So the other day I went to buy a little scribbler/journal to just write notes on it for my team and another one to record dreams in. A few of my teammates come running into the store exclaiming “Dez! The bus is here! We’ve got to go!” So I’m feeling a little rushed and frazzled as I pull out my money to pay for the journals. The clerk gives me my change back and I want to be nice and say thank you in Romanian, so i say “Te iubesk!” He gives me this amused, yet slightly concerned look and I realize that I just said “I love you” to him. Uh oh! My mind is in a tizzy because I’m feeling rushed and trying to remember a language that I don’t know. So I hold up my hand, shake my head, trying to clear it and say “No! Wait! Ummm….uhhh…molt tsumesk!” The concerened look leaves and he give me a grin and said something to the effect of what I can only assume must be “ahhh, yes, good! Its ok!” Then I think he says “Cou plucheri” (My pleasure, aka: You’re welcome). I smile sheepishly, spin around and run out of the store giggling. Yes, giggling. Because only something like this would happen to ME in a foreign country and I think its hilarious. By the time I got to the rest of my teammates, I’m laughing my head off and out of breath as I’m trying to tell them the story. It was great. I love that I can laugh at myself and now you can too!
In fairness, in Romanian, “Thank you” and “I love you” rhyme. “mol tsumesk” and “te iubesk”. Thats actually how I first learned them, because they rhymed. But it got me in trouble. Silly trouble.
Moral of the story: When in Romania, (or any foreign country for that matter) make sure you really love the clerk if you’re going to tell him after he gives you your change. Or you can make sure you have your lingo straight.
