Way to the right...
I was a baby 10 years ago, or at least that’s what I felt. It’s amazing how much you change and I'm not better and I'm not worse, I’m just different, you might be thinking, of course you are different you are 10 years older and that makes you wiser… Hey!!! I know people ten years older than me and *cough* *cough* so not wiser, but I guess if I would have stayed in Venezuela, looking back today, I would be a different person “wiser” but because one little thing that happened in my life… I am where I am today, wayyyy to the right of were I would have been.
I can not write everything that I’ve done since I started working in my current company, but let’s see… nothing to be ashamed off.... just to long... 11 years!
* 10 years ago: I spoke two languages
* Now: I barely speak three
I used to speak Spanish and English pretty well, I had a nice British accent… kind off exotic if you think about it… unless, of course, you are from UK. Now my English, well… let’s just say it is corrupted, it all started when I started working for this French company… my “this” became a “thiz” and from “thiz” it transformed to a “diz” that was the beginning of the end… although I can’t complain, today it’s a mix of English accent, if I speak slowly, a touch of Scottish, very, very, very little... some American with a showing of Latin-American… I’ve been asked many times if I’m from Australia…. Me? Crazy people! they just hear it in my accent... LOL
As for my Spanish? Corrupted is a soft word, I don’t care about writing manana instead of mañana, I can say, Ayer fui to the movies without caring if I’m mixing English with Spanish, depending who I’m talking to, I will be telling them how I got into my auto, coche o carro and when I’m stuck, the words that come to my mind are in French… Me in a conversation: ... Ih it had this thing that I like? You know…. Purpleishhhh, you know? ahhhh, I can't think of the name.... come on, Aubergine! you know Aubergine right? my mum would then jump in and say, don’t be ridiculous or show off! I’m sorry Mum, but I promise, it’s not on purpose.
As for my French? Yes, there is French now, came from nowhere, well, I’m not that smart, but I took 2hrs a week for 1 month, I learned Je suis, Tu est, il est, nous somme, etc, etc, or whatever, three or four verbs, avoir, pouvir or however you spell them, oh, I learned to count, yes, you learn all over again how to count, days of the week, months, je suis venezuelienne and of I went… into the world and tried to speak French, I would use Spanish words and speak them with a french accent, if I saw my friends faces like they understood what I said, great! I passed if they didn’t then I would look for a word until they got it… although still today I find myself saying, c’est pas mon culpe and me finding out after many years of using this phrase every day that it’s not used and the correct way is c’est pas mon faut or however you write it, I never learned to write French.
* 10 years ago: I had no idea what was the difference between a good wine or a white wine, even worse, between red and white, if I closed my eyes and tasted both no idea on the difference.
* Now: Bring on the wine!!!! Red, White, Rose, Bordeaux, Rioja, Cabernet Sauvignon and the best of this? I did it without turning into a snob wine taster :D
Although I won’t lie, that’s how I feel when I’m asked to taste the wine, it still terrifies me, do I really know what I’m doing? How do I look : - D Ok, I shouldn’t care about that, but I do…
Btw, it’s raining outside, just in case you are curious….
Getting more real…
* 10 years ago: I judged people, not knowingly, but I did.
* Now: I really try not to.
I remember my first year in Madrid, I went into an elevator and full of people, I said good morning and everybody looked at me like “How dare you bother me with your good morning” I mean, in Venezuela, how dare you go in an elevator in the morning and not say good morning! You are rude, but in Madrid, actually doing it you were being rude, because I was bothering them and making them talk to me when they really didn’t want to or care, with time I learned that they were not being rude, although by my Venezuelan standards they were, they were just being Madrileño (btw, I have a Spanish friend, that would make my life miserable if I did not put the ~ on top of the “n” and he could be reading this… Hey, do you know how much time it takes me to right the thingy on top of the “n”! ) but well, they were just being what they are, it was funny years later when I moved to Mexico, people would walk in an elevator and say good morning and I would be, Who Cares!!!!! But again, seriously, we are all different, different upbringings, different ways of showing happiness, love, of caring about each other, even in the same country, in the same town, it is most likely that your neighbors didn’t have your same parents (actually, I could bet 1 Million Dollars on that ;-) ) and that makes them different, they will pick up the fork and knife in a different way and who are you to judge if they are right or wrong?
* 10 Years ago: I knew the phrases, “that’s impossible”, “I could never do that”, “It’s a dream” or “That would never happen to me, it’s so far, far, far away”
* Now: What? Are those Russian words of 10 years ago? I don’t speak Russian!
OK, I know it sounds cheesy, but it’s true… living in Venezuela, you see so many things from far away… going to Europe? Please….. you had to be pretty, hmmmmm, how do I say it? Well, basically you had to win the lottery to have the money to take a plane and go to Europe, it was not accessible to everybody and it still not is, traveling the world is something that was not easy to do of course you could do some travel in Venezuela, but it was still expensive, actually in a way, it was easier to just take a plan and spend the weekend in Miami, I don’t think that I have to make the point of where I am today compared to 10 years ago, not only am I lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit many countries but I’m just waiting for Jorge to call me and tell me that he got the tickets for the Real Madrid – Barcelona and I will take a plane ticket just to go to Madrid for the weekend.
