Meester Sweese....

Nat: Who’s that guy over there signing autographs?
Nadia: I don’t know.
Nat: He was doing a t.v. interview earlier. Maybe he’s famous.
Nadia: He is, how you say, good looking.
Nat: Yeah in English we say “Hunky” you should use that word. It’s appropriate and not in the least out of date.
Nadia: He is hunky.
Nat: Perfect. Maybe we should get our picture with him.
Nadia: YES! ***Turns out this is “Mr. Swiss”. Or as Nadia pronounces it “Meester Sweese”.
http://www.misterschweiz.ch/
Hahahahahahahahaha....... 

Journey into the madness of my mind

Yesterday I almost went insane.

It started like any normal Saturday. I got it in my head that I wanted to make 80 homemade perogies for the YAGs poker night and for “Interns Thanksgiving: the American sequel”. I even remarkably found cheddar cheese (it’s white…. Not orange here and you have to ask for it over the counter like it’s an overdoseable drug).
Overdose I didn’t but the trickier part was finding bacon. Somewhere along the long line of perogy makers in my family, the addition of tossing bacon pieces on top of the cooked perogies became a vital step. So I’m searching around Manor (giant grocery store below a giant department store) and I finally find something that in my mind resembles bacon.
By 2:00pm the perogy factory that was my kitchen was fully committed. I am (brace yourself for a cliché) covered in flour and I can hear my mom’s voice in my head “Stop eating the filling!”
I am rounding the corner of completion and slicing up my bacon substitute and I was a little confused at why it was so hard to slice. I look at the package and realize, “I never even checked if this was ham.”
Suddenly my mind explodes and like a blurry montage/dream sequence from a movie I see the word “Chevallier” on the package. “Chevallier??? Doesn’t that mean horse?! Or is it cheveux? Or is that hair?” I just remember in grade 7 Madame Bowman laughed at me when I said that ‘my horse is long and blonde’ but I never figured out which one I used wrongly. I scream aloud. This was a little more expensive then usual and you can totally buy horse meat everywhere here! I scan the package for something ham-like and all I see is a pasture and a slice of meat. Panicking I see the term “Jambon de Bayonne” and I KNOW that Jambon is ham because I order jambon sandwiches all the time! But! A terrifying thought crosses my mind, what if Jambon de Bayonne is like a “Chicken of the sea” tuna scenario and it stands for “Ham of the pasture!” or “Ham of the racetracks!”

I CAN’T FEED MY FRIENDS HORSE MEAT! What’s more, I CAN’T HAVE JUST STUCK A PILE OF HORSE MEAT IN MY MOUTH BEFORE THIS EPISODE BEGAN!

As frightening images of Toby McGuire in Seabiscuit fly through my head I blast to my laptop and start typing in every word on the package: Grand Affineur, A sauveterre de bearn, Chevallier NOTHING!……. Finally, in size 5 font at the bottom I see “Ingredients: Jambon de porc, sel des Saline”. Porc. Porc. PORK. PIG! NOT HORSE! VICTORY!

I have since learned that Bayonne is the region that the meat comes from. You can learn more about the product that caused me seven minutes of agonizing pain and heart-racing terror here: http://www.jambon-de-bayonne.com/boutique/en/pages/histoire.htm

Oh, and I'm signing up for french lessons this week.

Dublin! More like "FUN- blin"...... Natalie don't make puns.

Dublin!

The grass is always greener….. but seriously, in Dublin it’s actually greener, I think they may use chemicals.

My friend Aaron and I went to Dublin for 4 days. I like Ireland. I like the fact that the Irish, like me, enjoy the colour green and have short tempers. I like the way Irish children are completely incomprehensible, the way that people say “Emmm” instead of “Ummm” and the way that there are so many moments where someone would say something to me and I thought it was another language:

"Wug je lie yer lat far her er ta gooo?"

I just stare back like an idiot as my brain churns then finally realize after about 10 seconds that it was English and the leprechaun was just asking me if I'd like my latte to go....

Traveling with another designer is fun plus many moments of “Oh my goodness, is that Comic Sans on that bus?” “It totally is!!! What were they thinking??”

We managed to mix “culture” and “fun”. Some highlights included:

1. Took a bus tour through Wicklow country and beyond and got to see where Braveheart was filmed and drink whiskey on a cliff over looking the Guinness master’s property! (The wind was INSANE and our tour guide told us that the day before, some women was blown off a similar cliff 700 feet to her death so whatever you do “Doon oopen yer u’brella”)
2. Drank my first pint of Guinness on the roof of the Guinness factory with a 360 degree view of Dublin.
3. Enjoyed all that Temple Bar had to offer (AMAZING district FILLED with art and music and fantastic food).
4. Saw my brother play rugby with the Canada team and they all played SO well!!!!! GO NUMBER 6!!! “Did your brother just start a fight with that guy” “That guy totally deserved it.”
5. Saw the homes of Bono, Enya, and Val Halen. (Do you suppose they have potlucks?)
6. Toured ancient graves and an old monastery. (So beautiful)
7. We saw an Irish play (called “This is not a life”)
8. Saw Borat (which was disappointing……. Pause…… NOT!).

Pictures coming soon. Note: Susan I found a pub called Bodkins!