19th December...

I have realised that if you live in a different country there are basic sayings in the countries language that a person needs to know. These are 'thank you', 'please', 'hello', 'goodbye', some numbers, 'yes', 'no', 'good', 'bad', 'cheers'. These are the basic words I use here in slovakia. If you know these words a person can get by perfectly well. With the help of pointing, and till resisters and some paper.

Also to feel comfortable, one has to learn to be in company where people are talking in words I don't understand. Simply relax and try not to understand so much. Then it feels like they are speaking my language. Everything these people are saying pretty much can be understood from there body language. And if they want you there you will know it, from looking at their smiles and the amount of alcohol shots that they place for you on the table.

It's really interesting for me in this company, as i am aware of body language, so much more than i used to be back in England. The strange thing also that I have discovered is that some people tend to avoid me sometimes, because their english isn't so good. And they are afraid of making mistakes. I always think that this doesn't matter because I am learning to be in company without saying much. And it's nice to just stand or sit with a person without speaking sometimes. Usually in the past I have only done this with people I feel comfortable with or know really well. But here I have been doing this more with people i really don't know at all.

It's funny just staring at each other without language and smiling, drinking and wondering who this person is. What do they do and what is going on in their mind. Of course they are thinking the same things. Only their thoughts are in a different language. However, our bodies somehow talk the same language, which is amazing really when you think of it!