FYI, the said customer had once asked me where I came from, what I did prior to moving to Finland, etc. So he knows that I was a book translator in Indo and that I majored in English literature. That was probably one reason why he asked me that question.
Anyway, he then said that he had written a book in Finnish - thus he wanted to know if I could translate it to English. We didn't have time to talk more that day 'coz I had other customers to serve, so we left it at that. The next time I came to work, though, I found a book in an envelope in my locker (the customer had probably given it to my coworker and told her it was for me). He wrote his name, addy, and phone number on the envelope. I was GLAD to know it wasn't a book of poetry!!!! :-D
I didn't have time to read it because of the wedding party I had to go to last week, so I only started this project this week. It IS challenging 'coz I have never translated any book into English - plus the original language is Finnish. But it's gonna be an interesting project for me. It's been years since I last translated a book (5 years ago), so we shall see how it goes. One thing is for sure...I'll use the dictionaries A LOT - including the online English dictionaries ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...Another sure thing to happen is that it's gonna be A SLOW project. :-D
P.S. One thing I love about life in a small village is that even though there aren't many "activities" and "places to go" here (no university, just a handful of foreigners) , life feels considerably simpler here and I get to meet familiar faces a lot (esp. through work). And it's nice to be able to banter with customers whose faces I remember, even though I don't necessarily know their names.
REALLY thankful for this job that allows me to meet and interact with many people...
