Sunday, February 25, 2007

Meeting the Mightly Beast

While my mother apparently needs to tell sect people that she doesn't have time for them, it seems I have an aura that makes them willing to leave without a word from me.

Nearing midday, the bell rings and I find an elderly gentleman and a younger guy in a suit in front of our door. "They're either from our church and want money, or they're fanatics from some sect" I think. Their very first sentence revealed the truth.

Old Guy: Morning.
Me: Morning.
Young Guy: We won't bother you for long. I just have this ... a question for you. Don't you also think that it's always of advantage to tell the truth?
Me: (thinking for a second) Well, no, actually not always.
(pause)
YG: But ... you'd certainly wish people would.
Me: Yeah, but it's not always an advantage.
YG: Uh, okay. We just have a little leavlet here for you to read.
Me: Thanks. Goodbye.

It probably would have been more fun if they had tried to defend their point. But since they made their opinion so clear, I don't have to read that leaflet titled "Do we always have to tell the truth?" since I already know what will be written in there.

(I bet they walk in pairs like that so the person opening the door can get talked to by the Witness who is closest to their age.)

***

After stumbling over this little gem from a English book for Japanese people I suddenly much less concerned about my own use of inappropriate words during lessons at school and also about my actual teaching of inappropriate words at school when planning a lesson on British slang.

(Yeah, yeah, it does involve a lot of cussing, but people really underestimate the importance of slang. Until I planned that lesson I never really understood the Orange "Bob's your uncle" ads. Slang is vital and everybody should learn slang words in SLL.)

And here is an entertaining explanation from a Russion book for English learners on how modern English even came into existence.

***

Been playing some Final Fantasy V the last few days. Nice game, and the first Final Fantasy game that made me care quite a bit about the characters.

The sisters rock. Presenting to you, Reina and Faris:

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