Affectation expectations.

All travel effects. With luck in our lives, even a day in our hometown will have some sort of effect on a daily basis. Of course a five and a half week multi-nation tour will have effect on our lives that we cannot express or recognize, but of note for this entry are affectations that I will intentionally be effecting:

Espresso!
You now I’ve always liked my strong coffee. I’d generally thought of espresso as not having enough volume to satisfy. After my week in Paris, though, I can’t get enough of that deep, rich espresso. Even as I work on this blog entry, I’ve got some tar-shaped caffeine in a “mud truck” cup right next to me. Oh, it’ll be gone in 5 minutes instead of the 15 minutes that a larger cup of coffee would last, but MMMM that five minutes!

Wine with dinner!
We used to have a glass of wine with a nice dinner, but only when we were making it a schmancy night. We’ve now resolved to have a not-so-expensive bottle of wine on hand more often than not.
Wine with pizza.
Wine with a burger.
Why the heck not?
We haven’t gone so far, yet, as to having wine with our enchiladas mole, and I personally don’t have an affinity for sangria, so we’ll see how that goes.

Cheers!
The Brits use this as a casual catch-all for “thank you” as well as “you’re welcome”. I like it particularly for a not so formal “you’re welcome”, in the instances that I typically say “no problem”, because it doesn’t really warrant a full welcome! It’s just a cheers!
“You’ve given me correct change, or held the door open for me, Thanks!”
“Cheers!”
You’ll note that it’s in response to a “thanks” like, “please hand me that pen, thanks!”
“Cheers!”
Whereas “You have saved my baby from drowning, Thank You!”
“Cheers” would be too casual in that instance. That would warrant a “You’re welcome.”

I’m also leaving off the “Mate” which would follow “Cheers” in Britain. I’m intentionally taking on some affectations, but I don’t want to sound like an ass!
I also like “cheers” because it makes the whole world feel like people I could potentially be drinking with. And doesn’t everyone enjoy the people they’re drinking with? If only for the amount of time everyone is saying “cheers”?

As a side note, I also heard people using “cheers” as a thank you / you’re welcome catchall in Germany and Austria.

As a tangent, we very often heard Germans and Austrians exclaiming “Shit” instead of the expected “Sheisse”.
I will therefore adopt the affectation of continuing to say “shit”. I’ve always said “shit” but now it will be an affectation.

Sheisse!