Tuesday January 1st 2019
Happy New Year Everyone!!
I'm starting off this day by eating junk food and doing laundry 👿
This past Sunday, I met the team leads and some of the employees Chichi works with. We all went to eat at Vikings, a buffet in SM Lanang mall. It was good! There were many choices, everything looked appetizing! You had your regular "Chinese" options, what you would find in a Chinese buffet back home, fried rice and fried noodles. Yet, they brought it up a notch, as you also had a choice of dumplings! There was a taco stand, there was local food, and pashgetti, pizza, etc. What brings them out of falling under an "ordinary buffet style" was their fountains of drink. Yes, it's a buffet in which you serve yourself everything! There's draft beer and also a fridge of Heineken beers - FREE! There's also slush machines, pop, juices and milk tea. I had my favourite, cucumber lime juice! All drinks are free! Crazy, isn't it?
Their dessert section was out of this world! Cupcakes, cakes, pancakes, waffles, fruit salad in a yummy whipped cream (lovely!), ice cream of course! I wish I'd have been more hungry, so I could've tried a bit of everything! We will definitely have to go back!
The thing I never want to do, however, is to go on my birthday! When it's your birthday, you eat for free (they confirm it with ID), but they also come in hoards, make you wear viking horns and dance with them! I would die! It was someone else's birthday celebration that day, and even though it was across the room, I still got red from embarrassment! I would not want to be in their shoes!
H & M were there, so we got to talk a little. I met Mk as he gave us a lift there, though he's not much for talking. I had a great conversation with Rx, he even taught me some Bisaya! It's crazy how some of words are similar to Sicilian (my mother tongue), but I guess in the end because some of the words are similar to Spanish words, it's not all that crazy! I sometimes have difficulty telling the difference between someone speaking Sicilian and someone speaking Spanish. It's true! I have to listen carefully, to see if I can distinguish the Spanish words, to tell them apart. A few years ago (probably almost 1.5 decades ago, or is it 2?) I had been working in a Couche Tard and there were people making a terrasse for our store. It was a father and his son, and they were speaking in their mother tongue. I see that now, father and son in construction in Montreal, should have probably screamed "Sicilian" at me! But at the time, it didn't even cross my mind. I'm used to understanding people when they speak Spanish, but some words are usually different, some I don't understand. Yet, I was understanding everything. And so, there I was, standing behind the counter and trying to see if I could distinguish the Spanish words, but asking myself if they were maybe speaking Sicilian? Until the father looked up, and asked me in "parle Siciliane?" (do you speak Sicilian). Yes!!
Although I lived in Montreal for many decades, I've hardly ever come across another Sicilian. Yes, in the time that my Nonna (grandmother) was alive, I saw many more. She had friends who would come over from time to time. We spoke Sicilian at home, with our parents, and Nonna, distant relatives when they came to visit. But as I got older, and we started going to school, I started speaking English more often. My sister and I spoke English to each other, Sicilian to our parents. By the time I was working at that Couche Tard, I didn't have many people to speak Sicilian to. My Nonna had passed away, my father was estranged to me, we only spoke it when we didn't want people to understand us in public with our mom and my sister. When you don't use it, you lose it.
Some people will tell you that you can never forget a language. But that's not entirely true. Even if it's your mother tongue, and spoke it most of your life, if you go long bouts without using it, you can forget it. With lots of practice, it can come back, so maybe it's not forgotten forever, but you'll need to have someone you can practice it with.
I've totally gone off my path! Long story short, I have some people who are willing to teach me Bisaya! I've also found a website online that will assist me in learning. I may not become fluent, but will definitely give it a go!
2019 will be a year of learning! I will concentrate on Korean, Lao and Bisaya! It may not be an easy feat, but I've got a lot of time on my hands and determination!
I'm starting off this day by eating junk food and doing laundry 👿
This past Sunday, I met the team leads and some of the employees Chichi works with. We all went to eat at Vikings, a buffet in SM Lanang mall. It was good! There were many choices, everything looked appetizing! You had your regular "Chinese" options, what you would find in a Chinese buffet back home, fried rice and fried noodles. Yet, they brought it up a notch, as you also had a choice of dumplings! There was a taco stand, there was local food, and pashgetti, pizza, etc. What brings them out of falling under an "ordinary buffet style" was their fountains of drink. Yes, it's a buffet in which you serve yourself everything! There's draft beer and also a fridge of Heineken beers - FREE! There's also slush machines, pop, juices and milk tea. I had my favourite, cucumber lime juice! All drinks are free! Crazy, isn't it?
Their dessert section was out of this world! Cupcakes, cakes, pancakes, waffles, fruit salad in a yummy whipped cream (lovely!), ice cream of course! I wish I'd have been more hungry, so I could've tried a bit of everything! We will definitely have to go back!
The thing I never want to do, however, is to go on my birthday! When it's your birthday, you eat for free (they confirm it with ID), but they also come in hoards, make you wear viking horns and dance with them! I would die! It was someone else's birthday celebration that day, and even though it was across the room, I still got red from embarrassment! I would not want to be in their shoes!
H & M were there, so we got to talk a little. I met Mk as he gave us a lift there, though he's not much for talking. I had a great conversation with Rx, he even taught me some Bisaya! It's crazy how some of words are similar to Sicilian (my mother tongue), but I guess in the end because some of the words are similar to Spanish words, it's not all that crazy! I sometimes have difficulty telling the difference between someone speaking Sicilian and someone speaking Spanish. It's true! I have to listen carefully, to see if I can distinguish the Spanish words, to tell them apart. A few years ago (probably almost 1.5 decades ago, or is it 2?) I had been working in a Couche Tard and there were people making a terrasse for our store. It was a father and his son, and they were speaking in their mother tongue. I see that now, father and son in construction in Montreal, should have probably screamed "Sicilian" at me! But at the time, it didn't even cross my mind. I'm used to understanding people when they speak Spanish, but some words are usually different, some I don't understand. Yet, I was understanding everything. And so, there I was, standing behind the counter and trying to see if I could distinguish the Spanish words, but asking myself if they were maybe speaking Sicilian? Until the father looked up, and asked me in "parle Siciliane?" (do you speak Sicilian). Yes!!
Although I lived in Montreal for many decades, I've hardly ever come across another Sicilian. Yes, in the time that my Nonna (grandmother) was alive, I saw many more. She had friends who would come over from time to time. We spoke Sicilian at home, with our parents, and Nonna, distant relatives when they came to visit. But as I got older, and we started going to school, I started speaking English more often. My sister and I spoke English to each other, Sicilian to our parents. By the time I was working at that Couche Tard, I didn't have many people to speak Sicilian to. My Nonna had passed away, my father was estranged to me, we only spoke it when we didn't want people to understand us in public with our mom and my sister. When you don't use it, you lose it.
Some people will tell you that you can never forget a language. But that's not entirely true. Even if it's your mother tongue, and spoke it most of your life, if you go long bouts without using it, you can forget it. With lots of practice, it can come back, so maybe it's not forgotten forever, but you'll need to have someone you can practice it with.
I've totally gone off my path! Long story short, I have some people who are willing to teach me Bisaya! I've also found a website online that will assist me in learning. I may not become fluent, but will definitely give it a go!
2019 will be a year of learning! I will concentrate on Korean, Lao and Bisaya! It may not be an easy feat, but I've got a lot of time on my hands and determination!
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