i've mentioned communication before, i know, but i had an interesting experience at work this week, whereby something that i said was completely misunderstood with the impact that i've been shifted from one floor to another. since then i've been thinking about whether or not it is just a cultural communication breakdown, or my inability to correctly use the english language. it has been pointed out to me, with some glee, that english is a second language, given that i learnt australian!

and i did have a strange moment when driving to work one morning listening to the radio. the bbc was interviewing some people in queensland about the floods, and i thought to myself "eeee, listen to that accent!". I hadn't realised before that the geordie accent now sounded normal to me. i never really had that moment in japan, what with my united colours of beneton group of friends.

so with the locals sounding normal, and with me approaching my six month mark, you think that i would be better at getting my point across, right? apparently not.

but it's an interesting challenge, teaching these lot how to understand me. i'm thinking of making up some flashcards. no point in letting three years of language education go to waste!