A compliment or not?
Hi everyone
Back to earth and reality again after a break from the city. I shook hands with lots of relatives, stuffed myself with food and dressed myself up in finery. Now back to the laundry and cooking ordinary food. I'm taking a short break so no work just yet, thank goodness. The funniest thing that happened to me during my break was meeting an extended family member who remarked on my resemblance to King George. Now where did that come from? Maybe he's a stamp collector or maybe a history buff but king George? To be honest, I can't be insulted, as it's so funny!
However I was insulted when my niece remarked on my weight gain as soon as we met. Over the years I've tried to be patient when people have wanted to comment directly on my appearance, by saying to myself that it is just a different cultural attitude. However this time as my niece is still young I decided to be honest and told her that such direct comments in English were considered very rude. She seemed shocked by this and quickly apologised. Did I do the right thing?
Chittisa, I'm glad that you also enjoyed a public holiday and some family time. I know that you are struggling with the job committments and you have received some excellent advice from around the world. As I've said before I think you have a great spirit and a real sense of enquiry and openess that I'm sure will lead you through these new situations. You seem to be worried about losing this spirit as a result of your new experiences. I doubt it, Chittisa, don't worry so much!
Here are some suggestions from your blog;
Some of my friends said I put myself in busy too much.
Try
Some of my friends say I try to do too much
In this situation you could even use the idiom;
I bite off more than I can chew
I was wondering if that light would be gone in the future. I admit that sometime I was so tired and lost my conciousness for a while
Did you mean?
I was wondering if that light would diminish or even go out in the future? I admit that sometimes I am so tired that I lose my sense of self for a while.
Here we are all dressed up!

Tricia
Lexis and phrases from today's blog;
Back to earth...
to stuff myself with food
to dress myself up in finery
an extended family member
resemblence to somebody
a history buff
to comment on someone's appearance
to bite off more than you can chew
Comments
Hello Tricia! Obviously, you are sensitive to the subject of overweight.It is common problem for many women nowadays.I am also conserned by some comments made by my little son who says I am not a girl like his friend's mother because I am big.I have this problem from my teenage's years.But it increases after the births of my 2 children.I am sure I should put my weight under control but it is not easy. Direct comments on one's appearance is not only a part different cultural attitude.It has changed over the years. My grandmother's generation think that when a women is a little bit fat it is a sure sign for health and fitness for work.After one of my diets,my grandmother asked me if I was sick because I looked very pale.In fact I was not but diets always impacts my face firstly. They make me feel tired and exhausted.As I can see in the picture you don't look obese at all.And this colorful dress suits you.Kind regards! Diema
Hi Tricia. I loved the picture you posted. It's always good to have some visual contact besides the reading. You look great in it. And your family looks very nice as well. I read some news about malasia here in my country. It was a piece about a train that went off the tracks in Kuala Lampur. I was wondering if it happened anywhere near your place. I'm not so good in geography. So I'm not sure about distances. Is yours a big city? One you come to know about everything that happens around? I live in a very small town, so it's easy to be updated about everything that happens. About one of the phrases you used in this post. What does finery mean? I got the meaning of the phrase, but I was wondering in what other situations we can use this word, maybe related to other things than clothes. Kind regards, Mauricio.
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