Every now and then at work we have Russian customers/tourists. I assume they have their own business there because many of them buy so much stuff (good for my workplace, hey! :-D). However, it can also be challenging to communicate with them, especially if they're the older types because they don't speak any English. Sometimes some of them speak a little Finnish, but sometimes not.
The other week I had these encounters.
I've finished serving a woman who bought tons of stuff. I remember that she bought 15 big packs of chocolate powder (to make chocolate drink). She started packing her stuff because she wanted to get tax refund, so my other coworker was dealing with that while I stayed behind the till. Once she had finished packing, my coworker asked me if I could refund some money to her. It was as if I had counted the chocolate powder packs wrongly. The customer had packed everything up in many bags except for 10 packs of chocolate powder.
We tried to communicate in English, but to no avail. My coworker was confused and so was I, because I felt that I had counted them right. Mind you, all the bags were tied up, so it would have been too hard to open all of them up just to count the chocolate powder packs. Yet the customer kept on pointing towards the 10 packs of chocolate powder that she had left on next table. My coworker again asked me if I had counted the chocolate powder packs wrongly, but I said I remembered there were 15 of them and the customer must have put 5 of them in one of the bags.
Then it hit me!!!! She wanted to return the 10 packs of chocolate powder packs because she probably thought 5 would have been enough. So I said to her with big gestures, "So you don't want these 10 packs?"
Then she replied, "Yes, yesss, don't wanttt..." (pointing to the 10 packs on the table).
HALLELUJAH!!!! Finally we were progressing. My coworker wasn't able to start processing the tax refund if this matter wasn't sorted, so I returned some money to her and then it was all settled. Phew!
glitter-graphics.com
Anyway, that same day not long after the above incident, a Russian man came over to my friend who was behind the till. He had a tub of yoghurt in his hand and he asked my friend something in broken English. My friend didn't understand what he wanted, so I decided to follow him.
He pointed to the tub of yoghurt and asked, "Three?"
I thought he wanted to buy three tubs of yoghurt, but there was none left on the shelf, so I told him I'd come with him.
When I reached the spot, I realized that there were still plenty of yoghurt left. Then he asked again, "Three? Banana, vanilla?"
I thought he wanted me to read out loud the different kinds of flavors that was available in English, so I started naming them out loud.
He shook his head and said, "No, no, three...banana, vanilla...Do you have at the back?"
After we did this a few times, I finally realized what he wanted. He wanted three kinds of flavors in each tub of yohgurt, so I told him, "Ahhhh...you want three flavors for each of them. No, no, unfortunately we don't have it. These are the only options available."
He asked again, "You don't have at the back?" (he meant in the warehouse)
I replied, "No, no. Just these."
Then the woman who was with him said something in Russian that I assumed meant, "It's OK. Just take some. These are fine, too."
It felt GOOD to finally be able to decipher what he wanted he he he he...
1. Telling hubby that I was checking out his sexy behind (ahem) when he was doing something inside our classroom HO HO HO HO HO HO HO...I CAN'T HELP IT (and I don't want to)!!! *GRIN*
2. My teacher showed me a pic of her son and told us that he was 30 years old. I told her, "He's the same age as I am!"
Then she jokingly said, "Oh, really? I thought you were 16!"
HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO...Yes, thank you very much, being told that made me HAPPY HA HA HA HA HA...
3. Resisting temptation to eat snack late at night and preferred to eat yoghurt instead he he he...
4. Coming home early from the trip to SGO and having plenty of time to take a nap, which I TRULY needed.
5. Anticipating a LONG holiday this week PLUS going to spend a night at my in-laws again HO HO HO HO HO HO...
6. Writing this post using draft.blogger.com so that I can spread my posts into different days. THANK YOU, blogger draft! ;-D
1. Hubby saying to me "I'm sick for you so that you don't have to be sick" when he got a slight fever again and his nose started to be runny again.
2. Feeding hubby yoghurt and apple while he was gaming online (not the same night!) and hearing him thank me. *grin*
3. Getting the job training contract today. YIPPIIEEEEEEE!!!! ;-D
4. Hubby holding my fingers weirdly last night (he wasn't holding my hand, but my fingers). I didn't realize at first that he was doing that to WARM up my fingers since they felt cool to him, even though I wasn't really feeling cold. Still the gesture was SO nice. *BIG GRIN again*
5. Finding cheap teenage books in Finnish at a flea market. Bought two just to practise reading Finnish HO HO HO HO HO HO...
6. Finding cheap (new) woolen socks at the same flea markets. At the other flea market, the cheapest ones I found cost €10, but at this flea market, they only cost €3.50 HUA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...ME HAPPY, SO VERY HAPPY!!! And the colours are SO nice as well...light yellow and blue HO HO HO HO HO HO HO...
7. Hearing nice, positive things from different people he he he he he...
8. Tuna puff pastry, hot from the oven. YUM YUM!!!!
9. Found moose meat on a BIG discount HUE HE HE HE HE HE...
10. Feeling the sun warming up my face and back...mmmmmmm...
1. Hearing news about the full-time Finnish course starting February 4th until July 10th and the possibility of getting some money as a full-time student (don't know yet how much I can get, but IF I can save enough to buy a plane ticket to Indonesia, then I may be coming home at the end of this year!!!)
