obama us and tattoos

In the US, we don't like to consider that question, at least not in any formal way. We all just kind of mosey along and don't get too deep about anything. Call it a state of non-analysis. We like it that way. Oh, we Yanks work together all right like everybody else and we have friendships and neighbors and normal social relations with our fellow Yanks and Yankettes. But we don't have special terms of address for really good friends and really not good friends. You know? "Dude" works fine for us. "Hey you" isn't so bad either. I think we do a lot of head nodding. We don't start going to the shrink unless we hear voices.

But en francais, you have to decide whenever you talk to somebody whether to address them with the informal "tu" or the more stately "vous."
Now maybe it's not as demarcated as I am making it out to be. I am deathly afraid of offending someone.
"Comment allez-vous?" means "how are you."
"Comment vas-tu?" means the same thing, but to someone you are close to.

But how close?
How are you, baby, gosh last night was great.
Oops, I mean how are you, monsieur, it is certainly fair weather. I am not looking at your zipper.

This is bothering more than it should.
What if I mess up and call the subway ticket taker "tu" by mistake? What if he thinks I am hitting on him? What if he thinks I am trying to sell him insurance and get invited for dinner at his mother's? How will I get out of it?

That is my biggest worry. But second biggest is how similar all the different words sound. For instance, "it is snowing"

sounds almost exactly the same as "he is swimming."


I guess there is no way I could get in trouble by interchanging those two, but still, you can't be too careful.

IS IT SNOWING?
YES.
OH GOOD. I TOOK LESSONS AT THE "Y", BUT NEVER MASTERED THE BREAST STROKE THE WAY I SHOULD.
I THOUGHT YOU SAID IT WAS SNOWING.
I DID.
WHY ARE YOU WEARING A BATHING SUIT?
WHY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT MY BREAST? I DIDN'T CALL YOU "TU", DID I?

I am now on Level Two, Unit Two of Rosetta Stone. Kiss my neige!!!
I am also reading Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. It is fascinating and heartrending. I love reading about how he worked so hard on his writing and how in love he was with Hadley, his first wife.
A bientot
love,
becky

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