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| angel_bob (profile) wrote, on 5-30-2009 at 11:57pm | |
| so. At NewJob this week, we actually had to do some work. We had to call up hotels and supply them with credit card info for some guests. The reasoning is really boring and lame. Of course, we got assigned hotels that speak our language. Ug ug. So I call up a hotel and the guy has no idea what I'm getting at. He cannot understand my French. (It was pretty terrible. My first call, haven't spoken French in ages, super nervous etc.) Anyway, he can't find the reservation and puts me on hold for long enough that I begin to think he's trying to get rid of me. He comes back finally and I tell him I have the reservation number if he wants to look it up by that. Sure, he says, let's try that. I read the number (which of course has to be nine numbers long, three sets of three. It can't just be three numbers.) and he repeats it back to me. "Cent vingt neuf. Trois cent quarante cinq..." He can't understand quarante of all numbers. Okay, "un deux neuf. Trois quatre cinq." He's with me so far. Thank goodness. This isn't that bad after all! "Un six neuf." He repeats it back to me: "un huit neuf." Oh no. Please don't do this to me. I know my French sucks but SIX (6) sounds nothing like HUIT (8). Kids, six sounds like "cease." It is nowhere near huit which sounds like "wheat". It had to have been a phone problem because I was clearly saying CEASE. NOT WHEAT. "Pas huit...six." "Huit." "Six." "Huit. Un huit neuf." "SIX! SIX!" "Huit." Sure whatever. Huit. I don't care anymore. He's never going to find the person anyway. So he can't find the reservation and finally we both give up. He says he found it and has the credit card number and I can't/don't want to fight with him. I au revoir him and move on. Next guy I call up can't understand me either. He switches to English. And I'm all, whatever, I love English. It's my native language. So I get it done in English and call the next one. Who also switches to English. Then I call the next one. Who ends up getting upset that I said his fax machine wasn't working. I am sorry but it wasn't. He also switches to English but doesn't speak good English so we're doing a half and half thing and he calms down. He flirts with me and invites me to Corsica because the weather is wonderful. Everything ends up going well and he finds everything and I'm done. I remember to get his name: Philippe. The moral of the story: my French is terrible. Then last week, I end up fighting with Hope girl because I hate French people and French and she's all why'd you apply for the job then and I'm all for the thousandth time, they found me. And it turns out she's dating a French guy and gets all defensive and it's awful. Oh and she's one of those uptight controlling people. And I'm the exact opposite. You know me, I'm completely chill. It's not going to kill me so I don't care. Anyway things are crazy. I wouldn't be able to survive it if my class and my trainers weren't so awesome. My training class: A Bosnian girl who speaks German - from southern Bosnia (very little accent) A mother-son team of Brazilians who speak Portugese - the mother is so adorable, I love her. The older women all have a crush on the son. (adorable accents) A British guy from Gibraltar who speaks French and Spanish - taught English in Paris for 10 years (British accent) A brother-sister team who speak German - lived in Germany for 3 years and speak Croatian because they lived there too (no accent as they are awesome Americans) A Dominican woman who speaks Spanish - will talk your ear off if you let her (no accent as she's lived here forever) Hope French girl - very nice but not my type (no accent - American) A Chinese guy who speaks...Chinese - he met his wife when he was a tour guide in Beijing and moved here to marry her (Asian accent) A Mexican kid who speaks Spanish - he is very quiet and went to AQ (very little accent) A Bosnian guy who speaks German - from northern Bosnia. He has a six month old daughter and is so witty and hilarious that he makes the class. (no accent at all. If I had guessed before I knew his background, I would have said he was straight up American.) A Puerto Rican woman who speaks Spanish - very witty and sassy. (no accent, been here forever) Immediately great friends with... The Dutch woman who speaks...Dutch. - another sassy one. (no accent as she moved here when she was 12.) A girl who speaks Italian - snarky, funny-mean. (no accent - American) Another girl who speaks Italian - her family is Italian and owns a restaurant down on 68th. (no accent - American) |
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michellestar | 05-31-09 6:33am hahahaha that story made me laugh out loud. SIX! HUIT!
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threshershark | 06-02-09 10:30am I didn't know the person you said was hope girl, but uptight and controlling pretty much describes the lot of them. My parents wonder why I stayed single all through college :( |
andy | 06-04-09 7:46pm Good luck on your test (it was a test right?) this weekend! Have safe travels as well. |