mom called my grandmother. Granny could not talk and said she’ll call her later. Few minutes later she called and told my mom that because of her she missed a very important part of the TV program and now she doesn’t know how to get rid of dark circles under eyes. (And I’ve never seen her with real dark circles). Isn’t it wonderful, that my grandma still cares about the way she looks? She still feels flirty. And she is in age category of 80+, as if it matters.

My grandma is planning to attend a dance party in 2 weeks and she’s already asking my mom for advice what dress to wear! She loves to dance. I guess I love dancing because of her.

So girls, feel flirty, feel yourselves as real ladies and forget about your age… and everyone around will forget about it too.

Isn’t that a wonderful way to stop aging?

love and money

This Sunday priest in the church I went to told us that this year an average amount one American would spend on Christmas presents would be 907$, which is lower than the amount spent on average last year (942$). Interesting. I know that Americans shop a lot and they are spending a lot on things that they would not probably need. But when it comes to presents, how much should a person spend? Is it about money?

I always thought that present is attention! And yes monetary value matters too, but it is not the most important criteria. You cannot buy [true] attention and love, giving love to others is the greatest present of all.

Is there really a need to spend that much on presents? Or people think that the higher monetary value the present or presents have, the more the giver loves him/her? Can we really translate love into money?

Or we got to the stage where we do not care enough to devote time and give love, so we just give presents to show that we still remember.

One more thing: it is Christmas. Since when is it about giving presents to people? Isn’t it about passion, love, kindness and sharing (but not money… feelings).

spice it up and cook it

Today there was a lovely cat around our apartment and at some point it sneaked in our apartment and run straight to the kitchen. This lovely animal was very hungry and started to eat orange rind. We got her(him??) some sour cream and took it outside.
My friend said it would be nice if I would have tuna, cats love tuna. I've agreed and added that any raw fish would be good. "Raw fish??? Are you kidding me? ... What about cat food? What about canned tuna? You spice it up, cook it and give it to a cat."
Now it was my turn to say "What?" Why would you ever cook fish if cats eat and love it raw (unless they were fed with canned cat food all their life)? And why would you ever want to spice it up? Not for animals.

Save animals, save electricity, save spices... Do not cook fish for your cats please!

chineese food

We went to a Chinese restaurant today. We went there with some Asian people, including one Chinese person. The food was great, but was it really Chinese?
My friends said "NO." That's exactly what I've thought. You may pretend that your restaurant serves Chinese, Italian, Greek food, but it would be just your (in this case American) interpretation of Chinese, Italian, Greek food.
And it does make sense. You have to fit the local taste, otherwise you are pure Chinese and absolutely out of business, if there are not enough Chinese people to attend your place.

And even McDonalds serves fried rice in Asia... totally not American thing!

Kinda funny, we do attract people by the name (some exotic food), but then give them totally different thing... adopted to our taste.

they say it's good

We went to a movie today "Before Devil Knows You're Dead". It is some kind of alternative or independent movie. Critics say it is good. Actors played really well, I agree. But I would never say it is good.
When movie shows all the possible bad things: when children kill their own mom for money, when the whole life is about money, when money make you violent. Isn't it something that we don't wanna have in society? So would it be good to go public with a movie that shows all the bad things of this world and than have hundreds of critics saying that the movie is good?
I left the theater feeling really depressed. Can that be good? This movie did not motivate me to something good, but made me feel very blue.
And then again, when critics say that the movie is good, they may talk about music effects, play of actors, director's job. But when people hear that critics think really positive about the movie, do they know exactly that critics were looking at different details and not necessarily the idea behind the movie?

banana republic

It's exam time. Right now is about 2 am... I'm still studying. Actually I've just finished my paper. I went out of the room and saw a guy wearing a T-shirt that says "Banana Republic". I caught myself thinking about where this republic is. Probably somewhere in central America... Well and this is not the first time when I saw Banana Republic on a T-shirt and started thinking about location of this country...

Although it's just probably in the mall or somewhere in downtown of a big city...

hi there

There are several expressions in English meaning of which is so difficult to get. Although I already know what they mean, every time I hear them I feel kinda frustrated and awkward. For example “hi there.” Are you talking to me?? There? Here? Where? Does the place matter? Do I matter? Maybe you forgot my name??? Possibly…

And what about “here you go” and “here you are?” These are examples when words together have a totally different meaning than the sum of meanings of every word. It is like Here you go, there he goes, somewhere else they go and you all go to different places…but it has nothing to do with going and direction! And my dictionary does not give translation of this expression. Can you imagine how I felt when someone told me “here you go” for the first time? Where should I go? Why me? Maybe you wanna join me? :)

“Here you are” is so different from “you are here.” It doesn’t have anything to do with the place. If you ever try to translate it into some language with the use of a dictionary you’ll get something weird!

