About 10 days ago I went for a walk along a beach and now, this beach is not touristy at all. In fact it's mainly only locals who go there (and I'm not a local either) but whilst I was in the carpark I came across 4 young people and a van, and I wouldn't have given them a second glance if it wasn't for the tiny French flag embroidered on the polo top of one of the guys and I sort of surreptitiously eavesdropped and yep, they were all speaking in French.
Then, 2 days later, last Saturday, when I had just finished my first class at Alliance Francaise I was in the bakery department of a big supermarket (Woolworths) in the city when I overheard a (loud) conversation a girl was having on her mobile phone. I could hear "pain au chocolat" and "pain" this and "pain" that. She was obviously pointing out what was on the shelves and asking the other person what he/she wanted.
And today... when I'm in the city I seem to come across French people all the time and hear it being spoken on the footpaths and in shops and everywhere!
I already had a mini-lunch during the break in my class today but I was still hungry and decided to have a late lunch after the class. (I should mention that it was over 40 degrees today and I wanted to do anything to stay indoors in the air conditioning!)
Actually, I wandered into a food court only to use their bathrooms but then decided to stay and 'chill out' (haha) and get something to eat. I got a sushi box which was perfect. Small and light and fresh.
I plonked myself down at the only remaining space at a table designed for 8 (but there were only 7 chairs). As I was eating my sushi I couldn't help but eavesdrop on the conversation of those around me. At the other end of the table I saw two Asian looking females, about my age, speaking French. I couldn't make out what they were saying (because there was too much background noise) but it was definitely French. They were probably Vietnamese I told myself ;)
Then, right next to me were two young girls (who worked for the store I was in) speaking in English... nothing strange about that but one of them had a very strong accent and after hearing only a few sentences I was 99% sure she was French. When the other girl left to get both of them something else to eat, I couldn't help but be a little bit nosey and strike up a conversation with her.
I asked her if she was French (she was ;) ) and I told her I just finished my class at the AF. Then after her friend came back we all chatted for a bit and had a jolly good time until they both had to get back to work. In hindsight I should've had the conversation with her in French but the heat and lack of sleep from the week past was doing bad things to my brain...
I know this may sound weird but I actually love talking to strangers! (and I have no fear whatsoever of doing so). I always get a massive high from it, no matter who they are.. shape, size, age, race, sex... It's so fascinating to connect with people in this seemingly disconnected world and find out about others. There is a great tv series in Australia called Front Up where the host goes through streets all over Australia to interview random people for a few minutes and it's really fascinating hearing about other people's lives and their view of the world...
Then in other (unrelated news) whilst I was in a lift, I bumped into an old high school friend I hadn't seen since.. er... high school, 15 years ago!
It was a very interesting (and extremely hot) day to say the least.
(excuse me for the picture.. hahaha)
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