speaking teenage is trickier than you think.

i was never good at spanish.  there's no point even denying it.  in fact, sophomore year of high school i was actually told i was bad at it and that despite testing well, i'd never get it.  inspiring, right?

but let's be honest.  it's the truth.  i took italian when i started college and lasted a semester where again, i could test the mess out of the language.  but speaking it?  as if.

however, in order to graduate from unc, i had to take something.  so i signed up for the party language of portuguese with all the athletes and hunkered down.  again ... testing?  no problem.  speaking?  well let's just say it's a good thing i partnered up for ALL speaking presentations with a guy majoring in foreign languages.  this girl knows how to play it, kids.

anyways, my newest foreign language is teenage.  and it has got to be the hardest of them all.  i'm not even very good at speaking adult most days since i find i'm too old to be a teenager but i'm easily bored by adult conversations.  but teenage?  holy cow.

for almost four weeks i've been working on learning teenage, but sad as it is, i don't know that i'm much closer to mastering the language.  i don't even think i'd test well on this one.

in fact, today a group of boys were listening to my classroom expectations (score one for listening!) and when i said 'does that sound like something we can handle?' i got three responses of 'word.'

i just stared at them in complete confusion as i didn't know what the heck they were talking about.  word?  did they misunderstand a word i said?  were they asking me to repeat one of my words?  were they mumbling and i couldn't actually hear them say "yes sweet teacher lady we DO think we can handle this"?

no, none of these were correct.  they actually said word.  and they meant it.

after school i asked their teacher about speaking teenage boy and he gave me a few inside tips and informed me that word meant they agreed and understood.  GOOD TO KNOW.  there needs to be a manual on this somewhere.

so as any good librarian would, i did my research when i came home.  here's what word actually means in teeange (in case you, much like myself, were uninformed of the language of teenage):

[thanks to http://www.urbandictionary.com for the example below]

word
	a phrase originally meaning: a) to agree with b) without a doubt c) true Meaning A: R: You know your momma's gonna have a fit when she finds that you burned down the house. D: Word.

good to know, right?  i'm sure i'll add to my teenage vocabulary the longer i practice, but i think i'll start with word.

and i challenge you to learn a little teenage.  word.

moshi moshi means hello

first off, it's memorial day.  a day to remember everyone that has fought for our country and paid the ultimate sacrifice, and a day to remember those continuing to risk everything as they defend our freedom.  you people rock.  plain and simple.  some kids might idolize superman or spiderman or batman or some other type of crossover between beast and man, but i idolize you, military men and women.

when it comes right down to it and i'm being honest, i've never been known to be selfless.  in fact i've often been known to be the exact opposite of this, but you fine folks are the epitome of selfless.  i know in my heart of hearts that i couldn't do it, but i am so very thankful there are people out there that aren't like me (for so many reasons, but especially this one).  all my love and my sincerest thanks.

now that my memorial day thanks are complete, it's time for my daily language lesson.  hooray!  having been told in high school that i had too strong a southern accent to ever be good at a foreign language (which still stings today...especially since i'm not even from the south), i am often hesitant to practice any type of language other than my own.  i can rationalize this with the fact that i often sound stupid enough on my own and i don't really need to add salt to the foreign language wound by stumbling over words, saying them incorrectly, and having more knowledgeable people laugh at me.  and trust me, i've heard it all...trying is the only way you learn, people don't mind if you stumble because they know you're practicing, practice makes perfect, blah blah blah, etc.  

whatever.  i'll just do what i did during my trip to mexico in middle school - i'll pretend i can't speak and just survive by pointing.  if i can't get it by pointing, i don't need it.

anyways, and yes this will feel like a tangent but stick with me because it's related ... i decided recently that it was time to trim the mane that sits atop my head since it had been so very long and eventually my hair really does resemble dead lettuce hanging from my scalp (something i tried to explain to friends tonight at dinner - that really is what my hair looks like when it dries naturally).  i googled salons in my area and found one called moshi moshi means hello.  i didn't know what moshi moshi was or if it really meant hello, but the reviews were golden and it thought it sounded cool.

and it turns out, moshi moshi really does mean hello (at least informally...like for a phone conversation. naturally i asked for clarification because i don't like believing lies).  and i feel like i even remember michelle tanner calling japan on a full house episode and saying moshi moshi...or maybe i'm making that up?  but either way, i think i'll start to incorporate moshi moshi into my daily vocabulary, much like i'm incorporating the 'so fetch' phrase.  if you don't know so fetch, you should (and you will once i'm done with you).  moshi moshi sounds like a great way to say hello and it's definitely a language i can speak, southern accent or not.  

so don't be alarmed if i say moshi moshi to you the next time you call.  because obviously it is so fetch.

also, for the record, moshi moshi means hello is a really wonderful salon and mary, the lady that did my hair, was definitely so fetch.  she was one of those stylists with vision.  and when dealing with a girl that usually just ties her horse mane up into a ponytail or braid, vision is something necessary if a stylist is going to succeed and make me want to come back.  moshi moshi means hello, and mary, definitely did that. if you're in the market to get your mane chopped, it's worth checking out.