Old Friends, New Languages

Today, as every time we are in Civitavecchia, we docked nose to nose with a ghost from my past, the Celebrity Century. I spent 5 months on board the ship, my sister Chelsea managed to stay with me on board for a month, I explored the Baltics, Norway, Ireland and the Arctic Circle, saw the midnight sun for the first time from her decks. Today I looked across to the bow of the ship, Deck 7, where I spent countless hours reading and sitting in the sun, watching sunsets and passing part of every day as we crossed the Atlantic in the most beautiful weather. It was strange to look across at the benches Chelsea, Marie and I sat on a year ago. On board right now is one of my good friends Yuki, with whom I've done 2 contracts and have actually been able to visit once on land in L.A. I went to the ship today looking for her - security all remembered me and let me on board right away, which was flattering. I found Yuki and we talked a bit - we plan to spend our day together next week when we are here again and she is off work. Also this Sunday we'll be in port with a Norwegian ship, which my friend Erin is on. I knew her from the Majesty - she and I experienced swimming with dolphins for the first time together. We plan to meet and catch up this Sunday. I can't help marvelling at how small the world is, and how today I met a friend from Japan in Civitavecchia, and Sunday I will meet a friend from Australia in Barcelona. What a strange life...but I really love it.

And what do I mean by new languages? Well, I am noticing my English changing to match that of my friends. Spending most of my time with British friends is influencing my word choice and pronunciation, slowly but surely. For example, eight-thirty becomes "half eight". Elevator becomes "lift". Pants become "trousers", and so on. We have had several arguments about whether "disoriented" or "disorientated" is correct (Turns out they both are). Fortunately, I can also say that conversation with them is improving my vocabulary, grammar, wit, and dry sarcasm. My American-isms have started to affect them as well, and they always cringe when they catch themselves saying something stereotypically American (eg: "I know, right?") When they attempt to imitate an American accent it either comes out very Valley-girl or intense New Yorker, they can't imitate mine at all, beyond one word at a time. Its quite a lot of fun, actually - accents and differences in language have always fascinated me, and being made fun of for my accent is worth being able to spend time with them.