the people on my contract

the face character group for the 2008 winter contract has 33 people in it. theres 12 boys and 21 girls. 7 of the girls are from the US. and so are 7 of the boys. we have 5 english girls. and 3 english boys. theres 7 australian girls, and 1 australian boy. theres also 1 french boy, 1 girl from new zealand, and 1 from holland. so i reallllly have a variety of people in my group. it seriously doesn't sink in to your mind how big this world really is until you're surrounded by people who have lived a completely different life than you in a country that you've only learned about in school, or seen in the movies. i know that sounds silly. and of course you can think " okay i realize the world is a big place and that every country is different". but you only know half of it if you havent taken the time to really hear about it from someone who lives on the other side of the world. i've spent a lot of time talking to people from other countries about what its like to live there, and its the most fascinating thing ever. even just the little things like what's popular to eat in australia, or the slang terms teenagers use in england. seriously you guys i've learned so many random english pharases that we never use. of course there's obvious ones like calling a bathroom the lou. the loo? i'm not sure how its spelled. but theres others....

-they call toilet paper a "lou roll".

-they call a university a Uni. i think its cute.

-"i'll ring you later"

-they say "sound as a pound". haha

-they use "plush" to describe like really nice or pretty clothing.

-"wicked"

-everything nice is "gorgeous". as in "i had a gorgeous cup of tea".

-they call a hobo a tramp. so "i look like a tramp today" means frumpy clothes, no mini skirts and high heels. but then i remembered "lady and the tramp" and i wasn't so excited.

-the word "fanny" means "lady part". so don't talk about fanny-packs with an English person.

-instead of a middle finger you put up 2 fingers. like a backwards peace sign. so i guess when people use that in pictures as a "i'm a white person, but i wish i could pull off being gangsta" its offensive. 

-my friend says she watches the news all the time, and its like 90% american news and at the end they give a quick update on what's actually going on in their country. i think thats strange cuz i have no idea what's going on in England but she knows all about our war and political events. its weird.

 

for australians....

-they always use the phrase " i've fallen pregnant" instead of "i got pregnant". its weird.

-both england and australia have this AMAZING idea that america needs to steal. they're called "potato smilies". they're like french fries but cut into flat circles with holes missing to make a smiley face. and you get them everywhere for like kids meals and stuff. and you dip them in ketchup and they're just delicious. even japan sells them in stores. why doesn't america have this?!? i'm actually upset about it. 

- my australian friend uses "reckon" in like every other sentence.

my new zealand friend was talking to me about pasta and i used the word "noodle" and she didn't know what it was. apparently in new zealand they use the word "pasta" to describe an entire dish but they simply don't have a word for the individual pieces. 

-new zealanders call small hard-candy, like a jolly-rancher a "loli" and the british just call them "sweets". 

the biggest difference is that I'm surrounded by like 4 different accents. and its horrible but i'm starting to accidentally pick up a british accent. when they talk, they emphasize a different part of the sentence than we do, and i do it all the time now. i haven't picked up their proper way of saying everything, but my own sentences have a weird british sound to them. okay that sounds stupid and makes no sense, but i dont know how to explain it. haha. 

E-village doesn't just have 33 people living in it. we have an entire group of people here to be a shows in the park. some sing, dance, or do acrobatics. its really great getting to meet the other people on different contracts. but we don't see them much, because they have a different schedule. there's close to 100 people living here for all different things. our casting director said that apparently over 2,000 people auditioned for these 100 spots. so i feel super honored to be able to be here right now. not a moment goes by that i'm not completely grateful for getting this amazing opportunity. i dont know how i got so lucky. 

well thats it. i miss you guys. and i hope all is going well. by the way, i went for a jog this morning in the pouring rain. it was super refreshing, and i suggest it to all. it kind of sucks that you guys get rain like 4 days a year. but if one of those 4 happens soon, you should just go for it. love you guys. sayonara!

shanell

japanese phrase of the day: "hai" and "lie"

yes and no. you cant really shout "hi" to anyone when you see them, because they think you're saying "yes!". so i say "hello" a lot. and its weird, but a lot of times japanese people will say "yes" for nothing at all. like if a man is buying something he'll put the product on the counter, and the cashier will say "hai". and then the man will pull out money and say "hai" as he puts in on the counter. and the cashier will grab the money and say "hai". thats just a lame example, but you get the idea. when i was signing up for internet the man was pointing to each spot on the paperwork and telling me what information to write. he would say "hai" after i completed each one. i was kind of giggling on the inside. thats horrible. but i was. theres not much to know about "lie" except that each vowel is pronounced individually. so it sounds like "leeeA".