Have returned to De Talak, of course. Only a single familiar face here: this one shopping-addicted Korean girl. She never returns my ever-friendly greetings (it’s become something of an interesting challenge by this point); but is always here when I arrive. So I think she may be a spy.
Anyway, meeting many interesting new folks; including three Frenchmen of (I’m guessing) North African descent. Tonight, I was listening to them converse with a white-skinned Frenchman. He also speaks Thai, and had been helping to translate between Rata and the other three as they tried to determine whether to arrive to the airport via taxi-cab or subway/skytrain. This was an hilarious scene unto itself; but I shan’t be going into specifics.
However!, the coolest event happened. There I was listening to the conversation; not really able to follow along, but able to recall from those long-lost three years of high-school French quite a few words. Pretty typical. In point of fact, I did even manage to correct one of them that it’s Spain, not Italy, who’s playing Croatia tonight in the Euros.
So, they’re talking along, and somehow the subject of NATO came up. After a bit of confusion in re the matter of discussion then being raised, one of the three North Africans clarified, “Ah! O-T-A-N. OTAN.” Which of course set me squealing with delight, as I’d never before heard reference to the European spelling; outside of that quite-funny scene in Whit Stillman’s Barcelona. You remember the one…
Viva way-unexpected “OTAN” reference, and viva Whit Stillman. But most of all, viva De Talak for making it happen!