There was a time in my life, once again in Venezuela, were I would be watching European football every Sunday morning, it was the best, Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, Inter vs. Juventus or the Champion League, Manchester United vs. Bayern Munich, that was just the best, but again, it was so far, far, far, far, far, far away…
I remember in 1982, I was watching the World Cup final Italy vs. Germany and there was this young player Lothar Matheus, it was love a first sight! I won’t lie… I followed all his career since then, while he was in Bayern Munich, then he went to Inter de Milan, then he went back to Bayern de Munich, if by know you know me… he was one of my obsessions… it was my dream to see him play no lets jump 16 years into the future, silly, not our future, I have no idea what’s going to happen in 2023!!!! The future for 1982 and there I am, 1998, working in my office in Madrid, late in the evening and thinking that I had to get home to watch the match, Real Madrid vs. Bayern Munich, it was Matheus’s last international game before he retired, the game before his last, the next one was the following week in Germany, with the Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid and again, I’m sitting in my office thinking that I have to get back home and how sorry I was that I would never see him play, when I suddenly realize that I work 5 blocks away from the Bernabeu, I ran out of the office, got in a Taxi went to the stadium with my fingers crossed and asked for the best available ticket that they had, if I was going to be there I wanted to BE there…. I was in Row 5 in the center of the stadium, not only could I see him, hear him, I would have touched him, I could not stop smiling all the game, I was in heaven! And not only that, but I didn’t need heaven to come to me, I did it all on my own… of course with some help, of the cosmic type, me being moved to Spain, at that moment, office being close to stadium, Champion’s League drawing and then games have Madrid and Munich play when Matheus is about to retire…. But I don’t care; I was there, to enjoy the moment and to learn that things are possible you just need a push to make it happen and it’s up to you, OK, by now I hope you all have handkerchiefs in your hands.
All of these things have changed me, there are also many more but all these experiences I have lived because I joined a company that I did not want to work for and my boss didn’t want to hire me for… and here we are… 11 years later, on March 1st I started working for Gemplus, I’ve had so many happy moments, that if I start I couldn’t stop… also today, in North America, Gemplus exists no more, we are now legally Gemalto Inc. I wonder where is this going to take me…
Physically I’m about 2,000 miles north from where I would have been if I had stayed and emotionally, I’m wayyyyy, way, way, to the right of the point I would have been if I stayed, but like far, far, far away…
I can not write everything that I’ve done since I started working in my current company, but let’s see… nothing to be ashamed off.... just to long... 11 years!
* 10 years ago: I spoke two languages
* Now: I barely speak three
I used to speak Spanish and English pretty well, I had a nice British accent… kind off exotic if you think about it… unless, of course, you are from UK. Now my English, well… let’s just say it is corrupted, it all started when I started working for this French company… my “this” became a “thiz” and from “thiz” it transformed to a “diz” that was the beginning of the end… although I can’t complain, today it’s a mix of English accent, if I speak slowly, a touch of Scottish, very, very, very little... some American with a showing of Latin-American… I’ve been asked many times if I’m from Australia…. Me? Crazy people! they just hear it in my accent... LOL
As for my Spanish? Corrupted is a soft word, I don’t care about writing manana instead of mañana, I can say, Ayer fui to the movies without caring if I’m mixing English with Spanish, depending who I’m talking to, I will be telling them how I got into my auto, coche o carro and when I’m stuck, the words that come to my mind are in French… Me in a conversation: ... Ih it had this thing that I like? You know…. Purpleishhhh, you know? ahhhh, I can't think of the name.... come on, Aubergine! you know Aubergine right? my mum would then jump in and say, don’t be ridiculous or show off! I’m sorry Mum, but I promise, it’s not on purpose.
As for my French? Yes, there is French now, came from nowhere, well, I’m not that smart, but I took 2hrs a week for 1 month, I learned Je suis, Tu est, il est, nous somme, etc, etc, or whatever, three or four verbs, avoir, pouvir or however you spell them, oh, I learned to count, yes, you learn all over again how to count, days of the week, months, je suis venezuelienne and of I went… into the world and tried to speak French, I would use Spanish words and speak them with a french accent, if I saw my friends faces like they understood what I said, great! I passed if they didn’t then I would look for a word until they got it… although still today I find myself saying, c’est pas mon culpe and me finding out after many years of using this phrase every day that it’s not used and the correct way is c’est pas mon faut or however you write it, I never learned to write French.
* 10 years ago: I had no idea what was the difference between a good wine or a white wine, even worse, between red and white, if I closed my eyes and tasted both no idea on the difference.
* Now: Bring on the wine!!!! Red, White, Rose, Bordeaux, Rioja, Cabernet Sauvignon and the best of this? I did it without turning into a snob wine taster :D
Although I won’t lie, that’s how I feel when I’m asked to taste the wine, it still terrifies me, do I really know what I’m doing? How do I look : - D Ok, I shouldn’t care about that, but I do…
Btw, it’s raining outside, just in case you are curious….
