Ondina, I’m really glad you like the gallery. I know, it took me ages to put it up, but now I’m at least satisfied with the way it looks as Blogger does not offer an elegant solution for galleries. And oh yes, I wish I were you now as going to NY is always a great thing to do.

Bajo, there are quite a few homophones between Finnish and other languages I know. For instance there are a few Finnish names such as male name Juha and female name Rita that mean “soup” and “ass” in Slovene. Then again, the verb “See!” (imperative form) in Finnish is katso, which sounds like Italian word for “dick.” And then again Finns use the word “pussi” for “bag.” And yes, it is pronounced in the same way as English “pusy.” So there you have it, you can get yourself in trouble with these few words already. These are only a few that I can think of off the top of my head. But I’ll be on the outlook for more as I am sure there are plenty of them. I still think that Chinese offers many more opportunities to get in trouble unknowongly and with a smile on your face while doing it. So do keep practising it as we will need it :)

But both of you should ease down on your working hours. I know it’s easier said than done, but you both know you’re going overboard with it.

Have fun, and keep reading the blog.

Mladen

Another one is the Spanish word “kurba” meaning “curve” but in Slovene it gets a whole new dimension in meaning … but I’ll leave the translation part to you :) It certainly does make sentences like “Kurbe na cesti” funny for Slovene speaking Spanish people.

And not to mention the phrases, which can be quite confusing as well. “To make yourself French” means to pretend you don’t know or understand in Slovene. In Spanish, however, it’s “to make yourself Swiss”!
Unfortunately, “to make French” means to give oral sex. Imagine the face of my girlfriend’s mother when I told her that I ain’t washing the dishes because I am going to make myself French. Shit.

So, did you come across any homophones or anything like that??

Anyways, I started with my Chinese class. And I guess it is even weirder for us than Finnish, especially when you get to writing. For me, their characters (if you can call them that way) resemble hieroglyphs more than anything else and require a giant mental leap in understanding the language. Characters are not only written, for them it can also be a very sophisticated form of art. And to speak the language properly, you have to have the ear for music, because it’s all in intonation … and I’m tone-deaf.

I couldn’t read your blog in a while, I just didn’t find the time. It’s 8 p.m. and I am still at work, dammed.

Well, I’m off to study a bit more Chinese so that we can expand our traveling possibilities for our next trip. Your cryptic Finnish and mine hopeless Chinese make a perfent combination!

Take care, careful with that liver of yours and don’t forget Slovene :)

Uros