Greetings

I’m never sure how to respond when British people greet me with the standard, “Are you all right, mate?” It actually sounds more like, “Yawrayght, mite?” The first time I was asked, I replied, “Good, thanks,” but clearly that wasn’t going to work. I’ve also made the mistake of interpreting the question as a heartfelt inquiry of my emotional state, while it’s actually just a greeting for people to whom you have nothing important to say. These days, I’ve refined my answer to a straightforward, well-articulated, “Yes, I am all right. Are you all right?” It seems to get me by, but I’m going to have to figure out something a little more streamlined if I want to hide my clear befuddlement with the question.

I've been learning Italian online at the BBC website. I think with a little practice I can have a functional knowledge of Italian before I travel through the country in April. It takes a lot of practice, a lot of revision, to become familiar with the words, and the feel of the words in your mouth, but I think it will be worth a bit of difficulty if I can develop enough language to get me by.

Because I have nothing more pertinent to share, here's a picture of a baby I saw in the Natural History Museum a couple weeks ago. It just stared at me, I couldn't help but take a picture.