My new favorite word and linguistic ramblings

Anyone that knows me, knows that I'm a sponge when it comes to languages and accents. Therefore, as most of my friends here in Berlin are French, I've almost completely lost my Quebecois accent and have shifted to a more Parisian-type. So I say things like "putain" a lot instead of "fuck", and "énorme" which equates to "massive" and "major" in British English (we don't really use these in North America). As well, as a lot of our peripheral friends come from other countries of which we do not speak the language, my English is becoming increasingly broken, so as to make it easier for the listener to understand (or so I think). So I'm saying things like "How long you stay at the school, here?" or "How long do you stay in Berlin?". Ot the funniest is that I've picked up a French accent in English, saying sings like "ze School".

I am such ..... a freak.

In terms of my German, it's really progressing, which is such a relief, as I thought I'd be in Kindergarten forever. So I have a new favorite word, which is "genau", meaning "correct". So when someone is talking, and you agree with them, you say "genau" as a way of acknowledging what they are saying. However, Berliners use it to excess. So we (our clique) have started using it as a running gag, for just about anything. I tried to explain to my European friends that it's kinda like saying "that's what she said", but that just flew waaaaaayyyyy over their heads. True, without having seen "The Office", that's a hard one to appreciate.

So tonight was Stammtisch again (like every Monday) so we met a new crop of students. Looks like there's a new guy called Simone (pronounced Simoné) from Italy who will be joining us. He better learn French fast, otherwise it'll be boring for him. He's here for 2 months, so he'll join the clique.

Oh, and I got a pre-paid cell phone, which only works in for calls in Germany. That sucks, because some of my friends have a French number, so I can only text them, which is ok. I'm just using it as a way of coordinating where we meet next. In case anyone would care to call me on it (I'd prefer to use Skype or email, but sometimes, a quick hello is nice to get :-) its +49.1577.267.3692

Alright, bed time, school at 9 am in the morning.