Exploring English is so much fun!

devil eggs

Americans have this dish, which name sounds like "Devil eggs." It is stuffed eggs, but stuffed differently that we do at home. The name was so intriguing... as if it was something so good you cannot resist and you would get them at any possible price...like making a deal with Devil. I was thinking about this dish as of something like fruits from the tree of knowledge at Edem.
I was really excited... before yesterday when I've decided to google for "Devil eggs" recipe. It gives you lots of pages, but when you go to those pages "Devil eggs" turn into "Deviled eggs." All the magic is gone. :((
I've lost any excitement about this dish. Regular stuffed eggs.

KISS principle, STAR approach

Have you ever noticed how often Americans use abbreviations that are actual words? For example KISS, which stands for "keep it stupid simple."
When I heard about KISS principle for the first time I really thought about the real kisses. We were discussing some relations of women with their male bosses. I had no idea that KISS stands for something else than the actual kiss. Well... it even made some sense, although it was not a true "feminist" approach(and US is one of the leading countries in the fight for parity between the genders), which is everywhere here. I could not believe my ears! Kiss approach in relations with the male boss? Is that how you get promoted? Might be fast, but kinda "below the waist line" method.

And in addition to KISS principle, there are so many others like RACE, STAR, ROPES, etc.
When coming up with an abbreviation for something people probably spend a lot of time to find words that, when put in a certain order, can be abbreviated with already existent word.
I wonder if it puts any limitation on the understanding the essence of the abbreviated thing.

lost in translation

When you learn a foreign language you heavily rely on dictionary for picking words. I don't know how dictionaries are "created," but sometimes that give really "funny" words.
So when you look for words dictionaries may provide you with not the best translation.
For example, today in my German class one student used a word "Anhorung" for hearing. But the word actually means "public hearing". So Beethoven actually lost his "public hearing" instead of just hearing. And things like that happen all the time.
Later today one guy said that he's restless and he referred to it as to a medical problem. So I my roommate, who is MD, talked to him about that. We looked up in a dictionary the meaning of the word and started to laugh. The medical meaning of the word "restless" is kinda funny. Yeah baby.. . at your age at 11 pm... kinda normal... Enjoy! :))

communicating

How do we communicate? Why do we do it? I always though that communication to a certain extent includes exchange of information. That communication is more effective when is done personally.

Over the course of last 2 weeks I got into situations where I was not sure if I did something wrong, had wrong expectations or the other side was acting badly to me/others.

I hope it is not a cultural thing, but just a person that acts this way. Although even if it just a person it kinda hurts.

Anyway, here is one example:

Today was/is a birthday of one of students who is on the same program with me. A friend of mine, lets say Mr. B., calls me and I tell him that we are celebrating. Mr. B. asks me to say “Happy Bday” to that guy. I’ve asked him to do it himself. Mr. B. came up with reasons not to do it, for example, he though that if he would wish happy bday directly to that guy, this guy will be confused/embarrassed/feeling uncomfortable for not having him invited to the party. Where is the logic? So do you wish Happy Bday only when invited? That is sad. I know it is really SOOOO difficult to call and wish Happy Bday if you don’t care, or at least post on facebook’s wall. But you can make someone smile, isn’t that worth it?

about fairy-tales

Do you think it is weird for a master level student enjoy reading fairy-tales? Some of my friends here think it is ok, but weird. They said "Fairy-tales are for kids." Really? Is that why everyone is so serious at out age and do not believe in miracles?
I've talked to one of my best friends from home today. Her status in gmail account is "Reading Fairy-tales aloud." She still reads fairy-tales. I do to.
They are positive and they teach you wise things. They make you believe in miracles and impossible things. They are so positive!
Reading fairy-tales is not childish, childish is being blind and do not see miracles around/ do not see beyond ordinary things and do not give freedom to your imagination.
Life is plain & boring when imagination is turned off.

boys, cars, stars and gays

I have a really nice shiny, tiny red car! My favorite color is red. On October 19th I've decorated it with some stars. Star (5 points) is my favorite shape. I really like the way it looks - very nice. I guess it reflects my personality.
I give my car sometimes to a friend of mine to drive. He is a guy! Every time after driving my car he would share his experience with me. He told me that everyone stares at him. Guys give him a really weird looks, girls just stare at him. So he gets all the attention. (Isn't it great?)
He is sure that everyone thinks he is a gay. He is sure that's because of stars!
Why? what's wrong with stars? Back home only real "machos" decorate their cars. All girls just go crazy about those guys. Stars on the car and any other decorations are usually masculine symbols.

Maybe because my car is so tiny? But before I put stars on it, he didn't get any attention while driving.
Maybe mix of tiny + red + stars means something more than tiny + red + stars??? Some kind of mystic synergy?

Or maybe people think it is a shooting star and they need to make a wish?? :)) Would be nice if yes.