An chara

Arriving in a new country usually entails changes, opportunities, new challenges and exciting possibilities. As a linguistic enthousiast I embrace the chance to pick up useful phrases (as well as sharing the many truly important Norwegian ones with the locals, such as "Du bretter grådig fine servietter" - which now has an international sign language symbol as well, and the rough translation of "Slitan med ny frisyre" to "Happy haircut!") All in the interest of broadening my knowledge and improving skills... So when I found myself in Ireland, already sufficiently capable of communicating in English, the natural step forward was to throw myself into the local and historical culture - so I signed up for Irish lessons.

First class last week was a useful introduction to the concept of learning by hearing rather than writing, which is hard for me to do, but almost mandatory when trying to decipher the mysteries of Irish. So we conversed on the subject of what we would like to drink (Cad ba mhaith leat?) and what our names are. (Disappointingly, Hilde does not seem to have an Irish equivalent. Yet.) Exciting? Maybe not. But fantastically beautiful! The challenge is now to employ as many Irish words seemingly naturally into English conversations as possible - we might all be in for a fun few months, an kwera!

So now I'm off to my second class, I expect thrilling challenges! Go raibh mhaith agat for your attention, I will be back! Slán go fóill...