1. Right after I land I head to the Starbucks. Not necessarily for the coffee but for the 'to go' convenience. Anyway I have the hardest time pronouncing Grande and Vente in Italian... I pronounce it in Portuguese (Granjeee and Venchee) then get a crazy look. Now I have just started saying medium and large to avoid the confusion on both sides.
2. Drive like I own the road and rules don't apply. This always happens when I go to make a turn and I squeeze into the lane with the person. Usually results in 'what the f*^&' looks from people and luckily not a ticket. I am waiting for the day to come though.
3. Forget the name of Diet Coke and ask for a Coke Light instead and then tell the waiter Obrigada (Thank you) while continuing to look at my menu. Ooops. Wait for it. Wait for it. OK realize that the waiter is still standing at the table waiting for a real answer to his question.
Which leads me into number
4. Talk in Portuguese to all service workers.... not a shining moment. I am so used to speaking Portuguese to everyone except my husband and a few close friends. All strangers get thrown into this category but the service workers get the brunt of my mistakes.
5. After I get over trying to use Portuguese all the time I switch to non-stop English. I talk everyone's ear off. I know when this happens cause I will wake up the next morning with a sore throat! Ahhhh dinner with friends is miserable the next day!!
What are so mistakes you make when you land in your home country? Please tell me I am not the only loose screw out there!
Tchau,
Sara
I do the same thing! :)
ReplyDeleteWe need to go eat together when I make it to Houston.... that will be a mess!!
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