She's Here

...and we're delighted.

First impressions can be misleading when the person in question has traveled for about 12 hours to get here, finally arriving two hours after planned, so what she likely wanted most in the world was to sleep, but off the cuff, our first image is good. We like her. Okay, we're primed to like her; we want to like her. But still -- she seems nice. Very quiet -- apparently her English is pretty bad, but heck, that's part of why she's here.

We showed her to her bedroom, and we talked to her for about five minutes -- bathroom's here, kitchen's upstairs -- upon which we realized that she had no idea what we'd just said. A trace of panic in her eyes. So my wife insisted on showing her where the bathroom and kitchen were, and when she came back downstairs, I made sure she knew where the light controls were -- there are three lights, and each one has its own control, only one of which is obvious. And then I said good night, and pulled the door shut so that it clicked. Figured she might want to notice that there's a lock on it.

I was just thinking how are we going to ask her what she wants for breakfast? Well, we can show her some things -- cereal, English muffin, toast -- but what about pancakes? Waffles? (Do I even dare mention French toast?) So I though to ask Babelfish. Waffles are gaufres (GOO-fruhs); pancakes are - what a surprise - crepes. I'm sorry -- crêpes. And breakfast? Petit dejeuner. Or something like that. Petty day-joo-nay. Or something like that. I know -- she's here to learn English, not the reverse. I figure it can't hurt. Might make her laugh.

I'm looking forward to this. Hope she is, too.