I talked to two Italians, one a guy and another a girl. The girl was nice, but she had one of those little dogs that she used more as an accessory than as a dog. I was rather upset with this dog abuse, as I see it. Surprisingly the dog seemed used to the situation. The guy was incredibly friendly. He used a mixture of English and Italian when he was speaking to me, though I think that had mostly to do with the fact the German guy sitting with us knew English better than he knew Italian. In fact, the German guy did not seem to know any Italian. Our conversations were an interesting mixture of languages and they were quite entertaining.
At one point I got up to use the bathroom. While I was waiting in line there were two other guys. I was drunk enough that I was having a little difficulty standing, but not too much. I was using the wall to help keep myself up. The guy in front of me, rather tall, thin, curly hair, sky-blue eyes, asked me if I was bored. I thought about it for a second and then replied that I guess I was. I mean, what is interesting about standing in line to use a bathroom? Well, apparently a lot when the guy in front of you begins a conversation.
I never made it back to the table, which I had abandoned for a bathroom. I got too caught up talking with these amiable, friendly, and rather cute Dutch guys.
Egge, contrary to how it may seem, is NOT pronounced like “egg” with and “e” at the end. Oh no, it is not that simple. It is Dutch. If you are unfamiliar with Dutch, as I am, then this language is rather similar in sound to German. So, as you can imagine, the pronunciation is going to have a lot of that impossible throat, hacking sound. I think if I had to spell Egge phonetically, it would look more like eKDKCKDJCKCLKCKSKKCe.
Actually, I do not think I ever got close to pronouncing this poor guy’s name. It was easily a five minute exercise. At first my only problem was with the hacking part. Once I had figured out approximately how to get past the Dutch “gg” there was the problem of the final “e.” To me this “e” had more of a sound of an “er” making his name sound a lot like Edger with a funny hacking sound in the middle. But, every time I ended his name with the “er” sound they would laugh and ask why I was putting an “r” at the end. I kept telling them that when they said it I heard an “er” sound but they told me I was wrong. They would say his name with the “er” and then with just the “e” sound and I really heard no difference. It was quite entertaining actually.
Well we had many conversations about Italians not using English enough, being rude, and America being amazing—conversations in which I listened to them, agreed only occasionally. The boy with the locks, Robbert, was pleased that I was from America and continued to tell me all the amazing things about being American. It was quite surprising to listen to someone speak in raptures about a country I am used to defending to foreigners.
We talked about Holland and they asked me my opinion. I told them that all I really knew about Holland was that the people were supposed to be unbelievably friendly there and that the winters were unbearably cold. They laughed and told me how they hate the reputation Amsterdam gives them and how they really do not have any desire to smoke weed and yet everyone thinks that Dutch people are all potheads. I told them I had never thought that, and promised to never think of Dutch people as potheads.
They bought me a beer. Well, perhaps it would be more accurate to say they were forced on a quest to purchase me a beer. First they did not have enough cash, so they were going to use cards. The bar did not take credit and so they were annoyed. I gave them a five and they told me I was really too kind. Well that five just did not equal enough, so I was going to dig out some more coins but they told me I was not allowed to because I was a girl, it was too expensive for me (the exchange rate and all), and they needed to keep up their reputation as unbelievably friendly. So Egge went to go get some cash from and ATM about ten minutes later he was pushing his way to the bar, cash in hand. Ironically, when he finally asked for three beers, the tap was empty, so he had to wait for them to refill it. About fifteen minutes after the beginning of his quest, Egge returned, beers in hand, having earned his spoils through and through. Quite an ordeal just to get another beer.
Well, we talked and they told me I should definitely visit Holland while I was here (they were visiting Italy on Holiday only). They said that if I flew into Amsterdam they would come pick me up and take me around Holland. I told them that sounded like a great idea.
It was probably about 1:30 or 2am at this point. My American friends had peaced and I was still hanging with my new Dutch friends. The bartender came over to tell us that we needed to move to another part of the bar so that they could start cleaning up. She was using Italian and because these Dutch guys did not speak any Italian I explained to them what was going on and talked to her. Robbert told me that it was sexy when I spoke in Italian. I just laughed. About ten minutes later we decided to take off because they really looked like they were closing.
These friendly Dutch guys, living up to their reputation, walked me home. They came in, used the bathroom. We talked, they marveled at the size of my place. We exchanged contacts and they told me that I should get in touch if I was going to go to Holland.
Robbert is actually coming to visit for a weekend in October. It pays to socialize.
No comments:
Post a Comment