2. VERY tender duck. YUM, YUM!!! Never tasted duck that tender even though the duck was obviously HUGE (the ones I had in Indonesia were so small compared to this one).
3. Hubby didn't complain when he had to go back to the kitchen to turn off the light as I had forgotten to do so. I said to him that I was already warm under the blanket, so I didn't want to go to the kitchen. You're SO WONDERFUL, Hubby!!!! ;-D
4. Planting my eyes right above his so that all we could see was each other's blurry eyes and then giggled together HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...
5. Hubby getting me some yoghurt as he was about to get some while we were watching a movie, so I didn't have to get up and get it myself. I felt like a princess HA HA HA HA HA...
6. Watching a full moon above the apartment building across the street. Very beautiful!!!
So many things to say, so little time...so let me just try to write this post quickly.
1. Watched Evan Almighty last night. Here are my fave quotes from the movie:"How do you change the world? By doing one act of random kindness at a time.""If you ask God for patience, do you think He will give it to you just like that or do you think He will give you the OPPORTUNITY to be patient?""If you ask God that your family be closer, do you think He will give it to you just like that or do you think He will give you the OPPORTUNITY to be closer to your family?"I must say that the movie has some touching moments and funny moments. It isn't TOO funny, but still it's not too bad he he he...
2. The other day I chatted with a friend of mine. She said that she was stuck between a couple. Both parties trusted her and told her about their relationship problems. However, they wouldn't talk about it to each other...at least not yet. My friend's got a dizzy head now 'coz she can't possibly tell on each other's TRUE feelings, as it means she's betraying their trust. I wonder why do people do that? I'm not talking about your partner's idiosyncracies or annoying habits. It's a risk you have to take for being together with someone and you know as well that the other person'll have to handle your idiosyncracies. I'm talking about serious problems that NEED to be solved. If they're not solved, then the relationship will be sour or the problems'll pile up and there will be an explosion sooner or later. Back in Indo, my Mom's also in the same position. Her brother told her about his marriage problems, and then his wife also told her about the same problems from her point of view. Mom tried to give advice to each one of them gently so that they could talk things through. However, none of them was willing to do it. Each of them pointed fingers at each other, saying that the other wouldn't listen to them, anyway. Why should it be that way? I know that sometimes you have your guard up and the other person also has his/her guard up, but shouldn't they TRY to do something to save the relationship other than just vent to a third party? Shouldn't they TRY to do something to save the relationship AFTER they seek for advice or suggestion from a third party?I posted this discussion on MyLot (I've been trying to make some money online by going to MyLot), and it seems there are various reasons. These are the things they said hindered the couple from talking things through:1. Ego.2. They don't really want to try to solve the problems. They just need someone so that they can vent their emotion.3. Fear of confrontation or hurting the other person's feelings.4. Sometimes in a relationship there comes a point when talking is unbearable. (Gee, I sure do WISH it won't happen to us!!!)5. Fear of not being listened to. Oh well...I know a relationship is HARD WORK, but if you're not even trying to make it work, what good things can you expect from it???
3. To all mothers out there, I have a question for you: What are the hardest things in motherhood based on your personal experiences?
;-D You can either tell me here or write a post in your blog he he he he...I'm just curious 'coz I'm not a mother yet, but I want to know what a mother thinks or feels.
OK, time for me to go to the supermarket. I'm planning to make my own pizza from scratch, so it's gonna take A LONG time ha ha ha ha...
Before I forget, let me just add this quick list of 3BT (Weekend Wrap):
1. Sunny weather without a single cloud in the sky on Saturday.
2. Playing cards with my mother-in-law, hubby, and mother-in-law's sister and I LOST HA HA HA HA HA HA...
3. Making my mother-in-law and her sister laugh by (almost) forgetting to take my bag when we were going back home hi hi hi hi...Boy, I'm SO forgetful these days!!!
4. Hiding my hubby's yoghurt while he wasn't looking HI HI HI HI...We were preparing to watch a movie and then he realized that his yoghurt cup was gone HI HI HI HI...
5. Though hubby pretended to sulk for a little while (he refused to share his yoghurt with me), after he was done, he went to the fridge in the middle of the movie and poured me some yoghurt after all. YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!
6. The smell of strawberry and banana wafting to my nostrils whenever I opened my fridge door. Heaven!!!!
1. Talking to my Mom via Skype and hearing her laugh. Listening to her stories again made me feel OH, SO VERY VERY GOOD! ;-D I LOVE listening to her stories he he he...2. Seeing the fallen leaves dance with the wind. It was a BEAUTIFUL dance!!!3. Receiving some pics of my Mom and relatives from my cousin. My Mom went to a wedding party of her uncle or something in Jakarta with her sisters and brother and my cousin. She said they had a WONDERFUL time as she spent a night at her niece's place and they dined out together. Here's the pic. (Since my family don't have a digital camera, this is the first time I've seen my Mom's pic since I left Indonesia!!!!) 
Left to Right: Mom's eldest sister, Mom (the shortest), Mom's second eldest sister and her daughter (my cousin). I MISS THEM ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4. Imagining the taste of berry yoghurt. I just bought some HE HE HE HE...YUM YUM!!! ;-D
