The other day one of my ex-students came down to my office/classroom to pick up some paperwork, and we had a really good conversation. He is still studying English on his own, and I encouraged him to keep up the studies in the future. At one point I asked him if he went to any “hanami” parties (hanami means flower-viewing – a popular event during the cherry blossom season in Japan). He answered “yes” right away, and told me that he and his wife had a beautiful view, and it was their first time in Rome.
He could tell by the look on my face there was something wrong, and then he said – “Oh, not HONEYMOON party – HANAMI party?” Thankfully he stopped before getting to more details about his honeymoon. Afterwards I was imagining what he must have been thinking – “Why is Bryan suddenly asking about my honeymoon ten years ago? Oh, well, I’ll tell him about it…”
Actually, these kinds of mis-communications happen a lot in my job, and it is interesting how often people will answer questions that have nothing to do with the topic at hand. Anyway, we had a good laugh about it, and showed him that he still has a long road to travel before he has mastered English.
