Ou est la gare?

Comic by Gemma Correll. Check her out.

Today I finally realised what Madame Groarke was going on about when she was saying that learning French was one of the most important things about school. She told us that without a French GCSE we would never be able to get a job. She must be right because I do in fact have a GCSE in French and a job.

I'm on the bus on my way to town when a Frenchman gets on. He's probably in his 60s and quite possibly drunk. He pays the bus driver and takes his ticket which promptly flies out of his hand. He's saying something so I stop my music to hear whats going on (because I love listening to people on the bus under the deception of listening to music). When he finally catches up with his ticket he picks it up, turns to the bus and announces "LE TICKET IS ALL BLACK!" He then stuck the ticket to his eyebrow and took his seat.

He was trying to ask a question but no one quite knew what he was saying. He kept pointing where he was and saying 'Brito. Brito." Then made train noises. I figured he wanted to go to Britomart. So in my best french accent I said "ou est la gare?" (because it's the only way I can think to ask if he wants to know where the station is.) The guy gets excited "Oui! Oui! Oui!". Next I use an international language I honed while in Asia, I put up two fingers and say "Two stops". I don't know how to say that in french, soz. He then said something I did understand, "Je suis francais." Then he said a sentence I only understood two words of  "blah blah blah All Blacks blah blah." I smiled and nodded, hoping it wasn't a question.

It's nice to know that the 5 years spent learning French didn't go to waste. Thanks Madame Groarke!

I'm still trying to see the connection between his ticket and the All Blacks though. Suggestions welcome.

Disclaimer: I do not claim to be able to spell things correctly in French. I'm English, what did you expect?