Hello! My name is Maxime, I'm from Québec,
and today I'll be telling you a travel story.
It has a link with languages, you will see.
So, in 2015, I travelled for 1 year,
and, the heart of my trip was Georgia.
It's a country where I dreamed of going for a while
and it's a country that fascinates me.
But, at this moment in the story, I'm in
Estonia, in Viljandi, in a small café.
So, I'm sitting, I'm eating, I'm having
a hot chocolate, when suddenly,
there's 4 young students entering the café.
And they go like "Oh my, we must be the
only tourists in here!".
But beside me there's another table with
2 tourists who tell them: "Oh, no, we are
tourists too! Where are you ladies from?
So the 4 girls answer: "I'm from Germany,
I'm from Austria, I'm from Italy..."
And the last one says: "I'm from Georgia!"
So I hear that, and I tell to myself:
"I have to talk to her!". But, I'm a bit shy.
So, I must try to find the right moment to act.
So the girls are sitting down, but one goes
and she gets a board game: Scrabble.
So, the thing is, an Estonian Scrabble
doesn't have all the letters that the
English Scrabble has. And of course, they
are about to play in English.
BUT! The very night before, I was playing
Estonian Scrabble with an Estonian friend,
so we made up our own rules, and the Ä
became the X, and the Ö was the Q, etc.
So, I've got rules, and I know they don't
know these rules, so I figure
THIS IS THE PERFECT MOMENT!
I stand up, I go see them, and I tell them:
"Oh, if you want, I can explain how to play
English Scrabble with an Estonian Scrabble!"
So they go:"Oh, of course!".
So I explain, and at the end they say:
"How about you sit down and play with us?"
WOW! The perfect opportunity!
And I said....NO! I totally chocked.
I went to sit back down, told them: "I'm
leaving soon, I think I won't, I..."
Wasn't my greatest moment of pride.
BUT! It doesn't stop here.
Slowly, the café was filling up,
and there's a big wave of people arriving
at this moment, and I was sitting alone at
a big table. So I thought: "OK. Now's the
time, I'll stand up, I'll go sit with them,
and I'll leave my table for people.
So I stand up, I tell them: "Well,
in the end, I may join you." They say:
"Of course! Come along." So I sit,
and naively, I ask them: "So, where are you
ladies from?" So the first says Italy...
the second says Germany...
The third says Austria...
And the last says:"I'm from Georgia!"
"Oh my, really? How surprising! I'm
actually going to Georgia and I REALLY
want you to tell me about your country!"
You have to know, Georgians really love
their country. So she's already super happy
to tell me about all the places I must visit.
So she's talking and talking, and I say "WAIT!"
"Let me get a pen and paper so I can take
notes." Now, I have a secret weapon.
Before going to Georgia, I had learned
their alphabet. It really made the trip
easier and more enjoyable, BUT! It also
really impresses Georgians.
So, I take my pen and paper,
I say:"Can you repeat the name of that
place? How did you say...Ush...gu...li?"
So I write the name using Georgian letters
in front of her, and she goes: "OH! GIRLS!
HE KNOWS THE GEORGIAN ALPHABEEEEET!"
Very excited.
So from that moment, her heart opened up,
she gave me her email, she wrote to me a
full list of all the places I must see in
Georgia. She even created a Facebook group
where she invited all of her friends,
telling them:"Hey, this is Maxime, make
sure he has a great time in Georgia,
answer his questions, meet-up with him..."
Natalia. Oh Natalia. Whom I've met in
Estonia completely randomly. She completely
changed my trip to Georgia, which was
definitely memorable.
So that's that!
How do I conclude this video.
It was a pleasure! I hope I successfully
shared with you a passion for Georgia,
and a bit of my Québécois accent.
That's it! Bye!
Subtitles by the Amara.org community