September Twilight

A great day. After class I headed into town for lunch at a Pakistani place with friends Stefano and Farah; then book shopping, some errands, and a veg sub for dinner at NYPD Pizza (I used to eat there several times a week before we moved to another part of town).

I wanted to share a little "failure to communicate" dialogue from one of the oral tests I gave today. "September" is a sweetheart, but there was a little pronunciation problem (and a dense teacher):

James: September, do you ever watch English movies?

September: Yes!

James: What's your favorite movie in English?

September: Twelfth Night.

James: Really? You like Shakespeare?

September: Yes. It...no, wait, no Shakespeare... About a man, I don't know how to say English, he eats the blued [rhymes with "food"]

James: Eats blood... Vampire... Oh, Twilight?!

September: Yes, yes. The man is very handsome and romantic.

James: But he drinks blood!

September: Unh. [means "yes" and maybe "so what?"]...

My fault. I should have remembered that many Chinese speakers of English have an L/N confusion. She probably said "Twy Night" (like two distinct words) and my old English-teacher brain jumped to Shakespeare. Poor kid. Overall she did OK.

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This is what was published today:

• 365 Secrets of Happiness: Wait (it's gonna change...)
• At the Feet of Sri Ramakrishna: One Man, Many Relationships (more beautiful similes for the multiplicity of God)
• Meatless/Mooless Monday: Meatless Monday Recipes (from the kitchen of a Facebook friend)
• The Rest of Asia: Prayer Room, Hong Kong International Airport (a quiet room in a busy place)