Getting more real…
* 10 years ago: I judged people, not knowingly, but I did.
* Now: I really try not to.
I remember my first year in Madrid, I went into an elevator and full of people, I said good morning and everybody looked at me like “How dare you bother me with your good morning” I mean, in Venezuela, how dare you go in an elevator in the morning and not say good morning! You are rude, but in Madrid, actually doing it you were being rude, because I was bothering them and making them talk to me when they really didn’t want to or care, with time I learned that they were not being rude, although by my Venezuelan standards they were, they were just being Madrileño (btw, I have a Spanish friend, that would make my life miserable if I did not put the ~ on top of the “n” and he could be reading this… Hey, do you know how much time it takes me to right the thingy on top of the “n”! ) but well, they were just being what they are, it was funny years later when I moved to Mexico, people would walk in an elevator and say good morning and I would be, Who Cares!!!!! But again, seriously, we are all different, different upbringings, different ways of showing happiness, love, of caring about each other, even in the same country, in the same town, it is most likely that your neighbors didn’t have your same parents (actually, I could bet 1 Million Dollars on that ;-) ) and that makes them different, they will pick up the fork and knife in a different way and who are you to judge if they are right or wrong?
* 10 Years ago: I knew the phrases, “that’s impossible”, “I could never do that”, “It’s a dream” or “That would never happen to me, it’s so far, far, far away”
* Now: What? Are those Russian words of 10 years ago? I don’t speak Russian!
OK, I know it sounds cheesy, but it’s true… living in Venezuela, you see so many things from far away… going to Europe? Please….. you had to be pretty, hmmmmm, how do I say it? Well, basically you had to win the lottery to have the money to take a plane and go to Europe, it was not accessible to everybody and it still not is, traveling the world is something that was not easy to do of course you could do some travel in Venezuela, but it was still expensive, actually in a way, it was easier to just take a plan and spend the weekend in Miami, I don’t think that I have to make the point of where I am today compared to 10 years ago, not only am I lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit many countries but I’m just waiting for Jorge to call me and tell me that he got the tickets for the Real Madrid – Barcelona and I will take a plane ticket just to go to Madrid for the weekend.
There was a time in my life, once again in Venezuela, were I would be watching European football every Sunday morning, it was the best, Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, Inter vs. Juventus or the Champion League, Manchester United vs. Bayern Munich, that was just the best, but again, it was so far, far, far, far, far, far away…
I remember in 1982, I was watching the World Cup final Italy vs. Germany and there was this young player Lothar Matheus, it was love a first sight! I won’t lie… I followed all his career since then, while he was in Bayern Munich, then he went to Inter de Milan, then he went back to Bayern de Munich, if by know you know me… he was one of my obsessions… it was my dream to see him play no lets jump 16 years into the future, silly, not our future, I have no idea what’s going to happen in 2023!!!! The future for 1982 and there I am, 1998, working in my office in Madrid, late in the evening and thinking that I had to get home to watch the match, Real Madrid vs. Bayern Munich, it was Matheus’s last international game before he retired, the game before his last, the next one was the following week in Germany, with the Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid and again, I’m sitting in my office thinking that I have to get back home and how sorry I was that I would never see him play, when I suddenly realize that I work 5 blocks away from the Bernabeu, I ran out of the office, got in a Taxi went to the stadium with my fingers crossed and asked for the best available ticket that they had, if I was going to be there I wanted to BE there…. I was in Row 5 in the center of the stadium, not only could I see him, hear him, I would have touched him, I could not stop smiling all the game, I was in heaven! And not only that, but I didn’t need heaven to come to me, I did it all on my own… of course with some help, of the cosmic type, me being moved to Spain, at that moment, office being close to stadium, Champion’s League drawing and then games have Madrid and Munich play when Matheus is about to retire…. But I don’t care; I was there, to enjoy the moment and to learn that things are possible you just need a push to make it happen and it’s up to you, OK, by now I hope you all have handkerchiefs in your hands.
All of these things have changed me, there are also many more but all these experiences I have lived because I joined a company that I did not want to work for and my boss didn’t want to hire me for… and here we are… 11 years later, on March 1st I started working for Gemplus, I’ve had so many happy moments, that if I start I couldn’t stop… also today, in North America, Gemplus exists no more, we are now legally Gemalto Inc. I wonder where is this going to take me…
Physically I’m about 2,000 miles north from where I would have been if I had stayed and emotionally, I’m wayyyyy, way, way, to the right of the point I would have been if I stayed, but like far, far, far away…
Comments
All the time you spent to write "ñ" in mañana should be considered a good investment as it signifies the difference between a correct word and something just meaning nothing. Could you imagine saying the word "year" translated in Spanish without ñ ?
;-)
Cheers,
Cmdr Vimes
I have one thing to say to you : don't worry abotu your french !!! it's great and we almost understand everything ;)
I've always hated writing the ñ and more now than ever because my keyboard doesn'ta have any !! :p
anyway glad you followed the path you followed and I'm curious to see where you are in 10 years ;)
((((((((((hugs))))))))))
As for my french, whenever I tried to speak it in Paris, they'd always answer me in english. Which is probably just as well...