there are many moments in life, where i feel as if i am either 1. in a movie, or 2. having a moment that will be included in my novel one day. today happened to be novel worthy i suppose, for it had to do with a cup of coffee and a plumber.
now i could keep a conversation going with just about anyone, and usually end up talking someone's ears off...in english. the swedish language, though, brings "socially awkward" to entirely new level. picture this: group of friends that bring a new girl around. the new girl introduces herself and says where's she's from. adn then that's it, she just stands there the rest of the time staring at everyone. if someone tries to ask a question, you only get a "yes" or a "no," and you go home thinking, "sheesh, that new girl was weird." well, that's usually me in sweden when meeting new people, which i will say that after 9 months, the language is coming along. when we need a plumber, though, i am a lost cause. those are words i do not recognize in my 4th grade level swedish. thank goodness jenny was there the first day he came (bengt is his name, pronounced like "banked"), so she could give him the run down of what was going on with our sink and a leak in the garage. shortly after though, she had to go to work, so it was just me and bengt. i pretty much just let him do his job, exchanging only a couple words....whew. he wasn't able to finish in one day, though, so he would come back the next morning.
next morning rolls around and it's just me in the house when bengt shows up. i forgot to mention that he is the cutest grandpa looking swedish man i've ever seen, and he kept winking at me in a grandpa way, so naturally, i wanted to talk to him and find out his story. i didn't want to keep him from work, so i only made small talk and told him if he needed anything to just let me know. he was slaving away while i was doing house cleaning, and i thought it was time for a coffee break, so i asked if he'd like one too. it was just what he needed so we sat at the table and enjoyed an endearing cup of coffee. he drank his black, like a true swede, and so began my cute novel moment. sweet bengt offered to speak in english, but i said no i need the practice, which turned to swenglish. we talked about traveling, family, fun things to do in sweden, what it's like to be an au pair, and surprisingly advantages and disadvantages of both our governmental systems. my swedish wasn't that bad either! he said he could understand everything i said, so that was a relief. of course, he had to get back to work and i had to continue house work as well. after he left for the day, we exchanged "so happy to have met you" handshakes and he gave me a grandpa hug. it was the cutest thing!
i'm so thankful i was brave enough to talk to our plumber, knowing how bad my swedish can be, but he didn't seem to mind. it is amazing the friendships you can make if you just say hello, or maybe offer someone a simple cup of coffee. try it sometime. even if it only lasts a day, it still brings a goofy smile to your face, and that is definitely one of my favorites. goofy smiles and coffee.
and scene.
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