And it's been a good but tiring workweek so I am at home, relaxing and felt like having popcorn for dinner. So, I did. Geez, normally September here in the Seattle area is a summer-like "Indian Summer" (is that even politically correct as a term nowadays??) even if our normal summer is crappy. But nope, the fog in the morning and clouds/drizzle during the day are here in full force. Call this summer a bust save for a few days in late July or so. I lit my giant 3-wick candle on the hearth, I hear the rain glistening and tickling outside and look forward to a glorious, relaxing evening in. Yep, time to recharge. Tomorrow night it's out for dinner downtown and dressed up for a show at the Paramount Theatre, so I'm OK with slouching around tonight.
My DVD collection is rather sparse...I have 5 to be exact. Yeah, movie buffs out there you are likely shocked, but I'm really not into movies. When I do go to one, I'll see it in the theatre and really don't feel a need to "own" it in a personal library. I do enjoy On Demand and the occasional rental but for the most part I am an eat/drink/conversation girl when I go out (or stay in) and watching a movie isn't my top choice.
OK back on track here...my DVDs consist of: the Jillian Michaels 30-day Shred workout, a documentary by Spike Lee called When the Levees Broke, which is an OUTSTANDING collection of film footage, interviews, heroes and blunders from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, a (Brazilian) Portuguese series of language lessons, the Cosmos TV series (from PBS, narrated by the late, great genius Carl Sagan c. 1980) and, now, my Norwegian lessons. Although let me back up - whoops - for these Norwegian lessons are just on audio CD as supplements to my textbook, not DVDs. So, wow...I guess I only have 4 DVDs actually! What else would I add to my sparse collection? Hmmm, probably the Sex and the City complete TV series. Never get tired of watching those shows...and I was late to the party as I didn't have HBO until well after the series wrapped.
So...back to the Norwegian. I know that most Scandinavian nations have a good grasp of English as a 2nd or perhaps 3rd/4th language but I am determined, if I'm going to do this Spitsbergen trip one of these years, to learn a fair amount of Norwegian so I can hear/read what's around me and, hopefully, carry on some decent conversations. Plus I have a pretty good ear for languages, despite not a drop of Nordic blood in me that I'm aware of.
Snakker du norsk? (Do you speak Norwegian?) Right now, "...jeg kan snakke litt norsk." (I can speak a little norwegian). Maybe "miniscule" is better than a little for now.
I sit on my couch, book in hand, CD playing and repeat along with dialogues. I always wonder how "real" a lot of these foreign language lessons really are with street cred. Meaning, do the words/phrases sound super dippy or formal in real life? Still, I find it valuable, along with understanding the pronounciations of consonants, vowels and letter combinations.
My next lesson is dialogue about making breakfast together. Og vi skal lage norsk frokost. "We will make a Norwegian breakfast."
Anyway, I'm having fun dabbling and speaking along with the dialogues. And breakfast sounds good - why am I so hungry after a big lunch today and popcorn for dinner?
Until next time...vi sees!
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